Guillaume Martin will ride for Groupama-FDJ in 2025 after signing a two-year contract with the team. The Frenchman leaves Cofidis after five seasons that included two top-ten finishes at the Tour de France.
Earlier on Thursday in other transfer news, it was confirmed that Axel Zingle would also leave Cofidis at the end of the season in order to join Visma-Lease a Bike. Cofidis, meanwhile, announced that they have signed Dylan Teuns from Israel-Premier Tech for 2025.
“Frank Vandenbroucke was the last rider to win a Monument with Cofidis and I’m keen to do everything to aim for a podium at that kind of race,” Teuns said.
Martin’s departure from Cofidis had been heavily touted in recent months and was all but confirmed in a recent interview with Le Monde in which he highlighted shortcomings in the team’s equipment.
Groupama-FDJ confirmed Martin’s arrival on Thursday, the first day on which teams can announce their signings for 2025. Martin’s arrival provides the team with an important figurehead following the retirement of Thibaut Pinot last year and the imminent departure of young hope Lenny Martinez.
“For next season, I felt the need for a change of scenery and the desire to discover a new environment,” Martin said in a statement on Thursday. “Groupama-FDJ is the right team for me to continue my career. I feel that I still have room for improvement and this team can provide me with the means to progress to the very highest level.”
Martin raced as a stagiaire with FDJ back in 2014, but despite winning the under-23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège the following Spring, no contract offer was forthcoming from Marc Madiot’s team. Indeed, Martin did not receive an offer from any French squad, and he crossed the border to turn professional with Belgian squad Wanty in 2016.
“It was really complicated to find a team,” Martin told Cyclingnews in 2020. “FDJ had taken me as a stagiaire but the next year, I had no news and no explanation. My first offer was the one from Wanty, and it came in October, so obviously I said yes. And in hindsight, it was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
After four seasons with Wanty, Martin moved to Cofidis in 2020. Highlights included finishing 8th in the 2021 Tour and 10th in 2023, as well as the king of the mountains title on the 2020 Vuelta a España and overall victory at the 2022 Tour de l’Ain.
Martin is the second new signing to be confirmed by Groupama-FDJ for 2025. The team has already indicated that Peace Race winner Brieuc Rolland will graduate from the development squad to the WorldTour next year.
