Jean-Christophe Peraud and Pierre Latour will lead Ag2r in the Vuelta a Espana.

 

Both Latour and Peraud will target the GC. The former will make his grand tour debut after recently finishing third at the Tour de l'Ain and briefly leading the Tour de Suisse earlier this year. Peraud is about to end his career and hopes to bounce back from the disappointment of crashing out of the Giro which was his big goal of the year.

 

The two leaders will be supported by Jan Bakelants and Christophe Riblon in the mountains and by Sebastien Minard, Axel Domont, Quentin Jauregui, Gediminas Bagdonas and Francois Bidard in the flatter stages.

 

Below sports director Julien Jurdie describes the role of each of his riders.

 

Gediminas Bagdonas (Lit) 
30 years old 
Pro cyclist since 2007 
3 victories 

 

Vuelta : 
2nd participation 
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Sport director Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"He will have a dual role. On the first hand, as a teammate, he will assist our leaders. On the other hand, he will have carte blanche during the sprints. He recently finshed 2nd in a Tour de Wallonie stage, what proves his great shape."

Jan Bakelants (Bel) 

30 years old
Pro cyclist since 2008 

6 victories with stage 2 Tour de France (2013) 

 

Main results : 
Yellow jersey Tour de France (2013)
3rd Méditerranéenne (2016) 

 

Vuelta : 
4th participation 

 

Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"He is the only one AG2R LA MONDIALE rider who has been present on both Tour de France and Vuelta. He will be our puncheur for stages with challenging finish. To me, he could be one of the Vuelta outsiders for the general classification."

 

François Bidard (Fra)
24 years old 
Pro cyclist since 2016 

 

Vuelta : 
1st participation 

 

Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"He will end his first professional cycling year with his first Vuelta. He proved he has the proper bike abilities for races with multiple stages. He will have a significant role in our roster because of his exceptional long race approach."
 

Axel Domont (Fra)

26 years old
Pro cyclist since 2013 

1 victory 

 

Vuelta : 
1st participation 

 

Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"Axel is about to ride his second Grand Tour this year after the Giro. In a rider career it is always special to ride two three-week races for the first time in the same season. He is an outstanding teammate who is doing everything he can for his leaders."

Quentin Jaurégui (Fra)

22 years old 
Pro cyclist since 2014 

1 victory 

 

Main result : 
3rd Polynormande (2014) 

 

Vuelta : 
1st participation 

 

Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"He will also ride his first three-week race ever. He has great attacking abilities but he will have to control his energy in order to do a careful teammate job. He can play a key role in breakaways as well." 

 

Pierre Latour (Fra)
22 years old 
Pro cyclist since 2015 

1 victory 

 

Main results : 
2nd Critérium International
3rd Route du Sud (2015)
3rd Tour de l’Ain (2015-2016)

Best young rider Tour de Romandie (2016) 

 

Vuelta : 
1st participation

 

Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"He is just like Jean-Christophe (Péraud) little brother (he is 16 years younger than JC)! As a rookie, he will ride his first Grand Tour ever. For sure, he will gain experience and try to reach the best overall position possible. It is difficult to have a specific plan on a three week race. However, he will fight for the young rider classification."

 

Sébastien Minard (Fra)
34 years old 
Pro cyclist since 2005 
1 victory 

 

Main results : 
10th Tro Bro Léon (2016)
8th Paris-Camembert (2014)
4th Tour de Picardie (2013) 

 

Vuelta : 
5th participation 

 

Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"Sebastien will be one of our road captains. He is a real Grand Tour specialist and he will have to manage our young riders in and outside the peloton. I hope he will have some pleasure to do it and, why not, let’s think about a stage victory for him."

Jean-Christophe Péraud (Fra)

39 years old 
Pro cyclist since 2010 

6 victories 

 

Main results : 
2nd Tour de France (2014)
3rd Paris – Nice (2013)
3rd Tour du Pays basque (2014)
4th Tirreno Adriatico (2014) 

 

Vuelta : 
2nd participation 

 

Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"I want him to have fun during this Vuelta. It is important for him because he will retire from professional cycling after the race. However, the general classification remains his main objective. The Vuelta route meets his top 10 overall ambition. He has the right physical and mental abilities to challenge the GC contenders."

 

Christophe Riblon (Fra)
35 years old 
Pro cyclist since 2005
5 victories with 2 Tour de France stages (2010-2013) 

 

Main results : 
3rd and 4th Tour de Pologne (2013-2014) 

 

Vuelta : 
4th participation 

 

Julien Jurdie's point of view : 
"He will be our second road captain thanks to his unique Grand Tour experience. Everybody knows his two previous Tour de France stage victories. This season was more complicated than usual for him. Therefore, he really wants to show he is ready for the Vuelta. I am sure he will have good cycling sensations and have some fun as well."