In 2013 the cycling world rediscovered the joy of Colombians. Nairo Quintana’s superb Tour de France was a highlight for the South Americans but Carlos Betancur’s season was full of highlights. The French team’s new signings added flair and exposure although the tally board still lacked wins. The acquisition of Betancur ensured podium places the team but the season highlight was Christophe Riblon’s stage win at the Tour de France. Once again though, there was an imbalance of performances with only eight riders standing atop the podium.
Ag2r had somewhat of a season of transition in chasing general classifications after the loss of Nicholas Roche. The Irishman moved over to Saxobank which led to change attack for Ag2r in the grand tours. Betancur had a super start to the season although could not maintain his form into September. Riblon had a super month in July and was the only rider to win a World Tour race.
Romain Bardet will be burned with the pressure of being another the French hope for future Tour success but he may just be capable of delivering. His breakthrough Tour de France was representative of the team’s season, plenty of promise but no cigar.
The change over the off-season saw 11 riders join and 10 riders leave. Steve Houanard was sacked after a positive test so the balance of numbers remained the same. Whilst there was change in personal and approach to races, Ag2r managed to snare two team classifications wins.
The team classification win at the Route du Sud was a repeat of 2012 but was a relatively minor achievement. The Critérium International victory was not of the same calibre as the Tirreno-Adriatico but ensured some podium time.
The loss of Roche, Sébastien Hinualt, Martin Elmiger and Kristof Goddaert among others impacted on the nucleus of the team. Hinualt won two races in 2012 but the aforementioned riders were important cogs in the Ag2r machine. In the review of last season, I said that ‘The most exciting signings for the team are Davide Appollonio from Sky and Yauheni Hutarovich from FDJ-Big Mat.’ Neither rider notched a win and will need to improve in 2014. So how did the season go?
Season Highlights: The early results at Étoile de Bessèges and Tour Méditerranéen took some pressure of the team and when Blel Kadri soloed to the win at Roma Maxima, the season appeared full of promise. In the Ardennes Betancur placed third at La Flèche Wallonne and backed that up with fourth at Liège–Bastogne–Liège days later. This came off seventh place overall at the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco although he did not finish Amstel Gold.
At the Giro, Betancur and Pozzovivo were riding under the radar with all eyes focused on Bradley Wiggins and Vincenzo Nibali. Betancur had three second places on stages at the Giro, while his duel with Rafał Majka in the final week for the white jersey was an intriguing feature of the race.
Betancur didn’t post another result in the season but will have the knowledge that he can complete for a podium place at grand tours in the future. The team will need to build on the success of 2013 and aim for top five overall positions at the grand tours.
The grand tour highlights continued in July with Riblon’s piece de résistance win at the Tour. Kadri, Bardet and Riblon all had a stage with a red dossard having been judged the most combative. Riblon was the eventual winner of the competition as Ag2r had a productive outing in their home grand tour. A stage win and most combative meant the cameras scanned the peloton for the Ag2r riders throughout July.
Riblon snagged another win at the Tour de Pologne but stage wins were rare occurrences in 2013.
Pozzovivo’s showing in the Vuelta was surprising as it was set up by placing third in the Stage 11 ITT. With his result, Ag2r could claim success in the grand tours with the promise of what Bardet, Betancur and Pozzovivo can achieve next year an exciting prospect.
While the overall classification results were promising, Bardet notched the only overall victory. Results were posted at Étoile de Bessèges, Tour Méditerranéen, Giro del Trentino, the Tour and Tour de Pologne. The team needs to step it up with a greater spread of winners and with the team having spent another season together, there should be a better understanding if each other’s talents and how to excel.
Season Lowlights: While Bardet let the cycling world know of his talents at the Tour, it was the performance of Jean-Christophe Péraud in July that also occupied the newspaper columns. Unfortunately after crashing during the warm-up before the final ITT at the Tour, Péraud broke his collarbone. He decided to race on to preserve his top ten placing yet was undone by the wet and greasy roads. He crashed on the corner where his wife was cheering him on and landed on the same side as he had previously that day. His Tour was over.
The sacking of Sylvain Georges after a positive at the Giro was expected and the team’s commitment to the MPCC anti-doping movement to voluntarily miss the Critérium du Dauphiné was evidence of its position on doping. This made it two doping sackings in consecutive years after Steve Houanard’s EPO positive Disappointingly, Georges had only moved to Ag2r at the beginning of 2012 after an on-off racing career and looked like a good addition to the team.
Rider of the Season: Having ridden with the Italian team Aqua & Sapone for two seasons, Betancur’s first season at a World Tour team was an overwhelming success. It was the Giro that Betancur excelled in just his second grand tour appearance. Having placed 59th at the 2011 edition, there was little expectation the Colombian climber would perform so well. Betancur mistakenly celebrated victory on Stage 9 at the Giro, failing to register that Maxim Belkov was up the road, this faux pas was forgotten with victory in the youth classification. In 2010 Betancur had won two stages at the baby Giro, GiroBio, and his 2013 results suggests that he could be future winner of the race in years to come as a grand tour that often favours climbers.
Signing of the Season: The signings of note were Betancur and the Italian Domenico Pozzovivo who lit up the Giro. Betancur’s fifth place at the Giro was enough to win the young rider classification. After an impressive Ardennes week, the giro performance was validation of his talent.
Pozzovivo’s move into the World Tour ranks was impressive with tenth overall at the Giro and sixth overall at the Vuelta de España. Having ridden six previous grand tours, the Italian was not as green as his young teammate which showed in his ability to maintain form from May till September.
With two previous top ten places, there was an expectation on the part-time pianist by the team to deliver. And deliver he did. While there was no repeat stage win, his high overall places were important for UCI points which the team always struggles for
Disappointing rider of the season: Having carved out a niche as a sprinter at FDJ, the Belarusian champion Hutarovich looked like bringing some extra wins to the team. He had a handful of second and third places in sprints but proved a disappointment.
It could be said that the team was committed to overall success and he suffered without the support of the team. However, in smaller races he still struggled with matching the top end speed of his rivals.
John Gadret was another disappointment as he had no results to speak of on the road. He won the French Cyclo-Cross championship early in the year but will not be at the team in 2014 as he moves to Movistar.
Rinaldo Nocentini is another rider to have a lacklustre year with third place at Strade Bianchi a rare appearance at the pointy end of races.
2014 Prospects: with a solitary overall victory in 2013, Ag2r need to build confidence in their GC riders by chasing wins at week long races. The responsibility of leading the race and spending time in the leader’s jersey is what their riders need.
Team Sky has perfected this art as Wiggins in 2012 and Froome this season have shown. Their riders are more than capable but they need to look to more than the odd stage win and top ten grand tour places. There will come a time when the team needs to deliver on its promises.
Betancur should enter the Giro as the protected rider looking to defend the white jersey but also aim for the podium. In the World Tour, the team was placed twelfth and better performances in the overall classification would see them move up in the rankings. With Bardet, Betancur, Péraud and Riblon, Ag2r have an array of grand tour riders and the challenge for 2014 will be to build on the success of this season.
Bardet had a breakout Tour, placing 15th overall and fourth in the youth classification. With a long term contract signed, he looks to be the future GC star for the team. Soon to turn 23, he has his best years ahead of him and will be nurtured as a future French star of the sport. He finished off the season strongly with the young rider classification victory in the Tour of Beijing after a long season. He managed to notch his first overall victory in August at the Tour de l’Ain as he also took home the points classification.
Kadri and Hutarovich can chase stage wins or one-day races to keep up morale. Ag2r’s season was successful due to its focus on the grand tours but will need wins rather than top ten placing. Betancur needs the Ardennes for building form and looks a likely victor in the future.
The addition of Sébastien Turgot will add class and hopefully some victories. Patrick Gretsch is another handy addition but the acquisitions from last season should fire after a year of learning how the team works.
UCI Points: 12th Ranked Team with 691 points. Betancur (255), Pozzovivo (146), Péraud (112), Riblon (111), Bardet (67)
Ag2r had somewhat of a season of transition in chasing general classifications after the loss of Nicholas Roche. The Irishman moved over to Saxobank which led to change attack for Ag2r in the grand tours. Betancur had a super start to the season although could not maintain his form into September. Riblon had a super month in July and was the only rider to win a World Tour race.
Romain Bardet will be burned with the pressure of being another the French hope for future Tour success but he may just be capable of delivering. His breakthrough Tour de France was representative of the team’s season, plenty of promise but no cigar.
The change over the off-season saw 11 riders join and 10 riders leave. Steve Houanard was sacked after a positive test so the balance of numbers remained the same. Whilst there was change in personal and approach to races, Ag2r managed to snare two team classifications wins.
The team classification win at the Route du Sud was a repeat of 2012 but was a relatively minor achievement. The Critérium International victory was not of the same calibre as the Tirreno-Adriatico but ensured some podium time.
The loss of Roche, Sébastien Hinualt, Martin Elmiger and Kristof Goddaert among others impacted on the nucleus of the team. Hinualt won two races in 2012 but the aforementioned riders were important cogs in the Ag2r machine. In the review of last season, I said that ‘The most exciting signings for the team are Davide Appollonio from Sky and Yauheni Hutarovich from FDJ-Big Mat.’ Neither rider notched a win and will need to improve in 2014. So how did the season go?
Season Highlights: The early results at Étoile de Bessèges and Tour Méditerranéen took some pressure of the team and when Blel Kadri soloed to the win at Roma Maxima, the season appeared full of promise. In the Ardennes Betancur placed third at La Flèche Wallonne and backed that up with fourth at Liège–Bastogne–Liège days later. This came off seventh place overall at the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco although he did not finish Amstel Gold.
At the Giro, Betancur and Pozzovivo were riding under the radar with all eyes focused on Bradley Wiggins and Vincenzo Nibali. Betancur had three second places on stages at the Giro, while his duel with Rafał Majka in the final week for the white jersey was an intriguing feature of the race.
Betancur didn’t post another result in the season but will have the knowledge that he can complete for a podium place at grand tours in the future. The team will need to build on the success of 2013 and aim for top five overall positions at the grand tours.
The grand tour highlights continued in July with Riblon’s piece de résistance win at the Tour. Kadri, Bardet and Riblon all had a stage with a red dossard having been judged the most combative. Riblon was the eventual winner of the competition as Ag2r had a productive outing in their home grand tour. A stage win and most combative meant the cameras scanned the peloton for the Ag2r riders throughout July.
Pozzovivo’s showing in the Vuelta was surprising as it was set up by placing third in the Stage 11 ITT. With his result, Ag2r could claim success in the grand tours with the promise of what Bardet, Betancur and Pozzovivo can achieve next year an exciting prospect.
While the overall classification results were promising, Bardet notched the only overall victory. Results were posted at Étoile de Bessèges, Tour Méditerranéen, Giro del Trentino, the Tour and Tour de Pologne. The team needs to step it up with a greater spread of winners and with the team having spent another season together, there should be a better understanding if each other’s talents and how to excel.
Season Lowlights: While Bardet let the cycling world know of his talents at the Tour, it was the performance of Jean-Christophe Péraud in July that also occupied the newspaper columns. Unfortunately after crashing during the warm-up before the final ITT at the Tour, Péraud broke his collarbone. He decided to race on to preserve his top ten placing yet was undone by the wet and greasy roads. He crashed on the corner where his wife was cheering him on and landed on the same side as he had previously that day. His Tour was over.
The sacking of Sylvain Georges after a positive at the Giro was expected and the team’s commitment to the MPCC anti-doping movement to voluntarily miss the Critérium du Dauphiné was evidence of its position on doping. This made it two doping sackings in consecutive years after Steve Houanard’s EPO positive Disappointingly, Georges had only moved to Ag2r at the beginning of 2012 after an on-off racing career and looked like a good addition to the team.
Rider of the Season: Having ridden with the Italian team Aqua & Sapone for two seasons, Betancur’s first season at a World Tour team was an overwhelming success. It was the Giro that Betancur excelled in just his second grand tour appearance. Having placed 59th at the 2011 edition, there was little expectation the Colombian climber would perform so well. Betancur mistakenly celebrated victory on Stage 9 at the Giro, failing to register that Maxim Belkov was up the road, this faux pas was forgotten with victory in the youth classification. In 2010 Betancur had won two stages at the baby Giro, GiroBio, and his 2013 results suggests that he could be future winner of the race in years to come as a grand tour that often favours climbers.
Signing of the Season: The signings of note were Betancur and the Italian Domenico Pozzovivo who lit up the Giro. Betancur’s fifth place at the Giro was enough to win the young rider classification. After an impressive Ardennes week, the giro performance was validation of his talent.
Pozzovivo’s move into the World Tour ranks was impressive with tenth overall at the Giro and sixth overall at the Vuelta de España. Having ridden six previous grand tours, the Italian was not as green as his young teammate which showed in his ability to maintain form from May till September.
With two previous top ten places, there was an expectation on the part-time pianist by the team to deliver. And deliver he did. While there was no repeat stage win, his high overall places were important for UCI points which the team always struggles for
Disappointing rider of the season: Having carved out a niche as a sprinter at FDJ, the Belarusian champion Hutarovich looked like bringing some extra wins to the team. He had a handful of second and third places in sprints but proved a disappointment.
It could be said that the team was committed to overall success and he suffered without the support of the team. However, in smaller races he still struggled with matching the top end speed of his rivals.
John Gadret was another disappointment as he had no results to speak of on the road. He won the French Cyclo-Cross championship early in the year but will not be at the team in 2014 as he moves to Movistar.
Rinaldo Nocentini is another rider to have a lacklustre year with third place at Strade Bianchi a rare appearance at the pointy end of races.
2014 Prospects: with a solitary overall victory in 2013, Ag2r need to build confidence in their GC riders by chasing wins at week long races. The responsibility of leading the race and spending time in the leader’s jersey is what their riders need.
Team Sky has perfected this art as Wiggins in 2012 and Froome this season have shown. Their riders are more than capable but they need to look to more than the odd stage win and top ten grand tour places. There will come a time when the team needs to deliver on its promises.
Betancur should enter the Giro as the protected rider looking to defend the white jersey but also aim for the podium. In the World Tour, the team was placed twelfth and better performances in the overall classification would see them move up in the rankings. With Bardet, Betancur, Péraud and Riblon, Ag2r have an array of grand tour riders and the challenge for 2014 will be to build on the success of this season.
Bardet had a breakout Tour, placing 15th overall and fourth in the youth classification. With a long term contract signed, he looks to be the future GC star for the team. Soon to turn 23, he has his best years ahead of him and will be nurtured as a future French star of the sport. He finished off the season strongly with the young rider classification victory in the Tour of Beijing after a long season. He managed to notch his first overall victory in August at the Tour de l’Ain as he also took home the points classification.
Kadri and Hutarovich can chase stage wins or one-day races to keep up morale. Ag2r’s season was successful due to its focus on the grand tours but will need wins rather than top ten placing. Betancur needs the Ardennes for building form and looks a likely victor in the future.
The addition of Sébastien Turgot will add class and hopefully some victories. Patrick Gretsch is another handy addition but the acquisitions from last season should fire after a year of learning how the team works.
UCI Points: 12th Ranked Team with 691 points. Betancur (255), Pozzovivo (146), Péraud (112), Riblon (111), Bardet (67)
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