After several years at FDJ.fr, Nacer Bouhanni will be wearing the Cofidis jersey in 2015. In his first year with his new team, the Frenchman will focus on the classics and a second appearance at the Tour de France.

 

When Nacer Bouhanni vented his frustration over not getting selected for Milan-Sanremo, it became apparent that there was no room for both Arnaud Demare and Bouhanni at the FDJ.fr team. The internal rivalry grew throughout the year and reached a climax when Bouhanni wasn’t selected for the Tour de France despite showing excellent condition in the Route du Sud just weeks before the race.

 

At that point, it was already evident that Bouhanni would be leaving the team and it later came out that he had signed a contract with Cofidis. After several poor years, the French team will  try to rebuild itself with a new focus on the sprints, with Bouhanni being the undisputed leader of the outfit.

 

One consequence of his change of teams is that he can no longer feel assured that his squad will be at the start of all major events. Being a pro continental team, Cofidis relies on wildcard invitations but Bouhanni is confident that he will be able to design the perfect race schedule.

 

“They are in all the classics,” he told Velochrono in an interview. “Only for Milan-Sanremo we are still awaiting an invitation from RCS Sport but we have high hopes. Otherwise, my season will not change much. I will focus on the Tour de France and do races like Paris-Nice, Gent-Wevelgem. Those will be my major events next year.

 

“At the start of the year, I will do the Tour of of Qatar and I will start the Tour of Oman. Then it’s Paris-Nice and the first classics, with Milan-Sanremo and Gent-Wevelgem. After the first block of racing, the second one will be really focused on the Tour de France.”

 

At FDJ.fr, Nacer Bouhanni barely rode any classics. Arnaud Demare was the captain for the cobbled races and the classics that suited the sprinters. One of Bouhanni’s reasons for leaving his team was his desire to do the biggest one-day races.

 

“In the classics, I miss a benchmark,” he said. “The only time I did races of 250km were at the French championships (he won the 2012 edition, ed.) and the World Championships this year (he was 10th, ed.). We also had very long stages in the Giro, even a stage of 260km.

 

“Yes, it will be a first for me but I know what it takes to be ready for the classics. Before the World Championships, I didn’t race for three weeks (after falling out with the FDJ management, ed.) and I still did well and managed the distance.”

 

In the Vuelta, Bouhanni won a very windy stage to Albacete, proving that he can handle the tough conditions that characterize the Northern classics. Those are exactly the races he wants to focus on.

 

“The Roubaix cobbles are not really what excites me,” he said. “Instead, I will focus on races like Gent-Wevelgem, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, Scheldeprijs. And let’s not forget Paris-Tours, Vattenfall Cyclassics. Those are the classics that suit me and I want to focus on.”

 

However, Bouhanni’s biggest goal will be the Tour de France. He made his debut in 2013 but after crashing early in the race, he abandoned already on stage 6.

 

This year he wants to do better and he wants to earn himself a stage win that would make him join the select group of riders that have won stages in all three grand tours.

 

“To win races is what excites me,” he said. “The Tour is important. I’m doing full seasons from February to Ocotber but the Tour is a big piece of the pie. You can have a poor season, win a stage in the Tour and then it’s suddenly a successful year.

 

“It will be the number one goal. But in view of the Tour de France, it is important to have victories. To win races is what boosts me.”

 

His focus on the Tour also means that he will miss the Giro where he won three stages and the points jersey in 2014. Nonetheless, he attended the presentation.

 

“It was important to be there,” he said. “The organizers wanted me to come. So I mostly went to honour their invitation. Cofidis is not guaranteed to be at the race.”

 

Having missed the Tour in 2014, Bouhanni didn’t get the chance to test himself against the best sprinters in the world. He regrets that the fastest riders are rarely all assembled at the same starting line.

 

“It is a problem,” he said. “There are too many races at the same time, on several fronts. At the end of the season, there are riders going to the Vuelta, riders aiming at Hamburg and riders who do none of those. There are riders focusing on the Giro, riders aiming at the Tour… It is so spread out. But we have all met each other at some point.”

 

FDJ worked hard to build a lead-out train for Bouhanni and Demare and ended up having two almost separate trains. At Cofidis, Bouhanni aims at having a strong team at his disposal.

 

“I can sprint in all circumstances,” he said. “If I am alone, I can handle it. But it is always better to have a lead-out. That’s clear. When Kittel is delivered on the front with 200m to go, he has a big advantage. We are the ones that have to catch up so we must try to reverse the roles. In that way, we will win more races. You are in a less stressful position and take fewer risks. There is less pressure.”

 

To reach that goal, Bouhanni has brought along a few riders from the FDJ team, most notably his trusted lead-out man Geoffrey Soupe. Furthermore, the French team has signed his former teammate Dominique Rollin and talented sprinters Kenneth Vanbilsen, Michael Van Staeyen and Jonas Ahlstrand.

 

“I proposed some names,” he said. “I really chose people with whom I am used to work. My train will be made up of riders that I wanted, riders like Geoffrey Soupe, Dominique Rollin. Steve Chainel will more have a role of protecting me during the race. There is also Adrien Petit, Jonas Alhstrand. They will all work for me.”

 

However, Bouhanni has not selected all his lead-out men himself.

 

“For example, when I was told about Ahlstrand, I said that it was a good idea but I don’t know the Belgians (Vanbilsen and Van Staeyen, ed.) much. It was Cofidis who were looking for them.

 

“Now I have all the cards in my hand to succeed. I have a train of riders at my disposal. I still have my coach Jacques Decrion (who also makes the move to Cofidis, ed.). They key is also your head. This is essential in top-level sport. Now I cannot wait for the battle to start.”

 

In the past, Bouhanni has shown an amazing ability to overcome adversity. In Bari, he won a stage of the Giro d’Italia after having been set back by a mechanical in the finale and in Paris-Nice, he was first across the line despite having crashed earlier in the stage.

 

“If you are injured, you are not at 120%,” he said. “It’s never good to hit the tarmac. But the mental aspect can change everything. I am a person who never gives up. As long as there is hope, I will continue. But I would surely have won those stages in the same way if I had not had those obstacles. In Bari I was not in a trance that made me win. I remain in control of myself. You should never be in a daze and always remain in control of what you do. That’s what makes the difference.”

 

In that way, Bouhanni is vastly different from Cavendish and Kittel who often stay away from the sprints if they are not in good condition.

 

“If there is a chance, I will chase it,” he said. “But if I am not good, I will not be there. It serves no propose. But as long as there is hope, I will do the sprint, even if I am on my own. Others won’t do so if they don’t have their team with them.”

 

For now, Bouhanni is focused on his off-season and is only doing a few cyclo-cross races for fun. He doesn’t plan to change his usual preparations.

 

“I will go to the first training camp without stress,” he said. “As every year, I will have been on the bike for ten days. I know I will be bad and often I am the one with the worst condition. It does not change. I know what to do to reach my level. There are still two months until February. The season is long. I always take a break of seven weeks without touching the bike and I won’t change that.”