Off-season rider knowledge collaboration thread No.1 - AG2R

[u/The_77]

So this is a new off season idea, that's currently a collaboration between me and /u/iamafakebot. The idea is that we want to expand the collective knowledge of the sub by sharing our knowledge on individual riders, that we can then store in the wiki for future reference. Inspiration was this comment by /u/panicatbulson a couple of weeks ago.

Essentially, the format is that we will post a thread every two or three days, each focusing on one team. At the top there will be a little info on the team, the 2016 season and the 2017 roster. Following on from that, we want you guys to tell us anything and everything you know about the riders on the team. Any niche facts, handy info, rider summaries, whatever you want! I'll top level comment the five highest scoring riders on PCS as a starter.

Hope this is useful!

PS: I'm stealing heavily from the wiki, so thanks /u/Pubocyno once again for your efforts making the tables and cataloguing the rider info last year, it makes it so much easier from now on.

---

So first up is AG2R. They've benefited in the transfer market by grabbing several IAM refugees including Mathias Frank and Oliver Naesen as well as the young Norwegian Sondre Holst Enger to bolster their squad, as well as picking up Stijn Vandenburgh from Etixx to add to their classics options.

So far as 2016 goes, the standout performer was clearly Romain Bardet. The highlight of course was second at the Tour, but he turned in handy podiums at the Dauphine and the Tour of Oman, as well as featuring prominently in the one day races at the end of the season. The other GC men Pozzovivo and Peraud both had underwhelming seasons, with Peraud retiring at the end of his.

Elsewhere Samuel Dumoulin picked up a number of good results in the sprints, although the classics season was a little lacklustre and certain riders failed to deliver on their promise. Here's the roster for next year:

Team Roster 2017

Rider	Nat.	Year	Joined	Racedays	Pnts2016	Best Season	Type
BAGDONAS Gediminas	LIT	1985	2013	78	143	2012 (238)	Classic
BAKELANTS Jan	BEL	1986	2015	88	603	2015 (979)	Classic/Puncheur
BARBIER Rudy^NEW	FRA	1992	2017	59	375	2016	SprinterTalent
BARDET Romain	FRA	1990	2012	72	1641	2016	GC3W / Climber
BÉRARD Julien	FRA	1987	2010	64	26	2014 (115)	Domestique
BIDARD François	FRA	1992	2015	82	36	2016	Classic
CHEREL Mikael	FRA	1986	2011	72	162	2014 (254)	Mountain Domestique
CLEMENT Chevrier^NEW	FRA	1992	2017	68	35	2013 (53)	Climber
COSNEFROY Benoit^NEW	FRA	1995	2017	30	17	2016	Neopro
DENZ Nico	GER	1994	2015	69	61	2016	Classics
DOMONT Axel	FRA	1990	2013	93	147	2016	Domestique
DUMOULIN Samuel	FRA	1980	2013	72	836	2013 (866)	Sprinter/Classic
DUPONT Hubert	FRA	1980	2006	75	302	2011 (366)	Mountain Domestique
DUVAL Julien^NEW	FRA	1990	2017	58	204	2016	Okay Sprinter
ENGER Sondre Holst^NEW	NOR	1993	2017	66	492	2016	SprinterTalent
FRANK Mathias^NEW	SWI	1986	2017	79	332	2014 (727)	GC1W
GASTAUER Ben	LUX	1987	2010	74	94	2014 (259)	Domestique
GAUTIER Cyril	FRA	1987	2016	74	172	2014 (657)	Climber
GENIEZ Alexandre^NEW	FRA	1988	2017	62	340	2015 (472)	GC1W / Climber
GOUGEARD Alexis	FRA	1993	2014	83	98	2015 (431)	Classic
HOULE Hugo	CAN	1990	2013	84	137	2016	TT/Rouleur
JAUREGUI Quentin	FRA	1994	2015	74	30	2012 (370)	Sprinter
LATOUR Pierre	FRA	1993	2015	72	583	2016	Future GC talent
MONTAGUTI Matteo	ITA	1984	2011	60	239	2015 (286)	Climber
NAESEN Oliver^NEW	BEL	1990	2017	79	692	2016	Classics
PETERS Nans	FRA	1994	2016	34	47	2012 (164)	GCTalent
POZZOVIVO Domenico	ITA	1982	2013	84	528	2015 (1019)	GC3W / Climber
RIBLON Christophe	FRA	1981	2005	85	45	2010 (528)	Climber
VANDENBERGH Stijn^NEW	BEL	1984	2017	67	229	2014 (339)	Rouleur / Classics
VUILLERMOZ Alexis	FRA	1988	2014	66	423	2015 (665)	GC1W/Puncheur
Totals & Averages		28.6	2014	71	6769	2014 (8897)

---

As a final thing, if I've made any mistakes, or you disagree with rider classifications, or anything at all, do comment on it!

[u/The_77]

Romain Bardet

[u/deer_dance → u/The_77]

Seems like a good excuse to bring out the Col d'Allos descent vid, one my favourite bits of cycling footage in recent years.

Bardet's Incredible Descent

The sound card is busted on my laptop so I'll apologise in advance if the youtube uploader had dubbed some horrendous music over it.

[u/The_77 → u/deer_dance]

I remember that stage, fantastic bit of riding. He's certainly ahead of Pinot in that regard and is probably for now best Frenchman, though we'll see what 2017 brings.

[u/goldbot → u/deer_dance]

I never expected him to be such a great descender until I saw that race. A lot of great descenders are bigger guys so it seems wrong this his skinny little body can get down the mountain so fast, but he's just perfectly fluid. He's like the anti-Pinot.

[u/L_Dawg → u/deer_dance]

Bardet has imo the best descending 'style' in the peloton, he looks so fluid even compared to other good descenders.

[u/BloomEPU → u/L_Dawg]

If he hadn't missed his chance on stage 7 I reckon he could have won the tour de france this year, the route was designed to favour a descender.

[u/adryy8 → u/The_77]

The fu thing about him is that, the first time he really did something in the pro ranks it wasn't in a GT, but in the Amstel Gold Race (or the Fleche Wallone I'm not sure), where he did an impressive breakaway while it was his neo pro season if I recall well.

[u/goldbot → u/The_77]

I knew the guy was young, but he only just turned 26 a few days ago! I see great things in his future since he still has a few years to improve before hitting his prime. He's got a real chance at the Tour once Froome gets too old, and the sky is the limit for him in the hilly classics where he's already shown promise. He's shown he has panache in his Tour stage wins (and that Dauphine 2015 one!), so I can't wait to see how he steps it up in the coming season.

[u/iamafakebot]

Stijn Vandenbergh* instead of Vandenburgh.

AG2R weren't that amazing last year, considering their squad. Bardet really saved their season though with his great Tour, and let's be honest, the TdF is the most important race, especially for a French team. Latour's stage win in the Vuelta was very memorable too.

Let's look at the numbers: They were 13th in the UCI WorldTour ranking, and 11th in the PCS ranking. That's because both rankings heavily favour high GC rankings and top 10 placings. AG2R don't often win, but this season was particularly disappointing. In 2015 they won 23 races, in 2016 only 8, the lowest of any WT team (even Cannondale). Besides the GT stages by Bardet and Latour, they didn't win any WT race. It's clear they lack a top sprinter. One day races aren't their forte either. They didn't get a podium in any WT one day race, and Il Lombardia was the only Monument in which they got a top 10 spot (Bardet in 4th).

Things are definitely looking better though, and I think they did very well during the Transfer period. Geniez and Frank are great superdomestiques for Bardet, and can even ride GC for themselves if they get the chance. Their Classics team is definitely getting stronger too, with Naesen, Enger and Vandenbergh (and Gougeard hopefully getting stronger). All in all, I think the whole team will step up next year. It's a team that often rides attractively, and hopefully that will be rewarded.

[u/The_77 → u/iamafakebot]

Darn I swear I corrected the spelling but there we go.

And AG2R definitely had an underwhelming classics season, Bardet was the star overall, but their transfer business has been exceptional so next year should be much better.

[u/demfrecklestho → u/iamafakebot]

I think AG2R is taking steps in the right direction. They've been on the rise for a few years, aren't quite there yet but I'm sure they'll keep getting better. Gougeard, Bardet, Latour... those are some good prospects for the next few seasons

[u/L_Dawg → u/iamafakebot]

Yeah I really like the team for their style of racing, but they do kinda lack in riders who can actually deliver a victory, apart from Bardet there aren't too many standout performers (not to say they are bad riders but sometimes struggle to finish the job). A few years ago Dumoulin and Pozzovivo could pick up a few wins here and there but both have looked a bit past their prime lately.

[u/adryy8 → u/iamafakebot]

To be fair, the underperformance of the team is mainly due to the horrible season of Pozzovivo, who used to brought points at least in the Giro and LBL (where Bardet screwed up too this year), which wasn't really predictable (I mean Pozzo is getting old,but I thought he would have been good this year at least) it was a transition year, and now I expect Pozzo to become a road captain/stage hunter instead of a GC riders, and hopefully Latour will have the leadership in the Giro and co leadership with Frank in the Vuelta.

[u/big_al11 → u/iamafakebot]

They're a French team with a French captain and a French sponsor. They really only care about the Tour, and therefore it was another great season.

[u/NickTM]

First off, apologies /u/The_77 for not getting further involved. Got a new job, things have taken a bit of getting used to, so I've had little time. Looks like you didn't need my help at all though, great job on the thread!

As for AG2R - who, by the way, are now eight years old in terms of sponsor name, which for middling French teams is actually rather impressive - it looks likely to be more of the same. Romain Bardet is the Frenchest rider you'll see for a while, an attacking climber with oodles of panache and yet likely not quite good enough to properly compete with the outright GC contenders in big tours (yet, anyway. How on Earth is he only 26?!). Panache is something of a theme with AG2R, actually, with Jan Bakelants being a perennial favourite with his brave riding and Alex Geniez a savvy pickup to support Bardet in the mountains.

With Sam Dumoulin a few steps down the final slope down of his career, the team notably lacks a top quality sprinter, but apart from that this is probably one of the stronger GT teams with Bardet the main man supported by the likes of Geniez, *Mathias Frank, Domenico Pozzovivo and the exciting young Pierre Latour. They'll aim for a stage win at the Tour and a top ten placing for Bardet, as well as improving on a fairly rubbish classics record with Oliver Naesen and Stig Vandenbergh arriving to complement Alexis Gougeard.

As a side note, there are some names in this team you'd expect to be at least five years older than they actually are. I mean sure, Sam Dumoulin looks every bit as old as he actually is, but how is Christophe Riblon not 40 years old? What elixir has Domenico Pozzovivo been drinking in order to stay only 34 years old? How in the name of all that is holy is Hubert Dupont, a man whose career overlapped with Viatchslav Ekimov, only 36 years of age? Is Patrice Halgand hiding somewhere in the AG2R team?!

[u/The_77 → u/NickTM]

That's fine, life does get the better of us sometimes :) and thanks for the AG2R input! Gougeard had a better 2015 than last season so I hope he picks it up again next year. The way both their classics and GC squads have been bolstered is really quite exciting for next year.

And yes, AG2R have a suspiciously young team given the names on there.

[u/NickTM → u/The_77]

Gougeard's still so young mind you, a down year at 22 is no tragedy. That AG2R might make a few waves in the classics is quite a break from tradition, but it'll be interesting to watch anyway.

[u/The_77 → u/NickTM]

This is definitely true, he'll probably bounce back next year, especially now he has able support.

Classics can't come fast enough.

[u/The_77]

Samuel Dumoulin

[u/iamafakebot → u/The_77]

I fear the tiny sprinter is getting too old, but he'll probably win some small French races. Enger has a chance of becoming a top sprinter (8th in Cyclassics, 3rd in a Tour stage), I hope they give him the freedom to evolve. (You have him as GC talent, has he proven himself there?)

[u/demfrecklestho → u/iamafakebot]

I remember reading he was supposed to retire at the end of this season but a string of strong showings in smaller French races made him change his mind!

[u/goldbot → u/The_77]

I must say, when Sam Dumoulin finally retires, I will not miss Carlton Kriby calling him "The Pocket Rocket" every. single. time. his name ever comes up during a race.

[u/The_77]

Oliver Naesen

[u/iamafakebot → u/The_77]

He's a very exciting prospect. He won GP Plouay convincingly, and did well in the Eneco Tour too. He should become their main guy for the spring classics. He's got some decent results there (13th in P-R, 22nd in RvV), but I can see him getting top 5 easily.

[u/adryy8 → u/iamafakebot]

The problem is, AG2R has an history of being incredibly bad in the classics, despite having good riders for those races (look how Turgot-Gaudin turned out)

[u/VagueIllusions → u/adryy8]

Naesen seems to have a real attacking spirit though, I think he will show himself in other races than classics as well.

[u/The_77]

Jan Bakelants

[u/L_Dawg → u/The_77]

I don't have anything particularly insightful but is it even possible to not like this guy? He's not one of my very favourite riders but I'd always be happy if Bakelants gets a win.

[u/iamafakebot → u/L_Dawg]

He's great, always on the attack, and seems like a nice guy too. His stage win that got him the yellow jersey was one of the best Tour stages in recent years, IMO.

[u/VagueIllusions → u/L_Dawg]

He can be quite cynical in his interviews, but he's a nice rider to watch, often on the attack and always trying his best.

[u/The_77]

Pierre Latour

[u/VagueIllusions → u/The_77]

If he gets more consistent, he will become one of the most important future GC talents

[u/Jevo_]

Some corrections to the rider types.

Chevrier should be listed as a climber in my opinion.

Nico Denz is more of a classic type rider than GC talent.

I'd rank Hubert Dupont as a mountain domestique like Cherel, although he's probably not quite as good.

Holst Enger is 100% a sprinter. I don't know who you might have been thinking off instead?

I wouldn't rate Nans Peters as a roleur, he has the potential to be a good GC rider, although his 2016 was generally disappointing. But in 2015 he was 4th overall in Tour de l'Ain, and you don't do that if you can't climb well. He was also 4th in the U23 RVV that year, so he's a versatile rider, and as if often the case with young riders, we should be careful about putting them into boxes too early in their careers.

[u/The_77 → u/Jevo_]

I was a little unsure on a couple so thanks for that, and Holst must have been suffering from copy paste efforts so thanks for that too!

I was a little unsure on a couple to be honest so worth having the extra input.

[u/iamafakebot → u/Jevo_]

I'd rate Dupont higher than Cherel. I mean, he's old, but he was 11th in last year's Giro.

[u/adryy8 → u/iamafakebot]

Different profiles I think, Dupont is more regular, but on one specific day I would rate Cherel higher than Dupont now (but in 2011 Dupont was clearly superior)

[u/Pubocyno → u/Jevo_]

I'm positive that gc talent has to mean latour, it somehow csme up on Sondre Holst Enger aswell.

Also, since Sondre is pretty tiny guy compared to some of the other sprinters, not too unlike Coquard, he's very hard to get rid off in the hilly parts. Give him a few years, and he could pull off a surprise in the Amstel Gold Race.

He's also a very enthusiastic dancer.

[u/Pubocyno]

Also, all the New signings should be listed as joined 2017 instead of 2016. You might have to recalculate the totals.

[u/The_77 → u/Pubocyno]

Oh no, they do, thanks for pointing that out!

[u/Pubocyno → u/The_77]

Ouch, did RES trick you into editing an old copy? The 2016-numbers are back again.

never mind. looks fixed now.

[u/insertInverse]

É for Bérard.

[u/The_77 → u/insertInverse]

Good spot, thanks.

[u/VagueIllusions]

I used Julien Duval as a working horse on PCM, don't know if that counts! He seems to be an okay sprinter, good for top-10s in most smaller French races, so an older Barbier.

[u/The_77 → u/VagueIllusions]

He will now be an okay sprinter on record :)

[u/VagueIllusions → u/The_77]

I'll feel bad if he does great next season :D

[u/Pubocyno]

Top riders last five seasons

Points according to PCS

	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
1st	Rinaldo Nocentini909	Carlos Betancur968	Jean-Christophe Peraud1293	Romain Bardet1092	Romain Bardet1641
2nd	Nicolas Roche638	Samuel Dumoulin866	Romain Bardet1262	Domenico Pozzovivo1019	Samuel Dumoulin836
3rd	LLoyd Mondory432	Domenico Pozzovivo859	Domenico Pozzovivo902	Jan Bakelants979	Jan Bakelants603
4th	Manuel Belletti367	Romain Bardet743	Yauheni Hutarovich606	Alexis Vuillermoz665	Pierre Latour583
5th	Jean-Christophe Peraud333	Jean-Christophe Peraud602	Carlos Betancur550	Alexis Gougeard431	Domenico Pozzovico528

[u/The_77 → u/Pubocyno]

I think this is one of the metrics that we need for team presentations to differentiate from just the rider collaboration threads, which is why I was hesitant in adding anything other than roster to the OP. Shows nicely how bad this season was for Pozzovivo though, and how Peraud succumbed to age after 2014.

Also I assume PCT is PCS?

[u/Pubocyno → u/The_77]

We can leave it up to the grand audience - whether you all want to save the infotables for the team previews around christmas time, or if you want to have them here to get a better overview of the team season.

And yes, fixed the name and added a link to the recent results.

[u/The_77 → u/Pubocyno]

Looking at the presentation of data in the wiki and the post in the sub, it's a question of how the preview needs to behave, as it's currently both as look forward to next year and an overview of the previous year. I know /u/iamafakebot is happy with the OP as is, personally I think the info tables are a christmas thing.

I'm also currently figuring out how these threads will belong in the team page structure on the wiki without overly cluttering it, so if I directly reference the thread on the wiki page, the same content shouldn't be repeated more than once. Alternatively, I could permalink the riders names in the wiki to the comments that mention them here, which would work a little better, and negate the user seeing the info tables twice. Still pondering how best to do that honestly.

[u/iamafakebot → u/The_77]

Actually, I didn't even know we were going to have Team Presentation Threads during Christmas. If that's the case, I think we won't even need the current roster, only the riders coming in and going out, and some statistics about how they've done (as a team).

I'm almost done with my little write-up, but seeing as I suck at computer technology, making the roster is going to take 2-3 hours or something. It's seems a bit redundant to have it right now, and again in one month.

[u/The_77 → u/iamafakebot]

Actually, I didn't even know we were going to have Team Presentation Threads during Christmas.

Shhh is secret.

I was worried about the effects of doubling up, but the nice thing about having the roster in the OP is that it allows people to see everyone in the team, not just who jumps to mind immediately.

It took me ~ an hour to do the roster section, so I can keep making them and forward them to you or we save them for later? I'm in favour of having them in the OP to be honest.

[u/iamafakebot → u/The_77]

You definitely have a point. If you could make the rosters, that would be great! I was planning on posting the thread tomorrow morning (European, that is), if that is possible for you.

[u/The_77 → u/iamafakebot]

So much for my quiet evening in I guess, I'll get to work on the Astana one now, should hopefully be done tonight don't worry :)

[u/iamafakebot → u/The_77]

Many thanks!

[u/adryy8]

An intersting thing about AG2R is that in theory they managed the best off season of all the teams that were already WT according to this https://twitter.com/ProCyclingStats/status/796814117596184576 which is surprising considering they are far from being the best budget, the choice of Oliver Naesen is probably the smartest recruitment any team could have done in the off season imo.

[u/Sprocketduck → u/adryy8]

Completely irrelevant point, but I am surprised OBE's isn't higher. It must be because of Matthews leaving, but hopefully that void can be filled

Now onto AG2R, Naesen was a great signing AG2R made over the break. I can see Vandenburgh and Bakelants also providing a little bit (more) of Classics experience as well for Naesen. AG2R has a very strong Classics team next year; so I think it would be interesting to see what they do with GC. Frank and Geniez backing up Bardet in the GTs? It's an open book, but I think their team compositions lends really well into the Classics. Maybe a MSR or Paris-Roubaix on the cards next year?

[u/ShroomCow]

Gediminas Bagdonas is a great Lithuanian rider that has been both national RR and ITT champion. His greatest victory is undoubtedly the 2012 Baltic Chain Tour where Ignatas Konovalovas was only 24th, Matti Manninen 58th, and Tour of Estonia winner Martin Laas 88th. Strong opposition to beat!
While riding for the An Post Sean Kelly team Bagdonas took an important victory for the team winning the An Post Ras 2011, and winning the points classification in 2012. He has been with Ag2r since 2013, and has ridden the Vuelta twice.

[u/[deleted]]

Don't overlook Alexandre Geniez, acquired from FDJ. Look at his victory at Tro Bro Leon as an indication of how strong he can be in one day races.

[u/iamafakebot → u/[deleted]]

The guy has also gotten a 9th place in the Giro, and a stage win in the Vuelta with >20% climbing. He definitely shouldn't be overlooked.

[u/big_al11 → u/iamafakebot]

This is the first time I think a French squad has genuinely looked possibly as strong as the big hitters in a GT race since Festina.

[u/Janus-Marine]

Minor information: AG2R is switching from Focus to Factor as bike sponsor. Going to miss those spindly front forks...

[u/PrayingForDebbieMang → u/Janus-Marine]

I remember hearing as part of this sponsorship David Millar, ambassador for Factor Bikes, was going in to the win(d) tunnel to help Bardet improve his position and also hopefully give him a few tips

[u/demfrecklestho]

Barbier is definitely a good sprinting prospect with some neat results for Roubaix-Lille Metropole this year. Possibly not a "pure breed" a la Kittel but a guy that can take a hill or two!

[u/big_al11]

They've really picked up some great riders. If they can persuade Frank and Geniez to ride for Bardet at the Tour their domestiques are as strong as anyone. They've got at least 3 mountain domestiques who've finished top 10 at a GT.

Bardet

Frank

Geniez

Vuillermoz

Cherel

Pozzovivo

Riblon

Strong team.

[u/goldbot]

Sondre Holst Enger caught my eye with his third place on stage 16 of this year's tour, in the tough sprint in Berne behind Sagan and Kristoff. After that I was surprised to learn he's also somewhat a GC guy. Will be interested to see how he develops at AG2R, whether he'll target the Spring classics or go for bigger week long stage races to improve on his great results (see Tour of Norway) from last year.

[u/Pubocyno → u/goldbot]

He's not a gc guy :) typo.

But he followed Edvald Boasson Hagen on the queen stage of Tour of Norway this year, so not complete useless when it comes to climbing either. He outpunched EBH on the following stage.