The 2010 season for began in January with
La Tropicale Amissa Bongo
La Tropicale Amissa Bongo is a road cycling race held in Gabon and is part of the UCI Africa Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale ( ...
and ended in October at the
Japan Cup
The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...
. It is the team's first season as a
UCI Professional Continental
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
team, after being relegated from
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, e ...
status after the 2009 season. The team had been part of the ProTour since the ProTour's inception in 2005. The team carries
wildcard
Wild card most commonly refers to:
* Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games
* Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...
status in 2010, meaning they are eligible to be invited to any ProTour event should the organizers wish to include them.
The team's manager is former cyclist
Jean-René Bernaudeau
Jean-René Bernaudeau (born 8 July 1956) is a French former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally from 1978 to 1988. Bernaudeau currently works as the general manager for UCI ProTeam .
In 1982, he said that dope controls in cycling wer ...
, who has led the team since its origination. The team nearly folded at the end of 2010, after a search for a title sponsor to replace the outgoing
Bouygues
Bouygues S.A. () is a French industrial group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the C ...
group proved very difficult.
Europcar
Europcar Mobility Group is a French car rental company founded in 1949 in Paris. The head office of the holding company, Europcar Group S.A., is in the business park of Val Saint-Quentin at Voisins-le-Bretonneux ( Saint Quentin en Yvelines), F ...
came forward at the last moment to save the team.
2010 roster
Ages as of January 1, 2010.
;Riders who joined the team for the 2010 season
;Riders who left the team during or after the 2009 season
One-day races
Spring classics
Fall races
Stage races
The team opened their season in Africa, at
La Tropicale Amissa Bongo
La Tropicale Amissa Bongo is a road cycling race held in Gabon and is part of the UCI Africa Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale ( ...
, in the nation of
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
. After first taking the overall lead in stage 3, Charteau backed it up with a stage win from a breakaway the next day, padding his lead. Gène and Bernaudeau finished in the top two positions in a mass sprint finish to stage 5 a day later. Charteau won the race overall the next day by finishing with the peloton in a stage conquered by a breakaway.
Grand Tours
Giro d'Italia
Bbox was one of 22 teams in the
Giro d'Italia. They sent a squad headed by Voeckler and there with the express goal of trying for stage wins. The team was not competitive in the Giro's opening stages in the Netherlands. They did not have any riders contesting the sprint finishes to the first two road race stages, and their highest-placed man in the overall standings prior to the transfer to Italy was Bonnet in 40th place. Their fortunes changed little in the stage 4 team time trial, when they finished 17th.
In stage 5, Arashiro instigated the day's principal breakaway into the stage. He and two of the three riders who first broke away with him stayed away to the finish line, coming home 4 seconds ahead of a fast-charging peloton that had just mistimed the catch. Arashiro was last of the three in the sprint for the stage win, but received much praise for his combativity on the stage in starting the break and in his pacemaking, which helped them stay away. The next day's stage featured a depleted group sprint for the high stage placings available to the peloton after a two-man breakaway stayed away to the finish. Bonnet took sixth in this stage.
The team was then quiet until stage 12. With a field sprint seemingly shaping up as the stage neared its conclusion, a counterattack made as the day's principal breakaway was caught got ten riders to the finish line 10 seconds ahead of the peloton. Voeckler made this split, but just missed out on the stage win, finishing second to
Filippo Pozzato
Filippo "Pippo" Pozzato (born 10 September 1981) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the , , , , , , and two spells with the / teams.
A northern classics specialist, Pozzato finished in s ...
in the sprint. Voeckler said after the stage that he was satisfied with his ride even though he narrowly missed a victory, stating that Pozzato is simply the better sprinter. The next day's stage featured a winning morning breakaway. Claude was part of this group, though he was only seventh out of nine in the sprint for the stage win.
The team claimed their only win of the Giro in the queen stage, stage 20. Tschopp and
Gilberto Simoni
Gilberto Simoni (born 25 August 1971 in Palù di Giovo, Trentino) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, most recently for . Simoni is twice winner of the Giro d'Italia cycling race (2001 and 2003 editions). Simoni might have wo ...
were the day's principal escape group. After Tschopp beat Simoni to the top of the
Passo di Gavia
Gavia Pass ( it, Passo di Gavia) (el. 2621 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Italian Alps. It is the tenth highest paved road in the Alps.
The pass lies in the Lombardy region and divides the province of Sondrio to the north and the p ...
for the prize money that went along with winning the ''Cima Coppi'', the Giro's tallest climb, he rode an aggressive descent of the mountain and was out front for the entirety of the stage. Tschopp climbed the
Passo del Tonale
Tonale Pass ( it, Passo del Tonale) (el. 1883 m./6178 ft.) is a high mountain pass in northern Italy across the Rhaetian Alps, between Lombardy and Trentino.
It connects Valcamonica and Val di Sole. It is delimited by the Ortler Al ...
alone en route to victory 16 seconds ahead of
Cadel Evans
Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...
in second place. He was the first Swiss rider to win a stage at the Giro since
Alex Zülle
Alex Zülle (born 5 July 1968) is a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. During the 1990s he was one of the most successful cyclists in the world, winning the 1996 and 1997 Vuelta a España, taking second place in the 1995 and the 1 ...
in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
. The team's highest-placed rider in the final overall standings was Voeckler in 23rd. They finished tenth in the Trofeo Fast Team standings and 15th in the Trofeo Super Team.
Tour de France
![Bbox Tour 2010 stage 1 start](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Bbox_Tour_2010_stage_1_start.jpg)
Voeckler led the squad sent to the
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
, again seeking stage wins. The squad was combative in the Tour's early flat stages, making morning breakaways in stages 2, 3, 4, and 6. Turgot took fifth place in back-to-back field sprints, in stages 5 and 6. After taking mountains points in morning breakaways in several previous stages, Charteau took the polka-dot jersey after stage 9, again making the breakaway. This one stayed away to decide the stage, though Charteau did not contest the sprint, finishing in fifth place two seconds behind
Sandy Casar
Sandy Casar (born 2 February 1979) is a French former professional racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 2000 and 2013, all for the team. His greatest results have been winning three stages of the Tour de France, as well the over ...
,
Luis León Sánchez
Luis León Sánchez Gil (born 24 November 1983) is a Spanish road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Sánchez's major achievements include winning the overall classifications of the 2009 Paris–Nice and the 2005 Tour Down ...
, and
Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the , and teams.
Cunego's biggest wins were the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, a ...
. He lost it to
Jérôme Pineau
Jérôme Pineau (born 2 January 1980) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2015 for the , and squads. Born in Mont-Saint-Aignan, Pineau now works as the general manager for UCI ProSeries te ...
the next day, but took it back again after stage 12. From this point on, there was not much competition in the mountains classification. The race's elite riders took some of the more difficult climbs, like the
Col du Tourmalet
Col du Tourmalet (; elevation ) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds of th ...
, while other breakaways involving riders who had not yet scored many points took place on other climbs.
Christophe Moreau
Christophe Moreau (born 12 April 1971 in Vervins) is a French former professional road racing cyclist. For many years Moreau was the primary French contender for the general classification in the Tour de France: he finished in the top 12 in the G ...
came close to challenging Charteau for the jersey, but Charteau clinched it after stage 17 when he and Moreau both failed to score further – none of the stages after 17 had any categorized climbs, so Charteau needed only to finish the race to win the classification, which he did.
The team also had consecutive stage wins in the race's final week. Voeckler soloed to victory in stage 15 up the
Port de Balès
The Port de Balès (or Col de Balès) (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in France. It connects the village of Ferrère (to the north) to that of Bourg-d'Oueil, Haute-Garonne (south-eas ...
and arrived in
Bagneres-de-Luchon with a comfortable margin of a minute and a half over the remnants of the morning breakaway he had left behind and nearly three minutes over the race's elite riders. The next day, Fédrigo won in
Pau on a stage that had been targeted by
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...
. Eight of nine riders from an early breakaway, Fédrigo and Armstrong among them, finished together after riding over the hors catégorie
Col du Tourmalet
Col du Tourmalet (; elevation ) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds of th ...
and
Col d'Aspin
Col d'Aspin ( oc, Còth d'Aspin) (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the French Pyrenees in the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It connects Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, in the upper Adour valley, with Arreau, on the River Neste.
Details of the c ...
climbs. Charteau was the team's highest-placed rider in Paris, finishing the Tour in 44th place, at a deficit of 1 hour, 24 minutes, and 12 seconds to Tour champion
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vue ...
. The squad was tenth in the teams classification.
Vuelta a España
Bbox attended the
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...
, but was shut out of any noteworthy results. Tschopp's third place from a breakaway in stage 8 on the
Xorret del Catí was the only time they so much as finished in the top ten of a stage. The squad's highest-placed rider in the final overall standings was Sprick in 54th, at a deficit of an hour and 45 minutes to Vuelta champion
Vincenzo Nibali
), The Nibbler
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Messina, Sicily, Italy
, height =
, weight =
, currentteam =
, discipline = Road
, role = Rider
, ridertype = Climber
, proyears1 = 2005
, proteam1 =
, proyears2 = 2006–2012
, protea ...
. The squad was 19th in the teams classification, better only than the small Spanish teams and .
Season victories
Footnotes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbox 2010
2010 road cycling season by team
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
2010 in French sport