At the moment Specialised introduced that it is going to be sponsoring the FDJ-SUEZ workforce for 2025, coinciding with each the workforce’s twenty fifth anniversary and the signing of Dutch celebrity rider Demi Vollering.
This ends the French workforce’s long-standing partnership with Lapierre, and follows the identical path because the FDJ males’s workforce (although the 2 aren’t related moreover sharing a title sponsor), who swapped from Lapierre to Wilier for the 2024 season.
In a brief assertion supplied to the press, Scott Jackson, head of S-Racing at Specialised mentioned:
“FDJ-SUEZ instantly impressed us with their dynamic worldwide strategy to racing, daring imaginative and prescient for the longer term and wealthy historical past in French biking. Collectively, we sit up for elevating the way forward for ladies’s sport, driving innovation, and sharing our ardour to pedal the planet ahead.”
This isn’t the primary time {that a} bike sponsor has moved groups together with a key rider, and it isn’t uncommon for it to be both a part of the signing contract for the rider, with some circumstances the place the bike sponsor agrees to pay the star rider’s wages. Cyclingnews has not been get together to the contract negotiations on this case. Specialised adopted riders like Peter Sagan his complete profession, approaching because the bike sponsor for the decrease league TotalEnergies squad whereas the Slovakian was nonetheless racing within the ultimate years of his profession.
Whereas Specialised is taking up a brand new workforce with FDJ-SUEZ, it’s persevering with to accomplice with SD Worx-Protime for the foreseeable future too, with a deal in place by way of to the top of the 2028 season. On condition that SD Worx-Protime nonetheless has Lotte Kopecky, the present highway race world champion, on the books it appears unlikely that it could wish to search some sort of early termination.
Picture 1 of 4
Specialised is actually an even bigger identify by way of bike sponsorship for the FDJ-SUEZ workforce, however in addition to contemporary gear, and a brand new star rider, the workforce has additionally bolstered its roster with the likes of French highway race champion Juliette Labous in an effort to offer Vollering with the very best assist attainable. Common Supervisor, Stephen Delcourt mentioned of the partnership:
The most recent race content material, interviews, options, critiques and professional shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
“We’re extraordinarily proud to enter into this collaboration with Specialised, an undisputed chief within the biking world. This partnership represents an incredible alternative for our workforce to succeed in new heights by combining our strengths and experience to attain our bold targets.”
As per different Specialised sponsored groups – the likes of AG Insurance coverage-Soudal and SD Worx-Protime – FDJ-SUEZ is roofed by the model for the complete bundle: Frames, wheels, and ending package. Within the photos we now have seen the groupset is supplied by Shimano (the top-spec Dura-Ace, naturally), which shall be a departure for Vollering who raced on SRAM elements whereas at SD Worx-Protime.
Maybe most curiously is the tyres, with the images indicating that the workforce shall be racing on units of Continental GP5000 S TR for 2025. Within the images, these have been arrange with interior tubes, however we anticipate the workforce to make use of tubeless for races somewhat than photoshoots. Specialised sponsored groups, be that SD Works of the likes of Soudal-QuickStep within the males’s peloton, are likely to additionally race on Specialised tyres, utilizing the Turbo Cotton, or the S-Works Mondo within the cobbled races.
