20/11/2023

"We thought: 'if Victor wins and he signs for another team, at least he will have won with the Cofidis jersey'" - Cédric Vasseur doesn't regret choosing Victor Lafay for Tour de France

The Cofidis team had a very good 2023 season, marked by the two successes acquired at the Tour de France, having not won on the Grande Boucle since 2008. After this successful year, the French team hopes to continue this momentum and have a great 2024 season. Cofidis manager Cédric Vasseur reviews the season in an interview with Cyclism'Actu.

"What I remember from this season is, first of all, having managed to return to winning ways at the Tour de France, it put Cofidis back in the spotlight. It was also a season where Bryan Coquard raised his arms in the UCI WorldTour for the first time. And we ended it in style with the victory of Jesús Herrada in La Vuelta."

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"I remain convinced that having selected Victor Lafay at the last minute, without having contractualized his future, is the key to success. It was the same when he won the Giro, he had a special clause, if he won a stage his salary was no longer the same. Victor is a rider who constantly needs a carrot. We said to ourselves 'ok, if Victor wins and he signs for another team, at least he will have won with the Cofidis jersey.'"

Lastly, Vasseur talks about the new recruits, that raised questions among some fans. "What we can hope for is to succeed in our challenge of relaunching certain riders that we have recruited like Alexis Gougeard, Ben Hermans or Kenny Elissonde. Just like the sprinter Stanislaw Aniolkowski, who could be one of the revelations of the year 2024. I think that will be our challenge, trying to quickly restore confidence in all these riders so that they can reach their best level and the others will follow. Necessarily."