cycling: Team presentations 2017: AG2R La Mondiale

Cycling: In the coming weeks we will be taking a detailed look at the 18 WorldTour teams of the 2017 season. Everything about rider transfers, the team bikes, a review of the past season and the goals for the coming year. First up is the French team from AG2R La Mondiale, where a lot will change, especially from a technical point of view.

AG2R La Mondiale: Transfers

AG2R La Mondiale: team bikes and components

For the coming season, there will be a change in the team bikes at AG2R. In recent years, people were still on the road with bikes from the German manufacturer Focus - from 2017 Romain Bardet and Co. will be taking a seat on the bolides from the English manufacturer Factor. Founded in 2007, Factor is still quite unknown in this country, but they have already been able to gain some experience in the professional field. The British ProContinental Team ONE Pro Cycling has also been using Factor bikes since it was founded in 2015.

But it's not just the team bikes that are changing for the French team - a lot is also changing in terms of wheels and components, or to be more precise: everything. While in the previous season you were still out and about with SRAM drive and ZIPP wheels, from next year the AG2R pros will have Shimano and Mavic. Above all, the equipment contract with the traditional French manufacturer Mavic should be worthwhile for both sides.

AG2R La Mondiale: big goals for 2017

For years, Team Ag2r has primarily stood for a team with good tour drivers. Not infrequently, the French were able to finish in the top 10 in the overall ranking or win the team ranking. After losing important people with Rinaldo Noncentini and Carlos Alberto Betancur before last season, the most important drivers could be retained after this season. Only the end of Jean-Christophe Péraud's career hurts a bit, but the newcomers - especially Mathias Frank - should be able to absorb this loss. Among other things, the team bosses recently extended the contracts with Christophe Riblon, Matteo Montaguti and Domenico Pozzovivo.

In the 2016 season, Ag2r had two big victories: Romain Bardet won a stage in the Tour de France and young Pierre Latour was fastest in a section of the Vuelta a Espana. It is also these two riders who were the strongest in their team in the overall standings: Latour finished second overall at the Critérium International. Bardet achieved the same place in the Tour de France, as well as in the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour of Oman. Overall, the team was able to reach the podium almost 50 times this season, with most of the results being achieved in France at home, as is the case every year.

For the 2017 season, Ag2r has set itself a number of goals, which should be the case due to the transfers. Although the team was not able to land a top-class driver, the best drivers were kept and the French then strengthened in certain areas. In the future, the sponsor should not only be well presented in the mountains, but other route profiles should also come into focus. The only 22-year-old Sondre Holst Enger, for example, will probably be the best sprinter in the team for years. With him, the team bosses are hoping for realistic chances of victory, even on flat terrain. Oliver Naesen and Stijn Vandenbergh are considered very fast drivers who don't shy away from one-day classics with cobblestone sections. We follow the development of the young Pierre Latour with particular enthusiasm. This season he has been able to draw attention to himself several times, such as most recently with his stage win at the Vuelta a Espana. If Latour and Bardet make another step forward and the newcomers deliver what they promise, Team Ag2r should have an even more successful season ahead of them.