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"My objectives remain unchanged" - Arnaud Démare looking to quickly adapt to Arkéa Samsic
CyclingWednesday, 02 August 2023 at 13:43
Arnaud Démare has left Groupama-FDJ in a mid-season move, but unshockingly taking into consideration the happenings of the latest months. Now with Arkéa Samsic, the French sprinter looks to get his career quickly back on track.
“Why am I leaving? Above all, I needed to project myself quickly. It was useless to end the season knowing that I was going to leave," the 31-year old said in a press conference following the official signing. "The most important thing was to quickly find a team that trusts me and believes in me. I lived twelve superb years and I was able to win great races, I grew up with Groupama-FDJ and I thank them for agreeing to break the contract before the end."
Démare raced in the French team throughout his whole career but in 2023 the situation derailed, specially because of David Gaudu. From early in the year the climber said he wanted full leadership at the Tour and did not want Démare in the lineup - even if he would not take a leadout. The two seemed to team up well in Paris-Nice and approaching the Tour it seemed as if Démare had good form and could make it into the lineup.
However, Groupama made the decision to leave him at home. "Now, choices have been made, and I did mine behind. From the moment we agreed, the next step seemed obvious and logical to me," he says. He did not start the French national championships and negotiations with other teams started right away. "My career does not stop there, I have one end of the season left and I I'm going to give the best of myself. Yes, I've had great times, but I'm leaving one family to find another."
Some argue that Arkéa Samsic was the perfect team to take him in, having a World Tour license, French nationality and already plenty sprinters. Démare has made the switch and Arkéa have already announced that he will be making his debut at the Tour of Leuven on the 15th of August. The BEMER Cyclassics and the Renewi Tour will then follow, both races where he's won in the past.
"We will have to quickly switch, but I'm going to try to make the best end to the season possible. We'll see where it takes us, but I will reach those 100 victories one day (Démare currently has 93 pro wins, ed.)! My dream is to continue and reproduce what I was able to do with a new environment. I hope to bring my experience, but my objectives remain unchanged".
Here Démare will team up with Nacer Bouhanni once again, a rider who he's been teammates with in the past and also had his share of disputes before Bouhanni left Groupama. However he says that is behind both of them and they are now friends. "Precisely, I think that we are both very respectful towards each other, contrary to what was regularly said in the media," he argues.
"There has been a lot of adversity in the past, it is clear and clear But 10 years have passed, I often meet him on the races. We have a lot in common, we have the same fiber: the desire and the aggressiveness to win. I have been very saddened by his crashes lately, I supported him. There is nothing humanly harmful between us. In any case, we should have a parallel program and not be aligned in the same races".
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