2011 FDJ season
| FDJ | |
|---|---|
| 2011 season | |
|
|
| UCI code | FDJ |
| Status | UCI Professional Continental |
| Europe Tour ranking | 1st (2551.1 points) |
| Manager | Marc Madiot |
| Main sponsor(s) | Française des Jeux |
| Based | France |
| Bicycles | Lapierre |
| Groupset | Shimano |
| Season victories | |
| One-day races | 7 |
| Stage race overall | 5 |
| Stage race stages | 16 |
| National Championships | 0 |
The 2011 season for the FDJ cycling team began in January at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and ended in October at the Chrono des Nations. The season was their first as a UCI Professional Continental team, having been denied UCI ProTeam status for 2011 in the preceding offseason, due to a paperwork error. Thus, the team had to be selected by organizers of UCI World Tour events, including each of the season's Grand Tours, if they were to compete. Only the Tour de France extended a wildcard invitation to FDJ.
While the team was not particularly competitive in the World Tour level races to which they received invites, they dominated the UCI Europe Tour. As their Professional Continental status meant they were scored for Europe Tour performances, they handily won the Europe Tour teams competition, finishing with more than a thousand more points than second-placed Skil–Shimano. Of the team's 28 victories, all but two were in Europe Tour races. Jérémy Roy won the overall combativity award at the Tour de France, the team's most notable performance in a World Tour race on the year. The team had no one star rider in 2011, as seven different riders won multiple races.
Ages as of January 1, 2011.
Before the spring season and the races known as classics, Roy won the first race of the season held in France, the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise. He was part of the morning breakaway with two others, and rode away from them to victory after starting his solo move with 15 km (9.3 mi) left to race. In the first large group on the road, which finished 2'43" down on Roy, FDJ had Vichot in fifth and Pineau in eighth, giving them three of the top ten riders on the day.
Vichot won Les Boucles du Sud Ardèche, taking place on the traditional opening weekend for the spring classics, at the front of a 12-rider sprint finish. On the same weekend, Offredo finished fourth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and Hutarovich finished second to Team Sky rider Christopher Sutton in Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne; falling short by around a bike length, while Ladagnous featured in the main breakaways of both races. In March, Hutarovich finished fifth in Le Samyn, nine seconds down on race-winner, Dominic Klemme of Leopard Trek. Chainel finished sixth in the Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers, before Meersman placed second in Paris–Troyes, losing out to Saur–Sojasun rider Jonathan Hivert in a four-man sprint to the line. Chainel and Bouhanni also placed in the top ten, finishing fifth and eighth respectively. After another breakaway in which Ladagnous was involved in, Hutarovich finished fifth in a mass sprint at the conclusion of Nokere Koerse. At Classic Loire Atlantique in France, after creating a four-man breakaway with Lieuwe Westra of Vacansoleil–DCM, Saur–Sojasun's Jean-Marc Marino and Landbouwkrediet rider Frédéric Amorison, they were joined by five other riders within the last 5 km (3.1 mi), and Geslin ultimately could not hold onto the leaders' pace, and eventually finished sixth, 22 seconds down.
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