Unibet Rose Rockets continue to add experience to their 2027 squad with the signing of former French champion Florian Sénéchal. The 33-year-old brings plenty of experience in the Classics, along with valuable leadout know-how for sprinter Dylan Groenewegen.
His palmares includes six pro victories, with the last one being the French title in 2022. Sénéchal’s career highlights include sixth place at Paris-Roubaix in 2019, second place at In Flanders Fields (formerly known as Gent-Wevelgem) in 2020 and E3 Saxo Classic in 2021, and a stage win at the 2021 Vuelta a España.
The French-registered ProTeam's rapid development made the prospect of joining particularly appealing.
“Watching the Rockets over the past few years, I’ve been impressed by how quickly they’ve grown. To go from a new team to racing the Monuments and the Giro d’Italia in such a short time says a lot about the ambition behind this project. It made me curious about what comes next, and I’m excited to be part of that story,” Sénéchal said in a team press release.
“The atmosphere was a big part of the appeal, too. There’s a personality to this team that comes across in everything they do.”
Sénéchal’s friend Philippe Gilbert encouraged the move.
“He said to me: What do you do Florian? You stop? You continue? I said I don’t know Phil,” Sénéchal shared in a team video.
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“Rockets team are very, very fun, and what they do on social media is very nice for you. It’s very fun and a lot of people like it. So Gilbert said if you want to go, go, because this team, also the value of the team goes super high every year. So maybe next year, the team is bigger again. So if you can be part of this project, Flo, go. You are not old, 33 years old. It’s not old if you are motivated.”
Team owner Bas Tietema interrupted to add: “That’s not old, we have Wout on the team, you are still like a young kid.”
Earlier this month, 39-year-old Wout Poels announced that he would continue racing into his 19th season as a professional in 2027 with the squad.
Sénéchal started his career with Cofidis in 2014 before joining Soudal-Quick Step in 2018. He joined Alpecin-Premier Tech this year after Arkea-B&B Hotels folded.
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Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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