Groupama - FDJ sign Stefan Küng on three-year contract - "I will also be given the freedom in the week-long stage races"

After a set of months where Stefan Küng seemed to be on his way out of Groupama - FDJ, a deal has been reached, and the Swiss powerhouse is set to stay with the team he's representing since 2019 for another three years - into 2025.

This three-year contract is not only a vote of confidence from the French team, but perhaps most importantly one from Küng itself. Looking for a long-term contract and a salary between 1.2 and 1.5 million euros, according to a recent report, it was a challenge for the team to keep him amidst the rise of riders like David Gaudu and Valentin Madouas, aswell as Arnaud Démare. Freedom to chase his own goals was said to be a possible reason, but an agreement was ultimately reached.

Küng, the current European champion in the time-trial discipline, has over the last few years been a key domestique for the likes of Gaudu and Thibaut Pinot. However it was his prowess in the time-trials and the cobbled classics which has seen him thrive - taking a total of 14 wins in the period. His consistency over this year's cobbled classics campaign has seen him have an even firmer position in the peloton.

Having finished third at Paris-Roubaix and the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, fifth at the Tour des Flandres, sixth at Dwars door Vlaanderen and eighth at Amstel Gold Race, he was one of the top performers in the spring. However he did not stop impressing, as he rode to a strong fifth place at the mountainous Tour de Suisse.

“I feel very good at Groupama-FDJ. I get a lot of support and that's a plus if you want to do your job. We have good riders, especially young dogs, which is very motivating. I know that I can help them with my experience," Küng said in the press release. "I can handle many areas. The team is counting on me in the role of road captain, but I will also be given the freedom in the week-long stage races and the classics. We will have a very strong team for the classics, I can't wait".

With his stage-racing abilities in development, that seems to have become a bigger focus for the Swissman, who is seeing the dominance of the likes of Filippo Ganna and Wout van Aert in the time-trials as an obstacle. As riders such as Victor Campenaerts and Max Walscheid, between others, he is slowly switching his focus into a more road-race specific rider.

“2024 will be an important year with the Olympic Games and the World Cup in Zurich. The team supports me in these projects, which are important to me. I will continue to invest in research and development," he concluded.