Thibaut Pinot is the leader of FDJ along with Arnaud Démare. His goal is the Tour de France, after his third place last season. He believes he can win his home Grand Tour one day. The French climber recently renewed until 2016. For now, he remains faithful to Madiot, who he has been with since his debut in 2010.

In an interview with L'Equipe he answered a direct question: "If Sky offers you a contract, would you sign it?" Pinot’s honest answer: "I do not rule it out but while FDJ meets my expectations and want to progress to me.. I'm fine here. Marc (Madiot) wants to win the Tour and with the squad we have, it is possible. Steve (Morabito) came to us to relive a victory in Paris (won with Evans at the Tour 2011). If a Marc one day says I will not be able, or if I check for myself, I could go elsewhere."

Pinot debuted in Sunday's GP Marseillaise and gives his first pedal strokes at the Etoile de Bessèges. He says during the 2014 Tour he could have followed Nibali but chose not to for fear of losing his podium. "We realized that in the last Tour I could answer some attacks from Nibali. But I was afraid to explode. Now I repent. We played the podium. No one wanted to risk further and exploit three days in Paris," he says. "This summer I will respond to Froome and Contador’s accelerations" he says. To do this, working with Fred Grappe, trainer of the FDJ, and for the mountains he will have a new bike from Lapierre.

His schedule is: Tour of Oman, Tirreno-Adriatico, Classica Corsica, Critérium International, Tour of the Basque Country, Fleche Wallonne and Tour de Romandie. And the Tour has two paths: Boucles de Mayenne and Tour de Suisse or Critérium du Dauphiné and Route du Sud.