Paris (AFP)
The Cofidis team, back in the first world division (WorldTour), sets up an appointment on June 27 in Nice for the arrival of the first stage of the Tour de France which makes its Italian sprinter Elia Viviani and its manager Cédric Vasseur fantasize .
"We finally get a rider who has already won a stage of the Tour, who knows the instructions," said Friday, the day of the presentation of the team, his manager about Viviani, the flagship recruit off season.
The Italian is the first Cofidis runner since David Moncoutié to have already removed a stage from the Great Loop, the number one objective of his team which has not experienced this joy since 2008.
"When we have won a stage of the Tour, we belong to another dimension", estimates Cédric Vasseur who expects from his rider "the behavior of a charismatic leader who knows how to federate".
From Milan-Sanremo, the first big goal of the season for the European champion, who will have a very varied program this season with the prospect after the Tour of the Tokyo Olympics and the defense of his Olympic title in the omnium.
"We gave an Italian orientation to the team," said the northern manager. The ex-sprinter number one of Patrick Lefevere (Deceuninck) comes with Fabio Sabatini, his usual pitcher, but also his trainer and his mechanic. Two other riders, the puncher Simone Consonni and the younger brother Attilio Viviani, then joined the northern group which even bought Italian bikes (de Rosa).
- "Le Petit Poucet du WorldTour" -
The Tour remains the benchmark event for Cofidis, which will participate for the 24th time in the largest race in the world. With, for other reinforcement in a workforce renewed in depth at the offseason (ten departures including that of Nacer Bouhanni and as many arrivals), the climber Guillaume Martin, 12th in the final ranking last year.
Cédric Vasseur clarified on this subject the statement which evoked a top 5 to his runner: "I say that he is at the gates of the top 10 and that he can continue his progression. We can consider approaching a top 5 in two to three years. But in 2020, the objective is to raise your arms on a stage of the Tour. It would also have any chance of positioning it in the general classification. "
"Under the jersey of a French team at the Tour, Guillaume can become the darling of the French," added the manager of the northern team. Present for the first time in a WorldTour team, the Norman will discover Argentina (Tour of San Juan) at the start of the season, in duet with Christophe Laporte, then Paris-Nice and the Tour of the Basque Country. He should also double Tour and Vuelta for the first time.
"A successful season for the team would be a comfortable position in the world ranking, in the top 15, and a stage victory in the Tour", summarizes Cédric Vasseur, aware that with a budget of 13 million euros, his training is "the little Thumb of the WorldTour".
© 2020 AFP