Cofidis () is a French professional

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

History

Cyrille Guimard started the team in 1996 with backing from François Migraine, the chief executive of Cofidis. An early acquisition was

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

, formerly of

Motorola Cycling Team The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist. The team lasted 16 years, under the sponsorship of 7-Eleven through 1990 and t ...

. Armstrong was dropped because of his cancer and another American,

Bobby Julich Robert "Bobby" Julich ( ; born November 18, 1971), popularly called Bobby Julich, is an American former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. He got his international breakthrough when he fi ...

, became leader for

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...

s. Julich's place in the top three of the

1998 Tour de France The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The race was composed of 21 stages and a prologue. It started on 11 July in Ireland before taking an anti-clockwise route t ...

brought the team to the spotlight, and Frank Vandenbroucke brought further results in

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. That year, Cofidis won the team classification in the Tour. David Moncoutie Tour 2002

Years of drought followed as Julich and Vandenbroucke left the team. Vandenbroucke's Belgian compatriots,

Nico Mattan Nico Mattan (born 17 July 1971) is a Belgian former road racing cyclist. His greatest achievement in cycling was winning the Gent–Wevelgem classic in 2005. In 2005 Mattan won the Gent–Wevelgem in a controversial way, as there were claims ...

Chris Peers Chris Peers (born 3 March 1970 in Deinze) is a Belgian former professional cyclist. Major results ;1988 : 1st Junior National Road Race Championships ;1991 : 1st Stages 2 & 6 Tour de Wallonie : 2nd Vlaamse Pijl ;1994 : 3rd Nokere Koerse ;1996 ...

Peter Farazijn Peter Farazijn (born 27 January 1969 in Diksmuide) is a former Belgian racing cyclist. Palmarès ;1989 :2nd Tour de Wallonie ;1990 :2nd De Vlaamse Pijl :3rd Kattekoers ;1994 :1st Grand Prix de Wallonie ;1996 :3rd Vuelta a Andalucía ;2000 :6th ...

, and

Jo Planckaert Jo Planckaert (born 16 December 1970) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer. He is the son of former professional road bicycle racer Willy Planckaert, brother of famous road bicycle racers Eddy Planckaert, Eddy and Walter Planckaer ...

, stayed on but were criticised for inconsistent performances. Cofidis, on the demand of Migraine, began paying riders by results, judged by the points they won in a season-long competition run by the

Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces di ...

. Belgian riders criticised the policy, saying it would lead riders to ride conservatively to be sure of good placings at the finish. They debated the issue publicly with the manager, Alain Bondue, and left.

David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin–Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España a ...

raised the team's profile by winning the prologue of the

2000 Tour de France The 2000 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 1 to 23 July, and the 87th edition of the Tour de France. There was no overall winner following a vacating of results by the United States Anti-Doping Agency announcement on 24 ...

, taking leadership of the team. Millar criticized the points system and the team relented. In 2004 Cofidis had three

world champions A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

–

Igor Astarloa Igor Astarloa Askasibar (born March 29, 1976) is a retired cyclist from Spain. Career Astarloa turned professional with the Italian cycling team and enjoyed his best season in 2003 with team when he won the Flèche Wallonne and the road race ...

on the road,

in the

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

and

Laurent Gané Laurent Gané (born 7 March 1973) is a former French professional track cyclist. He was awarded the Vélo d'Or français, which is awarded by a panel of French journalists, in 1999 and 2003. Gané is also the cousin of cyclist Hervé Gané. M ...

on the track. However, a doping scandal involving Millar and other riders led them to stop racing until it was resolved. Astarloa left the team. The investigation decided that doping was by individual riders and that the team was not involved. David Millar has since suggested otherwise, in a strongly worded interview with the BBC. In May 2004 the team announced that Bondue and team doctor Jean-Jacques Menuet had both resigned. The team then returned to competition for the

2004 Tour de France The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

, in which

Stuart O'Grady Stuart O'Grady (born 6 August 1973) is a retired Australian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 1995 and 2013. A former track cyclist, O'Grady and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in the Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics – M ...

and

David Moncoutié David Moncoutié (born 30 April 1975) is a retired French professional road racing cyclist, who rode with the French team , for his entire professional career. He was a climbing specialist, climber, and won his first professional race in a mounta ...

won stages, Moncoutié's on

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

. Following the doping scandals, the team appointed

Éric Boyer Éric Boyer (born 2 December 1963) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. Boyer was born in Choisy-le-Roi. In the 1988 Tour de France, he finished in 5th place in the overall classification - the highest placed French finisher. Boye ...

as team manager in 2005. Moncoutié won on Bastille day again in the

2005 Tour de France The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between 2–24 July, with 21 stages covering a distance . It has no overall winner—although American cyclist ...

– the only French stage win – with O'Grady's help. A new signing,

Sylvain Chavanel Sylvain Chavanel'' Procycling'', UK, November 2008 (born 30 June 1979) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the , , and two spells with the / team. His brother Sébastien Chavanel ...

failed to win a stage or to make a strong impression. O'Grady and Matthew White left in 2006.

Cédric Vasseur Cédric Vasseur (born 18 August 1970) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, and current general manager of UCI WorldTeam . As a rider, Vasseur competed between 1993 and 2007 for the Novemail–Histor, , , and squads. Vasseur was c ...

– often the road captain – also left. An early victory in Classic Haribo by

Arnaud Coyot Arnaud Coyot (6 October 1980 – 24 November 2013) was a French road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2003 to 2012. He had two race victories, and finished in tenth place in the 2005 Paris–Roubaix race, and tenth place in ...

showed the team still had firepower. Cofidis won the first stage of the

2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Land ...

with

Jimmy Casper Jimmy Casper (born 28 May 1978) is a French retired road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2012. He won stage 1 of the 2006 Tour de France. Career He has on two occasions finished in last place in the General classifi ...

, in a chaotic sprint. For 2007 the team signed

Belgians Belgians ( ; ; ) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural rather than ethnic. The majority ...

Nick Nuyens Nick Nuyens (born 5 May 1980) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for in the UCI World Tour. His biggest wins included the semi-classics Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Omloop Het Volk, Paris– ...

and

Kevin De Weert Kevin De Weert (born 27 May 1982 in Duffel) is a former Belgian professional road bicycle racer. In October 2014 it was announced would join on a two-year deal from 2015, with the team's directeur sportif Nico Verhoeven describing his role as ...

from Quick-Step–Innergetic. On 25 July 2007 Cofidis rider

Cristian Moreni Cristian Moreni (born 21 November 1972 in Asola) is an Italian former road racing cyclist who competed as a professional from 1998 to 2000. He took eight wins in his career, including stages of the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, the Ita ...

failed his doping test after the 11th stage of the Tour de France. His blood contained traces of

testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...

. Moreni acknowledged doping. The team withdrew from the Tour. In 2008 the team enjoyed the most successful season of Boyer's time as manager, with Chavanel winning

Dwars door Vlaanderen ''Dwars door Vlaanderen'' ('Across Flanders') is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI Wor ...

and Brabantse Pijl and Chavanel and

Samuel Dumoulin Samuel Dumoulin (born 20 August 1980) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2019 for the , and teams. He now works as a directeur sportif for UCI ProTeam . Career Dumoulin rode as an amateu ...

both taking stage wins in that year's

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

. On 29 September 2009, the

decided not to renew the ProTour licenses of Cofidis and Bbox Bouygues Telecom, due to poor results. In 2012, the team received a wildcard invitation to the

, along with three other French-registered teams. A few days before the start of the race, Boyer was sacked as manager of the team, with Migraine blaming him for poor results: he was replaced by former , and

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

Yvon Sanquer. On 10 July 2012, the first rest day in the

2012 Tour de France The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs ...

, French police raided the Cofidis team hotel, arresting French rider

Rémy Di Gregorio Rémy Di Gregorio (born 31 July 1985) is a French road bicycle racer, who is currently suspended from the sport following a positive in-competition doping test for darbepoetin alfa, a re-engineered form of erythropoietin (EPO). He has previousl ...

on suspicion of doping. For the 2015 season the team announced it had signed 2014 Giro d'Italia points classification winner,

Nacer Bouhanni Nacer Bouhanni (born 25 July 1990) is a French former professional racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2011 to 2023. A sprinter, he was the winner of the 2012 French National Road Race Championships. Although his first Grand To ...

, along with

Dominique Rollin Dominique Rollin (born 29 October 1982) is a Canadian former professional cyclist. Born in Boucherville, Quebec, Rollin began his professional career in 2001 with the team Sympatico High Speed-Jet Fuel Coffee and again the following year, 2002 ...

, Geoffrey Soupe and

Steve Chainel Steve Chainel (born 6 September 1983 in Remiremont) is a French former professional racing cyclist. Chainel competed for the , , , , and Cross Team Legendre professional teams. Chainel left at the end of the 2012 season, and signed a two-year ...

. After a 2017 season during which the team only took 13 wins, in October of that year the team announced that Sanquer had been sacked, and that he would be replaced as manager by former Cofidis rider Vasseur. The team returned to UCI WorldTour status in the 2020 season, and the team will using De Rosa bikes beginning from the 2020 season, ending their contract with Kuota. Starting with the 2023 season the team will be riding Look bicycles.