After a 2022 season marked by eleven victories, including a Tour de France win with Bob Jungels, the AG2R Citroën team started its 2023 season on 23 January with the ambition of doing even better than in 2022.
On this occasion, Bruno Angles, Managing Director of AG2R LA MONDIALE, Vincent Cobée, Managing Director of CITROËN and Vincent Lavenu, Managing Director of the cycling team, presented the TEAM AG2R CITROËN 2023 staff. In the presence of Benoît Cosnefroy, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Bastien Tronchon and Greg Van Avermaet presented the team's ambitions for the new season, which will focus on teamwork, youth and competitive spirit.
Bruno Angles, Managing Director of AG2R LA MONDIALE, said: "We are very proud of TEAM AG2R CITROËN and we have every confidence that it will bring us great victories in 2023 and be among the top 10 in the World Tour classification. This season will also be marked by youth, with 12 riders under the age of 25, including three new recruits from the training centre that has produced many talents. I'm sure they'll bring a lot of enthusiasm, strength and sparkle. We will always be behind them, encouraging them every step of the way. Together we are stronger and we won't give up."
Vincent Cobée, CEO of Citroën: "2022 was a year full of ups and downs. What I remember most of all is the team spirit and brotherhood that animates our drivers. The dynamism that unites them and their understanding make me confident that our riders will once again perform brilliantly in the most important races on the calendar. I am very confident of the team's potential and its ability to achieve great victories. It's a close-knit team with unwavering solidarity. This season I hope to see even more fighting spirit and endurance from the riders in the various events."
Vincent Lavenu, Managing Director of TEAM AG2R CITROËN: "Luck has not been on our side during the 2022 season: several second places, numerous rider crashes and the Covid-19 epidemic. But we never give up. This fighting spirit enabled us to achieve great successes, such as winning a stage of the Tour de France and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. In 2023, we want to do a very good Tour de France and be in a good position in the general classification. It will also be important to focus on our number of victories, so we hope to have between 15 and 20. We want to be one of the top 10 teams in the world. "
29 riders from 8 nations make up the 2023 team: Alex Baudin, Clément Berthet, Franck Bonnamour, Geoffrey Bouchard, Mikaël Cherel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Stan Dewulf, Felix Gall, Pierre Gautherat, Dorian Godon, Jaako Hänninen, Paul Lapeira, Lawrence Naesen, Oliver Naesen, Ben O'Connor, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Nans Peters, Nicolas Prodhomme, Antoine Raugel, Valentin Retailleau, Marc Sarreau, Michael Schär, Damien Touzé, Bastien Tronchon, Greg Van Avermaet, Andrea Vendrame, Clement Venturini and Larry Warbasse.v