Decathlon AG2R under review: with raw top talent and unpolished Visma diamond ready for next step?
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Follow us on GoogleCycling teams are already gathering to take a preliminary look toward 2025, but at IDLProCycling.com, we continue to use the calm November month to look back at 2024. This episode analyzes the French team Decathlon AG2R season, which had a top year.
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One-day races 2024: Decathlon AG2R
The new main sponsor, Decathlon, will have delighted early this year with the team's step in one-day races. After Greg Van Avermaet's retirement at the end of 2023, the leader for the Flemish work was gone, but Oliver Naesen was right there with a fourth-place finish in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Ben O'Connor, in turn, won the Tour of Murcia.
In the hilly races, the French relied on Benoit Cosnefroy, who won Brabantse Pijl, a series of races in his homeland, and Paul Lapeira. The latter won the national championship, which was necessary for his team. As for the Monuments, Aurélien Paret-Peintre delivered a satisfactory performance with his fifth place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Of course, we should not forget O'Connor's second place at the World Championships, although he did not achieve it in his team's jersey. The Aussie stood between Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel.
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(Grand) tours 2024: Decathlon AG2R
Of course, one race counts for a French team: the Tour de France. Last season, the team salvaged the year in that race, but this season, it was quite the opposite: brilliant in just about every other race but disappointing in the Tour. Felix Gall could not continue his successful streak from last year and finished well outside the top ten.
Especially O'Connor made up for a lot. The Aussie finished second in the UAE Tour and opted for the Giro and Vuelta double due to the birth of his child. This choice didn't hurt him, as after he had placed fourth in Italy, he grabbed the red jersey in the first week of the Vuelta. Ultimately, only Primoz Roglic caught up with him, leaving O'Connor in second place.
Other noteworthy achievements include Sam Bennett's overall victory and four stage wins in the Four Days of Dunkirk, stage wins in the Giro (Valentin Paret-Peintre), Tour of the Basque Country (Paul Lapeira), and Tour of Romandie (Dorian Godon), among others.
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Final figure 2024 Decathlon AG2R
Decathlon AG2R can reflect on a very successful year with at least thirty victories, but it will not please the big bosses that the Tour did not turn out as they had hoped. Thus, we concluded with a final score of 8.0.
Transfers 2024/2025: Decathlon AG2R
Decathlon AG2R is busy training the talent of tomorrow, and it reinforced that with this winter's transfers. The team transferred no less than five (!) significant talents: Noa Isidore, Rasmus Sojberg Pedersen, Paul Seixas, Leo Bisiaux, and Oscar Chamberlain. The 17-year-old Seixas, recently world junior time trial champion, will even become the youngest rider in the WorldTour.
Furthermore, it also recruited experienced WorldTour riders Callum Scotson and Stefan Bissegger, with the latter getting to do his thing on the time trial bike. And Johannes Staune-Mittet was bought away from Visma | Lease a Bike, which let the former Giro Next Gen winner leave despite an ongoing contract. Tord Gudmestad, a compatriot of Staune-Mittet, came over from Uno-X.
A Norwegian also left with Edvald Boasson Hagen, while the team will feel the loss of Ben O'Connor (to Jayco AlUla) most. Furthermore, the departures of young French talents Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) are notable: they are both looking for a challenge outside France.
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New arrivals: Noa Isidore, Rasmus Sojberg Pedersen, Paul Seixas, Leo Bisiaux, Oscar Chamberlain (training team), Tord Gudmestad (Uno-X), Johannes Staune-Mittet (Visma | Lease a Bike), Callum Scotson (Jayco AlUla) and Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost)
Leaving (provisional): Edvald Boasson Hagen (quits), Damien Touzé (Cofidis), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Larry Warbasse (Tudor), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Jaakko Hanninen (Nice Métropole) and Valentin Rettaileau (TotalEnergies)Ones to watch 2025: Decathlon AG2R
Ones to watch 2025: Decathlon AG2R
It will be intriguing to see when Decathlon AG2R's strategy starts to pay off. With the five youngsters, Decathlon AG2R is clearly opting for the future, although we can expect great things from Seixas and Bisiaux pretty soon. Pedersen even became the Danish elite champion this year.
Furthermore, from a Dutch point of view, it will be interesting to see if Staune-Mittet can fulfill his promise after leaving Visma | Lease a Bike. The Norwegian will be 23 years old in January and starting his third season in the WorldTour.
Sam Bennett looked more like the best version of himself last season. After the departures of Boasson Hagen and Warbasse, he and Oliver Naesen are the team's seniors. Can he pull off another stage win at the Tour in 2025?
Finally, we hope that Victor Lafay and Stan Dewulf will be able to return to full fitness after their injury ordeals last season.
Selection Decathlon AG2r 2025
- Bruno Armirail
- Sam Bennett
- Clément Berthet
- Leo Bisiaux
- Stefan Bissegger
- Geoffrey Bouchard
- Oscar Chamberlain
- Benoit Cosnefroy
- Dries De Bondt
- Sander De Pestel
- Stan Dewulf
- Felix Gall
- Pierre Gautherat
- Dorian Godon
- Tord Gudmestad
- Noa Isidore
- Jordan Labrosse
- Victor Lafay
- Paul Lapeira
- Oliver Naesen
- Aurélien Paret-Peintre
- Rasmus Sojberg Pedersen
- Nans Peters
- Gianluca Pollefliet
- Nicolas Prodhomme'
- Callum Scotson
- Paul Seixas
- Johannes Staune-Mittet
- Bastien Tronchon
- Andrea Vendrame
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Latest Comments
- Is the Giro the race that happens before the Tour? And does winning the mountains jersey mean Carapaz scored the most points on climbs? Which race was everyone’s favourite?bikebuffj05-11-2026
- How did Mathieu van der Poel miss the list? His classics results surely put him in the conversation.sprocketspiny05-11-2026
- McNulty deserves more credit than his ranking suggests. A world title and all that work as a domestique make for a superb season.tourdeforce905-11-2026
- Seixas winning Lombardia at 20 is astonishing. The “next Pogačar” label feels a bit premature, though—let him build his own story before piling on the comparisons.andrewf05-11-2026
- Pogačar’s palmarès is ridiculous, but Van Aert deserves a special mention for Roubaix. Beating Tadej in the velodrome was one of the moments of the season.cyclechamp4505-11-2026
- I’m still learning the calendar: is cyclocross mainly preparation for the spring classics, or does he race it as a separate goal as well? I’d love to see him back in the mud.jeremya04-11-2026
- The article makes it sound as if Roubaix is the only classic where he has a realistic shot. He’s been close in Flanders too, and one good tactical day can change everything.jennifer1904-11-2026
- Milan-Sanremo and Roubaix is a pretty special pair of Monuments. Any clues yet on which cyclocross races he’ll target?andrewf04-11-2026
- He’s right to be realistic about Flanders with Pogačar and Evenepoel around, but you can’t count Van Aert out on those roads. If he gets the right opportunity, he has the engine and experience to take it.davidm04-11-2026
- That Roubaix win felt like such a release after all the near-misses. Brilliant to hear that joy outweighed relief for Wout.patriciaw04-11-2026