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Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale () is a French
cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...
with
UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...
status. Its title sponsors are French sporting goods retailer
Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...
and French insurance firm
AG2R La Mondiale AG2R La Mondiale is a French multinational insurance firm headquartered in Paris that engages in global insurance, financial services, supplementary retirement fund and supplementary pension. With €29 billion in contributions in (2017), AG2R ...
. The team is predominantly French.


History

In 1992
Vincent Lavenu Vincent Lavenu (born 12 January 1956) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, from 1992 to 2024 he was the general manager of UCI WorldTeam . Professional career Born in Briançon, Hautes-Alpes, Lavenu had been competing as an amateur ...
, who had just retired from professional cycling, started a professional cycling team with Chazal as the main sponsor. Lavenu had previously organised sponsorship from Chazal of his last professional team. This sponsor stayed from 1992 to 1995. In 1996 Petit Casino, a chain of coffee shops in supermarkets, took over the sponsorship of the team. At this time the team was a second division team that relied on the public to sponsor the team. The team had the saying "''Petit Casino- c’est votre equipe''" – "it's your team", which signified this involvement of the public. In 1997 Casino, the supermarket chain that contained the Petit Casino coffee shops, took over the sponsorship of the team and the budget increased substantially. Lavenu's team could compete in the big races such as the
classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
. The team obtained successes with
Alexander Vinokourov Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokourov ( Kazakh and Russian: ; born 16 September 1973) is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer and the current general manager of UCI WorldTeam . He is of Russian origin. As a competitor, his achieveme ...
,
Jaan Kirsipuu Jaan Kirsipuu (born 17 July 1969) is an Estonian former road bicycle racer, who currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team . He spent the majority of his career riding under the management of Vincent Lavenu, initially joini ...
and
Lauri Aus Lauri Aus (4 November 1970 – 20 July 2003) was an Estonian professional cyclist who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992. Early life and career Aus was born in Tartu and grew up in the village ...
. The insurance company Ag2r Prevoyance took over as the main sponsor in 2000. The team obtained further successes with
Laurent Brochard Laurent Brochard (; born 26 March 1968) is a retired professional road racing cyclist from France. In 1997 he won a stage of the Tour de France and became world road champion in San Sebastián, Spain. Brochard was a runner and started cycling ...
,
Jaan Kirsipuu Jaan Kirsipuu (born 17 July 1969) is an Estonian former road bicycle racer, who currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team . He spent the majority of his career riding under the management of Vincent Lavenu, initially joini ...
and
Jean-Patrick Nazon Jean-Patrick Nazon (born 18 January 1977, in Épinal) is a French former professional road bicycle racer who turned professional in 1997. He is the brother of former racing cyclist Damien Nazon. Major results ;1998 : 6th Overall Circuit de L ...
. In 2006, the team joined the
UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle racing, road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, i ...
, following the signings of big cycling names
Francisco Mancebo Francisco Mancebo Pérez (born 9 March 1976) is a Spanish professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . He initially rode for team , but moved to in 2006. Mancebo is a stage race specialist, with good climbing and individ ...
and
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 ...
.
Fassa Bortolo Fassa Bortolo (2000–2005) was a professional road bicycle racing team founded in 2000 and led by Giancarlo Ferretti. Dubbed the 'Silver Team', it managed to be one of the most successful teams of the era, not in the least due to top sprinter ...
's exit from the competition had freed a licence and AG2R was the only team left vying for the license, as
Comunidad Valenciana The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with more than five million inhabitants.Instituto Nacional de Estadí ...
voluntarily withdrew, while the proposed new team of former Fassa Bortolo sporting director
Giancarlo Ferretti Giancarlo Ferretti (born 16 October 1941) is the former manager of the now-disbanded , Italian professional road bicycle racing team, Fassa Bortolo, sponsored by the Italian cement company of the same name. Career As a Manager was a top-rank ...
turned out to be without financial backing. Ag2r obtained success in the
2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Land ...
with a stage win by
Sylvain Calzati Sylvain Calzati (born 1 July 1979 in Lyon) is a former French road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2003 and 2011. He turned professional during the year 2003 with , and his biggest success was winning the 8th Stage in the 2 ...
, and a day in 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 ...
by Cyril Dessel.
Rinaldo Nocentini Rinaldo Nocentini (born 25 September 1977) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 1999 and 2019 for the , , Formaggi Pinzolo Fiavé, , and teams. In the 2009 Tour de France, his first participatio ...
took the
yellow jersey The general classification of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...
after
stage 7 ''Stage 7'' is a 30-minute American TV drama anthology series that was broadcast on CBS from December 12, 1954, through September 25, 1955. This program premiered in December 1954 with the title ''Your Favorite Playhouse'' with all episodes being ...
of the
2009 Tour de France The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco. The race visite ...
after a successful breakaway in which fellow Ag2r-La Mondiale rider Christophe Riblon also took part and earned the daily
combativity award The combativity award is a prize given in 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 form of bicycle racing, ...
. Nocentini retained the race leadership for eight stages, and Ag2r-La Mondiale also led the team classification from stage 7 to stage 11 and for one further day after stage 14. In 2014, the team had great results at the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
, winning a stage and having
Jean-Christophe Péraud Jean-Christophe Péraud (born 22 May 1977) is a retired French cyclist who rode for and during his professional career. He was a member of the French team at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Career Péraud was European cross-country champ ...
taking second place in the overall classification. In October of that year, it was announced that AG2R would continue to sponsor the team through 2018, at the
2016 Tour de France The 2016 Tour de France was the 103rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 2 July in Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, and concluding on 24 July with the Champs-Élysées s ...
the sponsorship was extended a further two years – into the 2020 season. In September 2020, the team signed a contract with BMC as their bike supplier from 2021 for three years. The team will also be known under the name AG2R
Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...
Team from the 2021 season after the French car company announced that they had become the co-sponsor of the team. The team experienced further success during the
2021 Tour de France The 2021 Tour de France was the 108th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tour (cycling), grand tours. Originally planned for the Denmark, Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the ) was trans ...
, when Tour debutant Ben O'Connor ascended to victory on Stage 9 in the Alpine village of Tignes. In November 2023,
Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...
was announced as the co-title sponsor of the team in a five-year deal. The team will be called Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale from 2024. Decathlon will also be replacing BMC as the bike supplier of the team, with the team using Decathlon's
Van Rysel Van Rysel is a French cycling brand owned by Decathlon, specialising in the design and manufacture of bicycles and cycling equipment (road, gravel and triathlon). The name "Van Rysel" means "from Lille" in Flemish, in reference to the capital of ...
bikes with
Shimano , originally and later , is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing company for cycling components, fishing tackle and rowing (sport), rowing equipment, which also produced golf supplies until 2005 and snowboarding gear ...
components. Citroën will stay on as the team's official car supplier.


Doping

On 21 September 2012 Steve Houanard tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test and was provisionally suspended. On 15 May 2013 Sylvain Georges tested positive for the banned stimulant
Heptaminol Heptaminol is an amino alcohol which is classified as a cardiac stimulant (positive inotropic action). It also increases coronary blood flow along with mild peripheral vasoconstriction. It is sometimes used in the treatment of low blood pressure, ...
and failed to start stage 11 of the
2013 Giro d'Italia The 2013 Giro d'Italia was the 96th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It started in Naples and finished in Brescia. Vincenzo Nibali of team Astana (cycling team), Astana won the General classific ...
. Georges blamed the positive result on the freely available product 'Ginkor Fort' (made from
Ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million year ...
). On 21 May Georges 'B Sample' also tested positive for the stimulant causing the team to voluntarily remove itself from the
2013 Critérium du Dauphiné The 2013 Critérium du Dauphiné was the 65th running of the Critérium du Dauphiné cycling stage race; a race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation, rated as a UCI World Tour, World Tour event on the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI cale ...
in accordance with MPCC rules. As a result of the positive Georges was banned by the French Cycling Federation for 6 months. On 10 March 2015 the UCI announced that
Lloyd Mondory Lloyd Mondory (born 26 April 1982) is a French restaurateur and former professional road bicycle racer. He competed from 2004 to 2015 for the team, before he was suspended for four years for the use of erythropoietin (EPO). His major career ach ...
had tested positive for EPO on 17 February in an out-of-competition test. As a result, Mondory was suspended pending the outcome of his B sample analysis.


Team roster


Major wins


World & National champions

;1997 : French Road Race, Stéphane Barthe : Belgian Road Race, Marc Streel ;1998 : Estonian Road Race, Jaan Kirsipuu : Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu ;1999 : French Time Trial, Gilles Maignan : Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu : Estonian Road Race, Jaan Kirsipuu ;2000 : Estonian Road Race, Lauri Aus : Estonian Time Trial, Lauri Aus ;2001 : Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu : Belgian Road Race, Ludovic Capelle ;2002 : Estonian Road Race, Jaan Kirsipuu : Irish Road Race, Mark Scanlon : Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu ;2003 : Irish Road Race, Mark Scanlon : Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu :Spanish Time Trial, Inigo Bernardez ;2004 : Estonian Road Race, Erki Putstep : Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu : Ukrainian Time Trial, Yuriy Krivtsov ;2006 : Estonian Road Race, Erki Pütsep ;2007 : French Road Race, Christophe Moreau ;2008 : Estonian Time Trial, Tanel Kangert : Moldovan Road Race, Alexandre Pliușchin ;2009 : Irish Road Race, Nicolas Roche ;2010 : Swiss Road Race, Martin Elmiger ;2012 : Luxembourg Time Trial, Ben Gastauer ;2014 : Belarusian Road Race, Yauheni Hutarovich ;2015 : Canada Time Trial, Hugo Houle ;2017 : World U23 Road Race, Benoît Cosnefroy : French Time Trial, Pierre Latour : Belgian Road Race, Oliver Naesen ;2018 : Lithuania Road Race, Gediminas Bagdonas : Lithuania Time Trial, Gediminas Bagdonas : French Time Trial, Pierre Latour ;2019 : French Cyclo-cross, Clément Venturini : Lithuania Time Trial, Gediminas Bagdonas ;2020 : French Cyclo-cross, Clément Venturini ;2021 : French Cyclo-cross, Clément Venturini ;2022 : Luxembourg Time Trial, Bob Jungels


References


External links

*
Chambery CF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale UCI WorldTeams Cycling teams based in France Cycling teams established in 1992 1992 establishments in France