"We often get reminders of how much importance the sponsor attaches to that WorldTour licence" – Future uncertain for relegation threatened Cofidis

The relief of a potential World Tour lifeline has done little to ease the strain inside Cofidis. Despite benefiting from the upcoming merger between Intermarché - Wanty and Lotto, the French team remain in peril of losing their top-tier status — and the sponsor’s demand for survival weighs heavily on the riders.

Speaking to Wielerflits, sprinter Milan Fretin admitted that the points battle has become all-consuming within the team. “In the group chat we often get reminders of how much importance the sponsor attaches to that World Tour licence,” he explained. “And if you go a weekend without scoring, you can feel more disappointment than you would in a normal situation.”

Cofidis currently sit 19th in the UCI’s three-year ranking (2023–2025), outside the traditional cut for World Tour status. Only the Belgian merger has left the door ajar for a reprieve. Their closest and, in truth, only challenger for the final licence is Uno-X Mobility. “We have to open up a gap on Uno-X as quickly as possible,” stressed Fretin. “They’ve been incredibly strong this season, but Alex Aranburu has been picking up a lot of points in the big races and I still have targets in some sprints at home. It will have to come down to the two of us.”

For team-mate Piet Allegaert, the pressure is equally clear. “There’s big pressure from Cofidis towards the squad,” he said. “The budget could change significantly if we lose World Tour status. That’s also why they’re holding off on contacting riders for 2026. Right now, the focus is on giving everything until the end of October and then seeing where we stand.”

Cofidis opened the year brightly, with Bryan Coquard and the aforementioned Aranburu delivering World Tour victories at the Tour Down Under and the Tour of the Basque Country. Fretin himself produced a strong spring. But as the season wore on, results dwindled and a wave of injuries compounded the slide.

“I was out for almost half a year with injury, Simon Carr the same,” Allegaert noted. “Young talents Eddy Finé and Hugo Toumire both struggled with iliac artery problems – Finé has already quit and Toumire still needs surgery. And then Ludovic Robeet recently suffered a stroke. These aren’t simple fractures; they’re serious conditions that demand very long recoveries. With just 23 riders covering a triple race programme, we’ve been stretched to the limit.”

The combination of sporting struggles and sponsor pressure has created a tense atmosphere inside the French outfit. Yet Fretin insists the battle is not lost. “We want guaranteed access to the World Tour races — either as a World Team or through the ProTeam ranking. Nobody wants us to end up in a position where we might miss out on the Tour de France. It’s definitely not over yet. But enjoyable, it is not.”