The Tour de France 2024 is already cycling history. Three weeks of strong emotions in the context of a rivalry like few others we have seen and the signature of a cyclist who will undoubtedly go down in the annals of the sport. Tadej Pogacar's third success in the best cycling race in the world is the headline of 21 days of competition in which Team Cofidis has been part of the story.
A story that has not been the most favourable for the French team, in general terms, but which has meant a new episode for the doyenne squad of the peloton, which has worn the special colours designed by Mobel for these three weeks of July and the Vuelta a España, which starts in mid-August.
Balance of the corridors
13th overall, Guillaume Martin was once again the protagonist of more than a few days, always probing the good breakaway. I was looking for a balance between a good place in the overall", he says, "and a stage victory. I would have liked to be a bit higher, but I can be happy with the race I rode, because I was faithful to my way of riding, being brave and taking risks".
For the Frenchman, this was the seventh time he has completed the Tour de France, this time in Nice where "the atmosphere was very different from Paris and the Champs Elysées". Next year he hopes not to miss the event.
Your partner Bryan Coquard He was the protagonist of several sprints during the race: "We were not far from the best, but I lacked a little. It's been a tough three weeks, with its ups and downs, but with nice memories that I'll cherish forever".
German Simon Geschke is proud to have helped "Guillaume and Bryan at specific moments", although he doesn't hide his disappointment at not having "achieved a stage, a goal that became more distant with Ion Izagirre, Jesús Herrada and Alexis Renard out of the race. Without the three of them in the race, things got very complicated for us".
In his case, he experienced a very special moment on the Col de la Couilole, on the penultimate day: "It was the last pass of the Tour that I have climbed in my life and it was a very special moment. I really enjoyed it".
And if this was the last Tour for Simon Geschke, it was the last one for Piet AllegaertOn the contrary, he has made his debut in the race: "The objective has been day by day, to complete stages and help the team".
"I made it," he concludes.
Alex Zingle He also had words for his team-mates who had to drop out of the race and admitted that "I gave everything, especially in the second week, before the crash that left me a little weak in the sprints".
Another year among the best
Team Cofidis came to the Tour 2024 with a high bar from the previous year, when they won two stages. One of the culprits of that record was Ion Izagirre, who was barely able to perform this year due to injury. His absence, added to that of Jesús Herrada, the Vuelta's stage specialist, and Alexis Renard, weighed on the team's main objective: to win a stage.
These three weeks have been, therefore, lived with special excitement from the factory of Mobel (Murcia), because it has meant the debut of the brand in the great cycling race, an environment of demand and improvement that only the great competition can provide you.
As Adrián Molino, owner of the brand, would say, in these 21 days of July the result of "a great human effort above all, because behind what we see there are people, both in design and in manufacturing and sales. It means giving the maximum in our environment". Let it not stop.
