Cofidis 2025: Nearly 30 years of history, but a major rebuild is needed after a lifeless relegation season

Cofidis is not really known as a classics team. Usually, the French team can be found at the front in the small stage races or attacking in the grand tours. That's why it's fair to say that the team has done quite well in the one-day races. Starting with victories: Valentin Ferron won the GP Marseillaise very early in the season in his first year, and Milan Fretin triumphed not long after in the Clasica de Almeria.

That victory shows a trend: the sprinters were particularly impressive. Fretin later won the Tour of Limburg, and Alexis Renard finished second in the WorldTour race Copenhagen Sprint and the Brussels Cycling Classic. Benjamin Thomas surprised everyone by finishing second in the Coppa Sabatini; these are all reasonable results, but it wasn't all outstanding. The names expected to deliver didn't really deliver.

Dylan Teuns, for example, who came over from Israel - Premier Tech this year. The Belgian was supposed to be a regular points scorer. Still, apart from sixth place in the Veneto Classic last weekend, it was very meager, especially in the Ardennes classics, where he was supposed to shine. Ion Izagirre, Alex Aranburu, Stefano Oldani, and Bryan Coquard also disappointed in the one-day races.

Cofidis was also unable to impress in the smaller tours. They picked up a few victories here and there, such as in the Tour du Limousin with Sylvain Moniquet, the Tour of the Algarve with Milan Fretin, and the Tour de Wallonie with Oliver Knight and Clément Izquierdo. But they never won in the general classification: Stan Aniolkowski finished second in the Tour of Taihu Lake, Knight finished third in Wallonia, and Teuns finished second in the Étoile de Bessèges.

These are precisely the races where the team consistently scored so many points. That was a bit disappointing this time around. And at the higher level, not everything went according to plan either. Of course, Bryan Coquard and Alex Aranburu took the only WorldTour victories of the year, in the Tour Down Under and the Tour of the Basque Country, respectively. Still, it was mainly the climbers who disappointed. The French sprinter had been a consistent performer for years, but seemed to have lost his way a bit in 2025.

Teuns was invisible in the Tour de France, and new signing Emmanuel Buchmann failed to deliver what had been hoped for. The German had a virtually anonymous year, finishing 30th in the Tour de France and 98th in the Vuelta a España. Fretin, who notably finished second in a Giro stage despite being injured, was actually the only Cofidis rider to come close to a stage victory in the Grand Tours.

Cofidis has been struggling for years and has been hovering around the relegation line for a while now. The nightmare became reality: the team will no longer compete at WorldTour level in 2026. However, they have secured a place among the top three ProTour teams, meaning they will, in theory, get a ticket to every major race. Not a bad starting position for the coming year, then.

But losing WorldTour status means a lot. Sprinters such as Fretin and Renard were unable to pull the cart on their own, and the expected top riders did not deliver. Nine victories are poor, and these were not often of high quality. It feels as if Cofidis is relying too much on old forces, when what is needed is renewal. That is why the (former) editors of IDLProCycling.com give the team a 4.1.

Given its position in the lower regions of the WorldTour rankings, Cofidis was not the most attractive team on the market. As a result, no big names have joined the team. However, the sprinters do have something to celebrate, because Alex Kirsch (Lidl-Trek), a great lead-out man, is joining the team. Fretin, Renard, Aniolkowski, and Coquard will be only too happy to take advantage of this.

Jenthe Biermans and Louis Rouland are joining from Arkéa-B&B Hotels. Biermans can also be added to the sprint train, but will mainly score points in the more difficult one-day races. Rouland is a promising young climber. Yaël Joalland is joining from CIC-U-Nantes and will be looking to prove himself on the continental circuit.

Who is leaving? Anthony Perez and Eddy Finé are retiring, while Belgian Aimé De Gendt is leaving to join Tom Pidcock's team. This means the team is losing an experienced rider in the classics. There are also quite a few names on the waiting list. Jesús Herrada was virtually invisible in 2025, but then again, he is already 35. Will he continue? Stefano Oldani sprinted to two top 10 places in the Giro, but the 27-year-old Italian still has no contract.

BIERMANS Jenthe - Arkéa-B&B Hotels

KIRSCH Alex - Lidl-Trek

ROULAND Louis - Arkéa-B&B Hotels

JOALLAND Yaël - CIC-U-Nantes

DE GENDT Aimé - Q36.5

HERRADA Jesús

LASTRA Jonathan

MAHOUDO Nolann

OLDANI Stefano

PEREZ Anthony - Stops

TOUMIRE Hugo - Stops

It is mainly the fast men who hope to make a big impression in the new season. Fretin made huge strides last year and could perhaps win even more at a lower level. The same applies to Aniolkowski and Coquard. Renard also emerged as a real sprinter for the first time this year and needs to continue that progress.

Cofidis must also hope that the older guys will start performing now. Buchmann and Izagirre have been given new contracts and, with riders such as Teuns, Aranburu, Moniquet, and Simon Carr, they need to perform in the mountains and hill classics. With Jamie Meehan, the team gained an interesting newcomer last year: as a trainee, he shone in the Tour de l'Ain, after which he was immediately offered a contract.

Meehan is not the only one who can make progress in 2026. Young riders such as Sam Maisonobe and Clément Izquierdo also achieved good results from time to time and could become essential point scorers. But the fact that the team has to rely on them actually indicates how the team is doing. At the moment, there is no real formation that will simply return to the WorldTour. And with the team's long history, that is a pity.