25 YEARS AT THE TOP

The Ag2r La Mondiale team celebrated their 25th birthday in 2016. They were set up by Vincent Lavenu, who remains the general manager, as Chazal in 1992. That year, there were 12 riders, who picked up six wins in Europe, including Paris- Camembert. In 1996, Petit Casino took over sponsorship and Ag2r, previously a second sponsor, took over in 2000. Chazal raced their irst Tour de France in 1993, with Eric Caritoux taking 37th overall. Their irst Tour stage win came in 1998, courtesy of Jacky Durand, and since then, the team has won 14 more. Although they had a challenging year in 2009, with only ive wins coming from a largely young squad, they are now consistently achieving the home country’s best GC results at the Tour, with two recent runner-up placings: Jean- Christophe Péraud in 2014 and Romain Bardet last year. The team also runs a development squad, the Chambéry Cyclisme Formation, through whose ranks seven of the current squad came up, including Bardet, Pierre Latour and Ben Gastauer.