Groupama FDJ - Official Thread

[tobydawq]

Why Scotson the least French?

Based on his name he is probably of British descent, and at the very least, Australian culture was heavily influenced by the British culture, which was heavily influenced by the French culture due to the Norman invasion.

I think that makes him more French than Ludvigsson, Valter and Konovalovas.

I would probably rate Valter the least French because he is the only one on the list who doesn't speak an Indo-European language natively.

Also, Konovalovas has ridden with the team since forever, so his frenchyness is not too small.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

He's also quite emotional, which also seems very French to me.

He also has goats, so unless Démare has a Gallic rooster, he's not in the same league.

 

[RedheadDane]

Why Scotson the least French?

Based on his name he is probably of British descent, and at the very least, Australian culture was heavily influenced by the British culture, which was heavily influenced by the French culture due to the Norman invasion.

I think that makes him more French than Ludvigsson, Valter and Konovalovas.

I would probably rate Valter the least French because he is the only one on the list who doesn't speak an Indo-European language natively.

I was mostly looking at (physical) distance, but I see your point.

Also, Konovalovas has ridden with the team since forever, so his frenchyness is not too small.

You're saying he has absorbed Frenchyness over the years?

I guess Benjamin Thomas also looks like quite an English name...

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Seems they asked for an extension to the time-cut for Démare, unsuccessful as we know but he'll be doing the Vuelta.

We continue the Tour without our sprinter Arnaud Démare who didn't make the time cut in Tignes. He did everything he could.

There was some confusion about extending the time cut. Contact was made in the morning with the commissaires' panel in case of bad weather but there was no follow-up.

It's a pity for Arnaud because we knew he could win stages at the Tour de France. But that's racing. He'll make it up at La Vuelta.

Marc Madiot blog: Hospital visits and fears for the future

'If we're all driving to hospital, our sport is in big trouble' says Groupama-FDJ boss after crash-ridden first week at the Tour de France

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[RedheadDane]

Seems like the talk about extending the time cut was generally - not just for Demare - since it was done before the stage.

And we still haven't figured out the Frenchness Ranking.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

If Konovalovas had been with him, they would have extended it for sure. He can speak their language.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Seems like the talk about extending the time cut was generally - not just for Demare - since it was done before the stage.

True, it was for everyone of course, clumsy wording on my part. And looking forward to seeing that final ranking

 

[RedheadDane]

I think it's starting to look something like this:

Pinot (wins because he has goats, apparently...)
Demare
Brunel (though, I'm not sure he deserves to be this high up. I have found evidence that he has a Goku tattoo on his arm. Surely to be properly French you need to have an Asterix tattoo, or something like that!)
Random unsorted French guys (we need to get back to them.)
Guglielmi, Bonnet, Thomas (not sure which order, but their names aren't French)
Reichenbach
Duchesne
The other Swiss guys (again, dunno about the specific order)
Then there's a bunch of guys I can't order
Valter last (Hungarian is just too weird!)

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Bonnet seems to be a pretty French surname. Charlotte Bonnet should have been listed as well though.

Bonnet (surname) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[RedheadDane]

Bonnet seems to be a pretty French surname. Charlotte Bonnet should have been listed as well though.

Bonnet (surname) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Well... I shall put him up with the rest of the blob of French people. Just toby who said he thought it looked English...

Pinot (wins because he has goats, apparently...)
Demare
Brunel (though, I'm not sure he deserves to be this high up. I have found evidence that he has a Goku tattoo on his arm. Surely to be properly French you need to have an Asterix tattoo, or something like that!)
Random unsorted French guys (we need to get back to them.)
Guglielmi, Thomas (not sure which order, but their names aren't French)
Reichenbach
Duchesne
The other Swiss guys (again, dunno about the specific order)
Then there's a bunch of guys I can't order
Valter last (Hungarian is just too weird!)

 

[RedheadDane]

Just dragging this one up again because of a little observation I've made over the last few days.

I had just about managed to figure out how to tell Gaudu and Madouas apart, now I got to deal with Storer too!
No piggyback rides for/from him, though.

 

[BR2]

I always have such problems telling Madouas and Gaudu apart in a race and I'm always surprised when others do it easily.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Just dragging this one up again because of a little observation I've made over the last few days.

I had just about managed to figure out how to tell Gaudu and Madouas apart, now I got to deal with Storer too!
No piggyback rides for/from him, though.

Yeah, they look like they were separated at birth...

 

[RedheadDane]

Yeah, they look like they were separated at birth...

Of course they're not Yates-levels similar, but what's with the collection of baby-faced riders on that team?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Of course they're not Yates-levels similar, but what's with the collection of baby-faced riders on that team?

I think it's just the lighting/delighting. Even Konovalovas looks like a confused teenager.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

They have officially lost some of their Frenchiness by drinking beers.

 

[Tonton]

A lot to be happy about, the first happy finish in Paris for the team in a while. The big success is Gaudu. Beyond the 4th place, Gaudu has acquired a ton of experience, and quite a bit of confidence. In a crazy Tour like this one, he fought is way up the GC. He was actually getting better as the race went on. Hats off to Madouas, helping Gaudu and still finishing high. in the GC.

What doesn't make this a great Tour for FDJ is the lack of a stage win. I thought that Pinot would get one: it wasn't a great Pinot. And it wasn't a great Kung in the two ITT, or was it that (same thing for Ganna) the best ITT riders in the world are this Tour's top-3 and its green jersey.

Very good Tour for Groupama-FDJ.

 

[RedheadDane]

They couldn't have waited with the beers until everyone was out of the shower?

 

[staubsauger]

Francaise des Jeux carries along an incredible amount of sterling talents this season. Like a tree nursery that produces finest firs!

6 promoted talents from their farm team. Watson, Gregoire, Martinez, Askey. Etc Jake Stewart who's not much older and has been 2nd at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad before.


If that's where Madiot spend most of his increased budget since 2018, then chapeau. Fantastic decision.

 

[Tonton]

Of all the French teams, FDJ has dominated the youth cycling landscape, the best riders go to CC Etupes, that's pro racing prep' at its best for a 17-18 year-old.

The change that I see is a new, more modern approach to cycling. Having seen Bernal and then Pogacar, and THEN Remco emerging and winning at such a young age, FDJ had to take a serious look at themselves and move on from the Guimard-Jutsu, the art of grooming a rider, basically.

It's Gaudu's time, the last of the groomed ones. He won the '16 Tour de l'Avenir beating Bernal by like three minutes. What can he do in the next five years? I hope for the best and pray for a Gaudu vs. Bernal at a Vuelta.

Others are coming, Romain is for real, it was new for a French team to throw the puppy into a lion's den at Strade Bianche. He looked the part.

 

[RedheadDane]

PCS made a rather interesting article about it back in January:

Continental teams that delivered the most professionals | 25 pro's from Conti Groupama-FDJ in five years! (procyclingstats.com)

 

[pastronef]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1764614955880284175

View: https://twitter.com/friebos/status/1764614955880284175

 

[RedheadDane]

Seems some of these French guys speak English a lot better than the general assumption, or that they show in public.
Makes sense, really. A guy like Gaudu might speak English well enough for a team briefing - where he can ask for clarification if he doesn't quite understand - but not feel confident enough to speak English in a live-interview.

 

[pastronef]

with Pinot gone, they probably decided to get out of their comfort zone finally. and if Lenny hopefully signs for Bahrain, the French public too will have to ditch their cosy frenchy lenses they see the sport through

 

[RedheadDane]

Interestingly, they actually have more French riders this year than they did last year.

Armirail, Demare, Ladagnous, and Pinot out.
Barthe, Le Huitouze, Rochas, Russo, and Sarreau in.