AG2R Citroën Team

AG2R Citroën Team (UCI team code: ACT) is a French cycling team with UCI WorldTeam status. Its title sponsors are French insurance firm AG2R La Mondiale and French automobile manufacturer Citroën. The team is predominantly French.

AG2R Citroën Team
Team information
UCI codeACT
RegisteredFrance
Founded1992 (1992)
Discipline(s)Road
StatusUCI WorldTeam
BicyclesFactor (To 2018)
Eddy Merckx Cycles (2019–2020)
BMC (2021–)
ComponentsCampagnolo
WebsiteTeam home page
Key personnel
General managerVincent Lavenu
Team manager(s)Laurent Biondi
Team name history
1992–1995 Chazal
1996 Petit Casino
1997–1999 Casino–AG2R Prévoyance
2000–2007 AG2R Prévoyance
2008–2014 AG2R–La Mondiale
2015–2020 AG2R La Mondiale
2021– AG2R Citroën Team

History
An AG2R Prévoyance team photo at the sign-in during stage 11 of the 2006 Tour de France

In 1992 Vincent Lavenu, 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.[1]

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.[2] The team obtained successes with Alexander Vinokourov, Jaan Kirsipuu and Lauri Aus.

The insurance company Ag2r Prevoyance took over as the main sponsor in 2000.[3] The team obtained further successes with Laurent Brochard, Jaan Kirsipuu and Jean-Patrick Nazon. In 2006, the team joined the UCI ProTour, following the signings of big cycling names Francisco Mancebo and Christophe Moreau. Fassa Bortolo's exit from the competition had freed a licence and AG2R was the only team left vying for the license, as Comunidad Valenciana voluntarily withdrew, while the proposed new team of former Fassa Bortolo sporting director Giancarlo Ferretti turned out to be without financial backing. Ag2r obtained success in the 2006 Tour de France with a stage win by Sylvain Calzati, and a day in the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification by Cyril Dessel.

Rinaldo Nocentini took the yellow jersey after stage 7 of the 2009 Tour de France after a successful breakaway in which fellow Ag2r-La Mondiale rider Christophe Riblon also took part and earned the daily combativity award. 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, winning a stage and having Jean-Christophe Péraud 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,[4] at the 2016 Tour de France the sponsorship was extended a further two years – into the 2020 season.[5]

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 Team from the 2021 season after the French car company announced that they had become the co-sponsor of the team.[6]

The team experienced further success during the 2021 Tour de France, when Tour debutant Ben O'Connor ascended to victory on Stage 9 in the Alpine village of Tignes.[7]

Doping

On 21 September 2012 Steve Houanard tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test and was provisionally suspended.[8][9][10]

On 15 May 2013 Sylvain Georges tested positive for the banned stimulant Heptaminol and failed to start stage 11 of the 2013 Giro d'Italia.[11][12] Georges blamed the positive result on the freely available product 'Ginkor Fort' (made from Ginkgo biloba).[13] On 21 May Georges 'B Sample' also tested positive for the stimulant[14] causing the team to voluntarily remove itself from the 2013 Critérium du Dauphiné in accordance with MPCC rules.[15] As a result of the positive Georges was banned by the French Cycling Federation for 6 months.[16]

On 10 March 2015 the UCI announced that Lloyd Mondory 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.[17][18]

Team roster
Ben O'Connor at the 2022 Tour de France
As of 2 August 2023.[19][20][21]
Rider Date of birth
 Alex Baudin (FRA) (2001-05-25) 25 May 2001
 Clément Berthet (FRA) (1997-08-02) 2 August 1997
 Franck Bonnamour (FRA) (1995-06-20) 20 June 1995
 Geoffrey Bouchard (FRA) (1992-04-01) 1 April 1992
 Mikaël Cherel (FRA) (1986-03-17) 17 March 1986
 Benoît Cosnefroy (FRA) (1995-10-17) 17 October 1995
 Stan Dewulf (BEL) (1997-12-20) 20 December 1997
 Felix Gall (AUT) (1998-02-27) 27 February 1998
 Pierre Gautherat (FRA) (2003-01-16) 16 January 2003
 Dorian Godon (FRA) (1996-05-25) 25 May 1996
 Jaakko Hänninen (FIN) (1997-04-16) 16 April 1997
 Jordan Labrosse[lower-alpha 1] (FRA) (2002-09-15) 15 September 2002
 Paul Lapeira (FRA) (2000-02-25) 25 February 2000
 Lawrence Naesen (BEL) (1992-08-28) 28 August 1992
 Oliver Naesen (BEL) (1990-09-16) 16 September 1990
Rider Date of birth
 Ben O'Connor (AUS) (1995-11-25) 25 November 1995
 Aurélien Paret-Peintre (FRA) (1996-02-27) 27 February 1996
 Valentin Paret-Peintre (FRA) (2001-01-14) 14 January 2001
 Nans Peters (FRA) (1994-03-12) 12 March 1994
 Nicolas Prodhomme (FRA) (1997-02-01) 1 February 1997
 Antoine Raugel (FRA) (1999-02-14) 14 February 1999
 Valentin Retailleau (FRA) (2000-06-18) 18 June 2000
 Marc Sarreau (FRA) (1993-06-10) 10 June 1993
 Michael Schär (SUI) (1986-09-29) 29 September 1986
 Damien Touzé (FRA) (1996-07-07) 7 July 1996
 Bastien Tronchon (FRA) (2002-03-29) 29 March 2002
 Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) (1985-05-17) 17 May 1985
 Andrea Vendrame (ITA) (1994-07-20) 20 July 1994
 Clément Venturini (FRA) (1993-10-16) 16 October 1993
 Larry Warbasse (USA) (1990-01-28) 28 January 1990
  1. Joined on 1 August.

Major wins
Main article: List of wins by Chazal and its successors

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
  1. "Hung Up in Picardy, Hoping for Bigger Things". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  2. "Cycling team rolls on to the big time". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  3. "Histoire de l'equipe cycliste Ag2r Prevoyance". Ag2r non official supporters. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  4. "News shorts: AG2R renews through 2018, Androni on Kuota". Cyclingnews.com. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  5. "AG2R la Mondiale extends sponsorship through 2020 - News Shorts".
  6. Branquinho, Lance (14 September 2020). "AG2R Citroën team to ride BMC in 2021". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  7. "Australian Ben O'Connor wins stage nine of the Tour de France, moves to second behind yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar".
  8. "Houanard provisionally suspended for EPO". Cyclingnews.com.
  9. "Steve Houanard provisionally suspended after A-sample positive for EPO". velonation.com.
  10. "Ag2r suspends Houanard after positive EPO test". VeloNews.com.
  11. "Sylvain Georges positive for Heptaminol". Cyclingnews.com.
  12. "Sylvain Georges returns positive A sample for Heptaminol, out of Giro d'Italia". velonation.com.
  13. "Georges takes blame for positive doping control". Cyclingnews.com.
  14. "Georges' B Sample also positive, UCI confirms". Cyclingnews.com.
  15. Peter Cossins. "Ag2r confirm they won't ride Dauphiné". Cyclingnews.com.
  16. "UCI wants Georges' ban extended to two years". Cyclingnews.com.
  17. "Ag2r's Lloyd Mondory positive for EPO – VeloNews.com". VeloNews.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  18. "Mondory returns adverse analytical finding for EPO". Cyclingnews.com.
  19. "AG2R Citroën Team". UCI. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  20. "Les coureurs – AG2R Citroën Team". AG2R Citroën Team. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  21. "Jordan Labrosse joins the AG2R CITROËN team from August 1st until 2025". ag2rcitroenteam.com. AG2R Citroën Team. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
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