INEOS Grenadiers secures first signing of the season and announces French champion

Godon is a real puncher: a reasonably good climber with the ability to finish strongly. The 29-year-old winner of the Brabantse Pijl in 2023 will leave Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale after seven years of loyal service. “It is an honour to sign with the INEOS Grenadiers. For me, it means a lot - and signing a multi-year deal is a real show of trust, which I value deeply," he says on the team's website. "This feels like the start of an exciting new chapter in my career, and I’m ready to make the most of it.”

So far, Godon has mainly made his mark in smaller French stage races, although he also won two stages in last year's Tour de Romandie. This year, the Frenchman became French champion, beating Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) and Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). “I want to make the French champion’s jersey - and the moustache - shine. The past few months I’ve watched the team racing with strength and unity in the bunch, and that’s really inspired me. I can’t wait to be a part of that.”

INEOS had been targeting Godon for some time. Performance Director Scott Drawer is therefore very pleased with the new addition. “Dorian is a smart, decisive winner with the robustness to shape hard races and the speed to finish them off. His ability to read chaotic finales, position efficiently and deliver, gives us excellent options across a wide variety of races."

"We’ll integrate him quickly with clear targets for the spring and stage races to come and really look forward to having him join the team.” Following the departure of Dries De Bondt (Jayco-AlUla), Clément Berthet and Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ), Godon is the fourth rider to leave Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.