“We’ve already made some small adjustments to him” – UAE get straight to work on improving new signing Benoît Cosnefroy

Benoît Cosnefroy has barely had time to hang up his Decathlon AG2R kit, yet UAE Team Emirates - XRG have already begun reshaping the Frenchman for the next chapter of his career. After an injury-ravaged 2025 season, the 30-year-old is looking for a complete reset — and according to team CEO Mauro Gianetti, the early signs suggest the move could become one of the smartest acquisitions of the winter.

Cosnefroy’s transfer to UAE came together quickly. Despite spending his entire pro career with the French structure, it was his camp who initiated contact with the world’s number-one team. “In reality it was his agent who contacted us, telling us that he was available and that he would be keen to ride with us,” Gianetti explains in conversation with Bici.Pro. “At that point, we asked him what he wanted to come here to do, what he expected — and his answer was important.”

That answer immediately sold the Emirati team on the idea. “Riding with you would give me huge motivation. I am French, but I don’t have the obsession or fixation with the Tour de France. I want to be in the number-one team in the world to grow as an athlete… I know you can give me the technical support I need to improve, and I’m ready to help the team,” Cosnefroy told them, adding that if the parcours suit and the form arrives, he would be “ready to play my chances”.

It was exactly the attitude UAE were looking for. “Honestly! He immediately showed outstanding personal qualities, and I really appreciated that,” Gianetti says.

While race plans will only be finalised in December, UAE wasted no time in beginning Cosnefroy’s integration. The Frenchman has already visited the team’s service course, with early positional work carried out on his new Colnago.

“We’ve started with a soft approach — we first reproduced the measurements from his old bike and adapted them to the Colnago, but we’ve already made some small adjustments to his position. The rest will come with time.”

Those tweaks mark the beginning of a project that UAE believe can reignite a rider who, across the last four seasons, has proven himself as one of the peloton’s most dangerous puncheurs. Victories at Brabantse Pijl, multiple wins at the Grand Prix du Morbihan, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and the Bretagne Classic have defined Cosnefroy as a master of hilly one-day terrain — yet 2025 allowed him little chance to display it, with knee problems reducing him to just 13 race days.

Even so, he arrives with ambition and honesty. He has already told his fan club not to expect a Tour de France selection, stressing he is joining the world’s strongest team with humility and patience rather than entitlement.

That mindset resonates strongly with Gianetti. “The idea that a rider wants to keep growing, experimenting, improving shows that he’s still switched on. He will probably be used mainly in a support role at first… but if Benoit performs strongly, he will absolutely get more opportunities.”

From a sporting perspective, Cosnefroy has a clear place in the team’s structure. “He’s a rider who in some ways replaces Alessandro Covi: someone every team would love to have, because he can help but he can also win… A rider like this can perform well in both one-day races and week-long stage races. He can attack, he can go in breakaways, and he can work at high intensity — particularly on hilly terrain or climbs of 10–15 minutes.”

That combination — explosiveness, tactical intelligence, work capacity — is exactly why UAE foresee him fitting seamlessly into a roster built around Tadej Pogacar. During their recent days together in the Emirates, the staff saw a rider already embracing the culture.

“He was delighted — calm, happy with the decision he’d made… He settled in right away. I saw him bright, relaxed, talking with everyone. And I think he enjoyed himself. I’m confident — he seems like a great signing.”

For Cosnefroy, who admitted to La Presse de la Manche that his injuries “complicated the market” and that this transfer was “the last chance to stay at the highest level”, the move is as much about revival as it is opportunity.

Gianetti sees exactly that. “This determination is what keeps him alive and young, even though next season he’ll be approaching 31.”

Suppose UAE’s early work on his position and integration is any indication. In that case, Cosnefroy’s reset may turn into a renaissance — and one of the World Tour’s most consistent puncheurs may soon be taking aim at major one-day races once again, this time in the colours of cycling’s strongest, and most successful team.