Cycling. Groupama FDJ launches its "conti" team to train young runners

Groupama-FDJ launches its "conti" team, an international group of 12 runners, called to train the young tank of the WorldTour formation.

"The idea is to develop and train riders who can evolve in the near future at the highest level," said general manager Marc Madiot Monday presenting the management and staff of the "conti" , the diminutive of the continental level corresponding to the third world division.

The riders, all young (between 18 and 22 years old) with the exception of the road captain Morgan Kneisky, will be based on a single site, in Besançon, in order to benefit from the proximity of the structure (coach, doctor, physiotherapist, mechanic ...). They will have an identical salary and will have a calendar, both in France (Tour of Alsace, Tour of Brittany, etc.) and abroad (Giro baby), independent of the first team.

"The arrival of Groupama in 2018 gave us the necessary boost to make this project a reality," said Marc Madiot, who also intends to use the team as a laboratory of expertise, on textiles, hypoxia chambers and textile-related innovations.

To further enhance its openness to the international scene, the new training is led by a Swiss, Jens Blatter, who held the same position at BMC Développement.

"We have more young foreign runners (7 out of 12) than French," said Marc Madiot, noting that the riders remained preferentially available to the various national selections. "The priority is training," added sports director Jérôme Gannat (formerly CC Etupes), "without quantified victory goals" .

Here is the identity of the 12 riders of the Conti Groupama-FDJ for the season 2019 pic.twitter.com/DwjH16Qijk