Wilier Triestina have confirmed that they will replace Lapierre as the Groupama-FDJ bike sponsor in 2024, while continuing to provide bikes to Mark Cavendish’s Astana Qazaqstan team.
The Italian brand will provide a ‘special, dedicated livery’ for Groupama-FDJ, with the French WorldTour team and its development squad using Filante SLR road bike and the Turbine SLR time trial bike.
As part of Groupama-FDJ’s long relationship with Shimano, the 2024 bikes are expected to be equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 components and Shimano wheels.
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French brand Lapierre revealed to Cyclingnews in late October that it would end its long standing partnership with Groupama-FDJ.
The decision came after 22 years of collaboration, one of the longest standing partnerships in the sport. Lapierre will continue to support the similarly-named FDJ-Suez women's team in 2024.
Lapierre is owned by Accell Group, which controls several bike brands. Lapierre reportedly paid €1.5 million to sponsor Groupama-FDJ as well as supply a large number of bikes. Groupama-FDJ and Wilier Triestina did not reveal any details of their agreement, with Wilier Triestina CEO Andrea Gastaldello only saying it was a “multi-year technical sponsorship agreement.”
Groupama-FDJ’s change in bike sponsor is the latest of several manoeuvres in the sport and industry.
AG2R has replaced BMC with Decathlon's in-house brand Van Rysel, with Decathlon also becoming a title sponsor. On Tuesday TotalEnergies confirmed that ENVE would replace Specialized as their bike sponsor after Peter Sagan left the team to focus on mountain biking in his final season of racing.
Wilier Triestina is the third bike brand to sponsor two men’s WorldTour teams in 2024. Canyon sponsors Movistar and Alpecin-Deceuninck, while Specialized remain with Bora-Hansgrohe and Soudal Quick-Step.
2024 marks a new chapter in the long history of the Groupama-FDJ team. Thibaut Pinot has retired and sprinter Arnaud Démare was allowed to move to Arkéa-B&B Hotels. David Gaudu and Stefan Küng remain as team leaders, with a swathe of talented young riders on the team’s roster.
“I am delighted and honoured to announce today that Wilier Triestina has joined the Groupama-FDJ cycling team family as an official partner. This is the start of a great adventure with a renowned Italian company that has left its mark on the history of cycling,” Groupama-FDJ team manager Marc Madiot said.
“The spirit of all our technical partnerships is to develop together and use our respective expertise to move up the range, and that's what appealed to us about Wilier Triestina's approach. Together, we're going to write a new page in the History of Groupama-FDJ cycling team and showcase these new machines on the road from the very first day of the 2024 season.”
Andrea Gastaldello, alongside his brothers and partners Enrico and Michele, confirmed Wilier Triestina's double presence in the men’s WorldTour peloton.
“We are delighted to announce the start of a new era for Wilier Triestina. As from 1 January 2024, Groupama-FDJ Cycling Team will be racing on our bikes as part of a new multi-year technical sponsorship agreement,” Andrea Gastaldello said.
“This marks an important new beginning, which comes in the wake of our other World Tour commitment with Astana Qazaqstan since 2020.”
