Changes are afoot at Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale. The long-running French team, which is shedding AG2R from its name after 25 years to become Decathlon-CMA GCM, has spent the past year retooling both its organizational structure and its roster amid an influx of cash from its new sponsors.
Team manager Dominique Serieys, who took over the squad from founder Vincent Lavenu in 2024, has plainly stated that the objective is to become a "super team.” That goal will require a broad approach with investments in multiple areas. In the GC department, the team is all in on prize prospect Paul Seixas, hoping that building around the young Frenchman will help pull the home country out of the doldrums in the world's biggest bike race. Far more likely to pay dividends in the short term, however, is the team's hefty investment in its sprint portfolio.
In 2026, Decathlon will look to light up the bunch kicks with new acquisition Olav Kooij. Lest there be any doubt about their commitment to setting the Dutchman up for success, Decathlon went out and bought a lead-out train this transfer season too. Then, just for good measure, they decided to bring aboard perhaps the best-known lead-out man in the sport's history as well. After two years as a sports director with XDS-Astana, where he first signed on as a consultant back in 2023 to help his former teammate Mark Cavendish in pursuit of a record 35th Tour de France stage win, Mark Renshaw is taking his expertise to Decathlon.
"Early this year, they had probably already put in motion Olav coming across to the team. They also signed another young sprinter, Tobias Lund Andresen. So they had two sprinters, they were looking to shake up the team a little bit, and looking at bringing native English speakers to the team in a management director role," Renshaw told Escape Collective this week. "I ticked a few boxes in that sense, and then after they made contact and explained to me their objectives and goals for the season ahead, it got me really excited to be back working with a top-tier sprinter, and especially a young sprinter who hasn't been to the Tour de France, who has big objectives."
When announcing that Renshaw would be coming aboard – alongside fellow Australian Heinrich Haussler as a Classics expert – Decathlon's Sébastien Joly said that the appointments were part of a push to "balance the dynamic between the team's French culture and the Anglo-Saxon riders and staff members." For a team so thoroughly French since its inception in the early 90s, the changes underway behind the scenes represent a seismic shift.
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