Ag2r prepare themselves for a very busy weekend of racing where the team will do no less than 5 one-day races. Classics specialists Sebastien Turgot, Damien Gaudin, Lloyd Mondory, and Steve Chainel will be doing the Belgian opening weekend, climbers Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Peraud will be riding on home soil, and Rinaldo Nocentini and Davide Appollonio will return to competition after their injuries in Sunday's GP Lugano in Switzerland.

 

Ag2r will certainly not take it easy in the coming weekend as the French squad prepares themselves for no less than 5 races in only two days. On both Saturday and Sunday, the team will be in action in Belgium and France while they will also do Sunday's GP Lugano in Switzerland.

 

In the Belgian opening weekend, it will be time to see the results of the team's decision to reinforce themselves for the cobbled races. New signings Sebastien Turgot and Damien Gaudin - both past top 5 finishers in Paris-Roubaix - will team up with previous leaders Lloyd Mondory and Steve Chainel for Saturday's very hard Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. They will be supported by Sebastien Minard, Gediminas Bagdonas, Hugo Houle, and sprinter Maxime Daniel.

 

Sunday's Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne is traditionally one for the sprinters and the team will make a key change to their roster. Yauheni Hutarovich who has finished 2nd in the two most recent editions of the race, will be brought in but the team still hasn't decided which rider he will replace.

 

At the same time, the team will field a strong roster for a pair of hilly one-day races in France. Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Peraud have both shown excellent form in the recent Tours of Oman and Mediteraneen respectively and they will continue their preparation for the next big stage races - Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatco respectively - in Saturday's La Boucle du Sud-Ardeche and Sunday's La Drome Classic.

 

For Saturday's race, they will be joined by climbers Hubert Dupont and Alexis Vuillermoz, an in-form Mikael Cherel, Roma Maxima winner Blel Kadri, Guillaume Bonnafond, and Ben Gastauer. For Sunday's race, Dupont and Kadri will be replaced by Julien Berard and Axel Domont.

 

Finally, the team will do Sunday's hilly GP Lugano and it will be the scene of the return to competition for Davide Appollonio and Rinaldo Nocentini who have been sidelined with injury. Appollonio crashed out of the Tour de San Luis while Nocentini was unable to complete the Tour Mediteraneen after a tumble and had to forfeit his participation in the Tour du Haut-Var.

 

Nocentini has performed strongly in the race in the past but his form is rather uncertain. Instead, the team is likely to be led by Samuel Dumoulin who finished 2nd behind teammate Carlos Betancur in the Tour du Haut-Var this weekend. Matteo Montaguti and Maxime Bouet will add additional firepower on the climbs while Patrick Gretsch, Alexis Gougeard, and Julian Kern will be there in a support role.

 

Ag2r for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Gediminas BAGDONAS (Lithuania)

Steve CHAINEL (France)

Maxime DANIEL (France)

Damien GAUDIN (France)

Hugo HOULE (Canada)

Sébastien MINARD (France)

Lloyd MONDORY (France)

Sébastien TURGOT (France)

 

Ag2r for Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

Gediminas BAGDONAS (Lithuania)

Steve CHAINEL (France)

Maxime DANIEL (France)

Damien GAUDIN (France)

Hugo HOULE (Canada)

Yauheni HUTAROVICH (Belarus)

Sébastien MINARD (France)

Lloyd MONDORY (France)

Sébastien TURGOT (France)

 

Ag2r for La Boucle du Sud-Ardeche

Romain BARDET (France)

Guillaume BONNAFOND (France)

Mikael CHEREL (France)

Hubert DUPONT (France)

Ben GASTAUER (Luxembourg)

Blel KADRI (France)

Jean-Christophe PERAUD (France)

Alexis VUILLERMOZ (France)

 

Ag2r for La Drome Classic

Romain BARDET (France)

Julien BERARD (France)

Guillaume BONNAFOND (France)

Mikael CHEREL (France)

Axel DOMONT (France)

Ben GASTAUER (Luxembourg)

Jean-Christophe PERAUD (France)

Alexis VUILLERMOZ (France)

 

Ag2r for GP Lugano

Davide APPOLLONIO (Italy)

Maxime BOUET (France)

Samuel DUMOULIN (France)

Patrick GRETSCH (Germany)

Alexis GOUGEARD (France)

Julien KERN (Germany)

Matteo MONTAGUTI (Italy)

Rinaldo NOCENTINI (Italy)