Vincent Lavenu
"An atypical Tour de France
"The presentation of the Tour de France is always a special moment. It's great to see images of the previous edition. Then it's exciting to discover the route for the following year. It will be an atypical Tour de France, with a historic start in the city of Florence. The first two days will be tough. I think there are a lot of stages for sprinters. We'll have to keep that in mind. The second part of the route will be very difficult, with summit finishes and a time trial between Monaco and Nice that could be decisive on the last day. I'll also be delighted to return to the roads of the Hautes-Alpes, where I grew up.
Felix Gall
"The last week will be very demanding
"Discovering the Tour de France route is an important moment for me and for the team. We're going to have to analyze it further to get a critical view, but from what I've seen, the final week will be very demanding.
There will be more passages above 2000m altitude than in 2023. That's something to bear in mind.
We'll also need to stay focused right up to the last day, with the tough final time trial.
I'll be delighted to be back on the Tour de France roads. I'll be climbing many legendary climbs again for the first time, and that makes me excited."
The news
Felix Gall sportsman of the year in Austria
Felix Gall was voted Sportsman of the Year in Austria.
He beat Jakob Schubert (climbing) and Johannes Lamparter (Nordic combined).
The 25-year-old Austrian rider finished 8th in the Tour de France with a victory on stage 17.
22
The number
The AG2R CITROËN team has won 22 stages of the Tour de France since its first participation in 1993.It has also finished on the podium three times in the final general classification: Jean-Christophe Péraud 2nd in 2014, Romain Bardet 2nd in 2016 and 3rd in 2017.
