Cycling – Mercato: What future for Alaphilippe’s lieutenants?

While Julian Alaphilippe must remain next year within the Soudal-Quickstep team, with whom he still has one year of contract, the situation appears more vague for his lieutenants, Rémi Cavagna and Florian Sénéchal, both in end of contract and a priori not extended. Analysis.

And Julian Alaphilippe will stay next season with Soudal-Quickstepwith whom he still has one year of contract, the situation appears very different for his two French lieutenants, Florian Sénéchal et Remi Cavagnaboth at the end of their contract and who should not be offered a new lease by the Belgian team, victims of the new directions taken by the boss Patrick Lefévèrewho decided to use his budget to build a Grand Tour team capable of helping Remco Evenepoel to win the Tour de France, his big goal for the coming years.

They should not be extended at Soudal-Quickstep

Even if Remi Cavagna has obtained excellent results this season, again recently winning the Tour of Slovakia, there is little chance that the situation will be reversed for the two big calibers of French cycling and they will therefore very probably change teams. To sign where? According to certain information released in recent weeks, Remi Cavagna would have contact with the training Movistarwhich seeks to densify its pole of riders. Florian Sénéchalhe is mentioned in discussion with the training DSMwhere Romain Bardet is currently playing.

Could the Total Energies team be a lead?

Is a movement in France possible? Nothing has filtered out to date on any contact, but the hypothesis could be defended at AG2R Citroenwhich must strengthen its “classics” division after the departure of Van Avermaert. Florian Seneschal could have the profile. Likewise AG2R Citroen is obviously looking for a big roller, if we are to believe the information which mentioned an interest in Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ). Cavagna, here too, is likely to meet this need. However, another French team could be worth watching in this matter: Total Energies. Indeed, the Vendée team has not recruited to date, apart from two young people from Vendée U (Bapiste Vadic et Nicolas Boniface) plus the young climber of CIC Nantes Atlantique Jordan Jegat (there would be an agreement but nothing is official), while she does not keep expensive riders like the trio Sagan-Us-Bodnar as well as Victor de la Parte and (probably) Edvald Boasson Hagen, which still frees up a lot of space in the budget. If the team of Bernaudeau hasn’t made anything official yet, it’s probably because she hopes to unlock one or two recruitment moves that could determine certain choices. Sénéchal and Cavagna in any case have the perfect profile to compensate for the losses, and JRB having indicated that recruitment would be refocused on the French market, they stick to the robot portrait. Finally, they are close to Julian Alaphilippe, who the boss of the company Total, Dominique Pouyanné, openly covets. The arrival of the duo Cavagna-Senechal could therefore prepare the ground for a signature ofAlaphilippe in 2025. This is just a hypothesis, but in context it makes sense.

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