Orbea and Team Cofidis: off to a very promising 2017

We are off to a new season, full of excitement. It’s the third season in which Orbea and Team Cofidis will go hand in hand to the best competitions on the World Tour calendar. After a 2016 season in which the team racked up 15 victories and 30 podiums, the goal for 2017 is to take another step forward and add even more victories in top-level races: the Vuelta a España, Tour de France and classics, such as the Milan-San Remo or the Tour des Flandre, will be the settings this year where Yvon Sanquer’s squad especially wants to shine.

“Once the season starts again, I set the counter back to zero, and it’s like I have never won anything in my entire career.” These are the words of Nacer Bouhanni, undoubtedly one of the best aces up the sleeve of Team Cofidis in order to reach their goals. “I’m a competitor; I like to win races. It’s what they ask me to do,” says Nacer.

After he earned 11 victories in 2016, some of them in such prestigious races as the Dauphiné and Paris-Nice, the French sprinter has indicated what his hopes – and those of the team – are for 2017. “Win stages on the World Tour calendar. I’ll be concentrated from the very first race on the goal of earning a victory as soon as possible; it's the only thing I have in my head.”

The 2017 roster: a combination of youth and experience.

The team has been strengthened this season by seven new riders: Dimitry Claeys, Jonas Genechten, Jimmy Turgis, Dorian Godon, Matthias Le Turnier, Anthony Pérez and Guillaume Bonnafond.

Standing out among them are promising Belgian cyclists Dimitry Claeys and Jonas Genechten. Dimitry, at 29 years of age, came in ninth in the Tour des Flandre last year and this year wants to set his sights higher in the Northern Classics. As for Jonas, he arrives to join Christophe Laporte and Geoffrey Soupe as a member of the train that will escort Nacer as he fights for the stage victories. What's more, with his victory in the Puebla de Sanabria stage of the Vuelta a España last year, the Belgian has already shown that he can also fly solo, if needed.

Yvon Sanquer also calls attention to Dani Navarro, third during the last edition of the Tour de France, and Nicolas Edet, as the team’s trump cards to win stage victories. We mustn’t forget Luis Ángel Maté, one of the most veteran members of the team, with seven seasons on the squad, who will be fundamental to bolster the perfect combination of youth and experience on Team Cofidis.

The 26 riders on Team Cofidis 2017 are completed by Rayane Bouhanni, Yoann Bagot, Loic Chetout, Jérôme Cousin, Hugo Hofstetter, Cyril Lemoine, Stéphane Rossetto, Florian Sénéchal, Julien Simon, Anthony Turgis, Michael Van Staeyen, Kenneth Van Bilsen and Clément Venturini.

To grease all the parts of the Team Cofidis machinery before the new season, the group held a double preparation stage in the towns of Calpe and Benidorm (Alicante). These concentrations served to work on group dynamics, test the physical shape of the riders, adjust the material and set the calendar for each rider in 2017.

Competition, the best test bench.

You already know that at Orbea, we are convinced that the highest level cycling competitions are the best test bench. They let us be sure that we are providing you bicycles that match your passion for cycling.

That’s why Team Cofidis will once again ride the Orca to compete in road stages. Its racing geometry is the product of almost one hundred years dedicated to competition racing bicycles and what we’ve learned alongside Cofidis racers over the last two years. The result is a bicycle that increases power on the road with each turn of the pedal, with precise, intuitive handling and a perfect balance between responsiveness and stability.

In its fight against the clock, Team Cofidis will once again rely on the Ordu, the bicycle that sets records in the triathlon: with a design influenced by aerodynamics, the improvements made to the Ordu help cyclists ride faster in specific stages of the calendar.

The Team Cofidis gear is completed by our R10 helmet, a model that is unique because of its compact volume, light weight, ventilation and cover, which make it the most aerodynamic helmet around and the perfect ally in bad weather.

A promising season is set to begin: Flanders, Milan-San Remo, Vuelta al País Vasco, Paris-Nice, the Tour, the Vuelta, the Road World Championships in Norway…exciting sprints, epic breakaways, cobblestones, the fight to steal a few seconds back from the clock, incredible feats in the mountains…Are you also looking forward to the start?