AG2R La Mondiale

Ag2r La Mondiale
Team information
UCI code ALM
Registered France
Founded 1992 (1992)
Discipline Road
Status UCI WorldTeam
Bicycles Factor
Components SRAM
Website Team home page
Key personnel
General manager Vincent Lavenu
Team manager(s) Laurent Biondi
Team name history
1992–1995
1996
1997–1999
2000–2007
2008–
Chazal
Petit Casino
Casino–AG2R Prévoyance
AG2R Prévoyance
AG2R–La Mondiale

Jersey

AG2R La Mondiale (UCI team code: ALM, formerly AG2R Prévoyance) is a French cycling team with UCI ProTour team status. Its title sponsors are the AG2R Group. which is a French-based interprofessional insurance and supplementary retirement fund group, and the La Mondiale Group, which is a French-based international group for supplementary pension and estate planning insurance. The team is predominantly French.

History

Ag2r team photo at 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 coffee shops called Petit Casino, 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 maillot jaune 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]

Doping

On September 21, 2012, Steve Houanard tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test and was provisionally suspended.[6][7][8]

On May 15, 2013, Sylvain Georges tested positive for the banned stimulant Heptaminol and failed to start stage 11 of the 2013 Giro d'Italia.[9][10] Georges blamed the positive result on the freely available product 'Ginkor Fort' (made from Ginkgo biloba).[11] On May 21 Georges 'B Sample' also tested positive for the stimulant[12] causing the team to voluntarily remove itself from the 2013 Criterium du Dauphine in accordance with MPCC rules.[13] As a result of the positive Georges was banned by the French Cycling Federation for 6 months.[14]

On March 10, 2015, the UCI announced that Lloyd Mondory had tested positive for EPO on February 17 in an out of competition test. As a result, Mondory was suspended bearing the outcome of his B sample analysis.[15][16]

2016 team roster

   RiderDate of birth Previous team 
Gediminas BagdonasDecember 26, 1985An Post-Sean Kelly (2012)
Jan BakelantsFebruary 14, 1986Omega Pharma-Quick Step (2014)
Romain BardetNovember 09, 1990Chambéry CF (2011)
Julien BérardJuly 27, 1987Chambéry CF (2009)
François BidardMarch 19, 1992Chambéry CF (2015)
Guillaume BonnafondJune 23, 1987Chambéry CF (2008)
Mikaël CherelMarch 17, 1986FDJ (2010)
Maxime DanielJune 05, 1991Sojasun (2013)
Nico DenzFebruary 15, 1994Chambéry CF (2015)
Axel DomontAugust 07, 1990Chambéry CF (2012)
Samuel DumoulinAugust 20, 1980Cofidis (2012)
Hubert DupontNovember 13, 1980RAGT Semences (2005)
Ben GastauerNovember 14, 1987Chambéry CF (2009)
Damien GaudinAugust 20, 1986Europcar (2013)
Cyril GautierSeptember 26, 1987Europcar (2015)
Alexis GougeardMarch 05, 1993USSA Pavilly Barentin (2013)
Patrick GretschApril 07, 1987Argos-Shimano (2013)
Hugo HouleSeptember 27, 1990SpiderTech-C10 (2012)
Quentin JauréguiApril 22, 1994Roubaix Lille Métropole (2014)
Blel KadriSeptember 03, 1986GSC Blagnac (2006)
Pierre LatourOctober 12, 1993Chambéry CF (2014)
Sébastien MinardJune 12, 1982Cofidis (2010)
Matteo MontagutiJanuary 06, 1984De Rosa-Stac Plastic (2010)
Jean-Christophe PéraudMay 22, 1977Omega Pharma-Lotto (2010)
Domenico PozzovivoNovember 30, 1982Colnago-CSF Inox (2012)
Christophe RiblonJanuary 17, 1981CC Nogent-sur-Oise (2004)
Jesse SergentJuly 08, 1988Trek Factory Racing (2015)
Sébastien TurgotApril 11, 1984Europcar (2013)
Johan VansummerenFebruary 04, 1981Garmin-Sharp (2014)
Alexis VuillermozJune 01, 1988Sojasun (2013)
Benoît Cosnefroy (Aug 15–Dec 31, trainee)October 17, 1995
Etienne Fabre (Aug 15–Dec 31, trainee)August 05, 1996
Rémy Rochas (Aug 15–Dec 31, trainee)May 18, 1996

Major results

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 Pliuschin
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

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. Future plc. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  5. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ag2r-la-mondiale-extends-sponsorship-through-2020-news-shorts/
  6. Cycling News. "Houanard provisionally suspended for EPO". Cyclingnews.com.
  7. "Steve Houanard provisionally suspended after A-sample positive for EPO". velonation.com.
  8. "Ag2r suspends Houanard after positive EPO test". VeloNews.com.
  9. Cycling News. "Sylvain Georges positive for Heptaminol". Cyclingnews.com.
  10. "Sylvain Georges returns positive A sample for Heptaminol, out of Giro d'Italia". velonation.com.
  11. Cycling News. "Georges takes blame for positive doping control". Cyclingnews.com.
  12. Cycling News. "Georges' B Sample also positive, UCI confirms". Cyclingnews.com.
  13. Peter Cossins. "Ag2r confirm they won't ride Dauphiné". Cyclingnews.com.
  14. Cycling News. "UCI wants Georges' ban extended to two years". Cyclingnews.com.
  15. "Ag2r's Lloyd Mondory positive for EPO - VeloNews.com". VeloNews.com.
  16. Cycling News. "Mondory returns adverse analytical finding for EPO". Cyclingnews.com.

External links

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