Team TotalEnergies () is a professional

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

that competes as a

UCI ProTeam UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

UCI Continental Circuits 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 ...

races, and

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ...

races when invited as a ''wild card'' entry. In previous years, the team was known as Brioches La Boulangère, Bonjour, Bouygues Télécom, and Bbox Bouygues Telecom and Europcar. The 2015 season was the last under the sponsorship of

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 ...

; the team has been sponsored by

Direct Énergie Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

since 2016.

Beginnings

The team was founded in 1984 as

Système U Système U is a French symbol group retailers cooperative, comprising about eight hundred independent hypermarkets and supermarkets, headquartered in the Parc Tertiaire SILIC in Rungis, France. It owns the trademarks Hyper U, Super U, Marché ...

. The team disbanded in 1985 but returned in 1986 under new management.

Cyrille Guimard Cyrille Guimard (born 20 January 1947) is a French former professional road racing cyclist who became a directeur sportif and television commentator. Three of his riders, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, and Lucien Van Impe, won the Tour de Franc ...

became the

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' ( French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

, bringing his protégé

Laurent Fignon Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He is former FICP World No. 1 in 1989. He nearly captured t ...

. A change of sponsor in 1990 renamed the team Castorama. In 1992 Guimard became

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

of the team. In 1995,

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 ...

, a former professional racer, became director of the team. From 1996 to 1999, the team withdrew from top-level competition. Bernaudeau set up a development team in the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

region called Vendée U.

History

In 2000, the team again became a professional team Bonjour, still under the control of the

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

Bernaudeau. In 2003, the team became "Brioches La Boulangère", then "Bouygues Télécom" in 2005. The amateur team Vendée U still acts as feeder team for the professional team. As Bonjour and Brioches La Boulangère the team gained prominence with promising young stars

Fabrice Salanson Fabrice Salanson (17 November 1979 – 3 June 2003) was a French road cyclist. He was considered to be a very promising talent before his death in 2003. During his short career, he most notably won a stage of the 2002 Grand Prix du Midi Libre and ...

Thomas Voeckler Thomas Voeckler (; born 22 June 1979) is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2017, for the team and its previous iterations. One of the most prominent French riders of his generation, Voeckler has b ...

and

Sylvain Chavanel Sylvain Chavanel''Procycling'', UK, November 2008 (born 30 June 1979) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the , , and two spells with the / team. His brother Sébastien Chavanel ...

. Salanson's death due to heart disease in 2003 was a blow to the team. Voeckler wore the yellow jersey as leader of the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

for 10 days in the

2004 Tour de France The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti ...

while also French national champion and became a national hero. The team competes mainly in French races. Chavanel left the team in 2005 to join

Cofidis Cofidis is a French company, now majority owned by Crédit Mutuel, based in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. Founded in 1982 by 3 Suisses International in cooperation with Cetelem, Cofidis specialized in the consumer credit business of the 3 Suisses Group. It ...

. On 29 September 2009 Bbox Bouygues Telecom along with

were not allowed to renew their ProTour licenses due to poor results.

2010–2011

Tour de Romandie 2011 - Prologue - équipe Europecar

In their first season post-relegation, the team made showings at some grand tours, winning several stages and holding various classification jerseys. They had particular success in the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. However sponsorship questions and unmet desires to rejoin the top tier, continued to dog the team. In late 2010, following a lengthy struggle to secure a sponsor for the 2011 season,

was confirmed as the replacement, after assurances that then- French National Champion

would remain with the team, but the guarantee of the team's future, so late that it necessitated an extension of the usual UCI deadline for licence application, was too late to retain the services of

Pierrick Fédrigo Pierrick Fédrigo (born 30 November 1978) is a French former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016 for the , , and teams. He was the winner of the French National Road Race Championships in 2005, and won four stages at t ...

and

Nicolas Vogondy Nicolas Vogondy (born 8 August 1977) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 1997 and 2013. Career Born in Blois, Vogondy won the Tour de Lorraine in 1995 as a junior. He became a professio ...

. Voeckler's contract is worth over 400,000 euros a year, second only to

among French riders, although he had been offered nearly twice as much to leave Bernadeau's team and join

for the 2011 season. Following these sponsorship questions, the team had its best year to date in 2011, winning stages in

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlookin ...

and the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

(in which they also took the team competition). In July, Thomas Voeckler won and held the overall lead in the Tour of France for 10 days; support rider Pierre Rolland received accolades for his defense of Voeckler, and later took a stage victory on the famous

Alpe D'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Western Alps, in the commune of Huez, which is part of the department of Isère in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is part of th ...

climb, leading to the race's overall

white jersey Numerous cycling stage races award a white jersey to signify the current leader and overall winner of a certain competition, or to signify the best young rider in the race. The most prominent of these is the Tour de France, where the jersey is kn ...

title. The team also fielded

Yohann Gène Yohann Gène (born 25 June 1981 in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2005 and 2019, entirely for and its later iterations. He was the first cyclist of Afro-Caribb ...

, the first black rider in the Tour. Europcar hoped that its new higher profile will allow it compete internationally in 2012 and sign more notable riders.

2012 season

Team Europcar failed to achieve World Tour status for the second year. Nevertheless, the team showed strong early-season form, taking second at the renowned Paris-Roubaix with

Sébastien Turgot Sébastien Turgot (born 11 April 1984) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2016 for the and teams. His biggest result came when he came in third in the 2008 Paris–Tours after leading in ...

, and then winning the next classic on the schedule, as Thomas Voeckler rode solo to victory for 30 kilometers at the

Brabantse Pijl The Brabantse Pijl ( en, Brabant Arrow, french: italic=yes, Flèche Brabançonne or ''Flèche Branconne'') is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race held annually in Flemish Brabant and in Walloon Brabant, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been or ...

. Following that result, the team continued their spring success with top-five showings from Voeckler in both Ardennes Week classics, the Amstel Gold and

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Monuments'' of the European professional r ...

. The squad sent to Gabon also enjoyed stage victories in late April from both Géne and Voeckler, while

Anthony Charteau Anthony Charteau (born 4 June 1979 in Nantes) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2001 and 2013. His biggest career victory was winning the Mountains classification in the Tour de France in t ...

won the overall lead for the third year running; and in Europe team sprinter

Matteo Pelucchi Matteo Pelucchi (born 21 January 1989) is an Italian former professional road cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He also competed in track cycling at a junior level. Career He rode for a year with in 2012, and four years with between ...

took a stage in Dunkerque at the beginning of May. In April the team received a

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 ...

invitation 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 ...

, along with three other French-registered teams. In the Tour, Europcar rider Voeckler won stages 10 and 16 and the

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest po ...

jersey, and Pierre Rolland won stage 11.

2013 season

Although negotiations with lead sponsor Europcar to extend their sponsorship beyond the end of the season have so far been unsuccessful, the team began their season with strong showings in some early races, seeing

taking a stage as well as winning the overall classification 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 ( ...

, the team's fourth successive overall victory in Gabon. The team later took three successive stage wins at the

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a sta ...

, with

Bryan Coquard Bryan Coquard (born 25 April 1992) is a French cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He was a silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Omnium. Career Youth and amateur career Coquard began cycling in 1999 at the age of sev ...

winning the second and fourth stages, and

Jérôme Cousin Jérôme Cousin (born 5 June 1989) is a French professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . In October 2015 announced that Cousin would join them from 2016 on a two-year contract, after six years with and its previous ...

winning the third stage. Coquard took two wins at the

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a multiple stage bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily in February. It usually con ...

, winning stages eight and nine. In the team's first World Tour appearance of the season, at

Damien Gaudin Damien Gaudin (born 20 August 1986 in Beaupréau) is a French former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2021. He competed for France at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Gaudin left at the end of the 2013 season, and joine ...

achieved a victory in the race-opening prologue. Gaudin won the

Cholet-Pays de Loire Grand Prix Cholet-Pays de la Loire is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in March in Cholet, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle rac ...

single-day race, later in March, while

won the fourth stage of the

Tour de Normandie Tour de Normandie is a road bicycle race held annually in the region of Normandy, France. The race started in 1939, but was not held in the periods of 1940–1955 and 1960–1980. It was originally a race for amateurs, but was opened for professi ...

. In April, Pierre Rolland won the penultimate stage of the

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hou ...

, en route to winning the race overall.

Cyril Gautier Cyril Gautier (born 26 September 1987) is a French road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2007 to 2022. He was named in the start list for the 2015 Vuelta a España. In August 2015, L'Équipe reported Gautier had signed for for ...

won the

Tour du Finistère Tour du Finistère is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April around the city of Quimper, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, also being part of the Coupe de France de cyclisme sur route ...

from an eight-rider breakaway move, while

Natnael Berhane Natnael Berhane ( ti, ናትናኤል ብርሃነ; born 5 January 1991 in Asmara) is an Eritrean professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for amateur team AlShafar Jumeirah. He is a two time African cycling champion in 2012 and 2013. ...

won the queen stage of the

Tour of Turkey The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey ( tr, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Bisiklet Turu) is a professional road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Turkey since 1963. In 2005 the race became part of the UCI Europe Tour, rated as a 2.2 even ...

, finishing the race second overall the first place on the General Classification was awarded to Berhane after an anti-doping rule violation. Coquard's good performances saw him take the lead of the

UCI Europe Tour 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 ...

, and continued his form into may, winning the second stage of the

Tour de Picardie The Tour de Picardie was a professional multi-stage cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

. In June, David Veilleux soloed to an opening stage victory at the

, while

also won a stage at the race. Gène won the second stage of the

Route du Sud The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de France ...

, and Voeckler took the queen stage of the race the following day, going on to win the race overall. Veilleux continued his form into the Boucles de la Mayenne, winning the race overall. In August,

Angelo Tulik Angelo Tulik (born 2 December 1990 in Moulins) is a French former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2012 and 2019, entirely for and its later iterations. He was named in the start list for the 2015 Tour de France and the 201 ...

achieved his first professional victory by winning the final stage of the inaugural Tour des Fjords. Coquard won his first one-day race, by winning the

Châteauroux Classic The Châteauroux Classic de l'Indre Trophée Fenioux was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in the region of Indre, France, starting and finishing in Châteauroux. It was created in 2004 and since 2005 the race had been organi ...

to take the lead of the

French Road Cycling Cup The French Road Cycling Cup (English for Coupe de France de cyclisme sur route) is a road bicycle racing competition under the Fédération Francaise de Cyclisme (French Cycling Federation) each year since 1992. It consists of a number of one-day ...

from rider

Anthony Geslin Anthony Geslin (born 9 June 1980) is a French retired professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2015, for the and teams. Born in Alençon, Geslin won a bronze medal in the road race at the 2005 UCI Road World Cha ...

. Voeckler won the penultimate stage time trial of the

Tour du Poitou-Charentes Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a road bicycle race held annually in the former region of Poitou-Charentes (now Nouvelle-Aquitaine) France. It was first held in 1987 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI E ...

, to take the overall lead of the race. He maintained the lead until the end, to win the race for the second time.