“The Grand Départ in Lille is an important event for the team. With three of our partners from this region, Decathlon, La Mondiale, and Van Rysel, expectations will be high. Our goal is to adopt an aggressive strategy to go after a stage win. To do that, we’ll rely on our puncheurs in the first week, and then on the team’s best climbers as we approach the Pyrenees and later the Alps. Unlike last year, when we raced more defensively, we now hope that a strong result in the general classification for Felix Gall will come from his breakaway efforts. Felix is one of the best climbers in the peloton, he’s confident, and he’ll be eager to repeat his 2023 performance (a stage win in Courchevel on the queen stage).”
Felix Gall : “A stage win will be my main motivation over these three weeks”
“The first stages of the Tour are always tricky and everyone will be nervous. With a strong team around me, the first goal will be to get through the first week. Going into a Grand Tour with a general classification objective is never easy, we will take the race day by day, see where we are before the mountains, and adjust our goals accordingly. The GC will not be the first goal, a stage win will be my main motivation over these three weeks, if this win is from a breakaway it can also allow me to gain some precious positions in the classification. We did a recon of the Col de la Loze stage during the training camp, and it brought back some really good memories. It’s definitely a stage that will be a major focus for me. I’m feeling really good, I had a great training camp in Arc 1950. It was also nice to gain confidence at the Tour de Suisse and finish on a high note, I’m ready. We’ll have a super strong team for the mountains and for getting into breakaways. We showed, especially at the Tour de Suisse and the Critérium du Dauphiné, that we are a really strong team.”
