Far from the cold of Europe, the UCI WorldTour started in Australia with the Santos Tour Down Under in the Adelaide region. AG2R La Mondiale successfully achieved a sixth place with Domenico Pozzovivo, a fourth place in the team standings and beautiful places of honor throughout the week for Samuel Dumoulin.

"I am very satisfied," says Domenico Pozzovivo. "It was a race that I had prepared well for." The Italian rider can be especially pleased with his performance as he rode with a broken wrist due to a crash in the build-up to the race.

Road captain Samuel Dumoulin was a protagonist with several good results, including a fifth place in the fourth stage, marked by an big crash  

"The Australian campaign was good for our team. We did a good training block in acceptable temperatures which allowed us to be in good shape for the race. All riders have committed themselves fully to the team even though there are still quite big differences in their physical conditions. The team worked very well under the leadership of Laurent [Biondi, sports director] who is very familiar with this place."

"The result is satisfactory," says Laurent Biondi. "The team rallied around Domenico. On Sunday, Alexis Gougeard slipped into a breakaway for seven laps. We are pleased with the overall performance."

The season is launched and for the French team it continues next Sunday with the GP La Marseillaise.