Marc Madiot explains Groupama-FDJ's changes to the sprint setup: "We get less and less traditional sprints”

Groupama-FDJ's team manager, Marc Madiot has taken time to shed some light on the team's strategies going forward after their star sprinter, Arnaud Demare reacted with disappointment to the departures of his two key lead-out men Ramon Sinkeldam and Jacopo Guarnieri.

“If you look closely at current cycling, you see that sprinters are less and less often surrounded by a block of riders”, Madiot explains. “You have to be able to participate in a knockout race before you can finally sprint. We will therefore try to adapt to the new price situations. The idea is also to make young riders, such as Laurence Pithie, stronger. They can therefore take up a place in the sprint train.”

With old school sprint stages now few and far between in modern day Grand Tours, Madiot believes this also is key when looking at future plans. "Just look at the routes mapped out by the organisers, especially those in the grand tours. They try to create difficulties along the way to make the races more unpredictable and dynamic, so that we get less and less traditional sprints.”

For 2023, Guarnieri will ride for Lotto-Dstny whilst Sinkeldam will likely ride for B&B Hotels - KTM where he will take up the role of leadout man for Mark Cavendish.