2010 Bbox Bouygues Telecom season

The 2010 season for Bbox Bouygues Telecom began in January with La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and ended in October at the Japan Cup. It is the team's first season as a UCI Professional Continental team, after being relegated from UCI ProTour status after the 2009 season. The team had been part of the ProTour since the ProTour's inception in 2005. The team carries wildcard status in 2010, meaning they are eligible to be invited to any ProTour event should the organizers wish to include them.

2010 Bbox Bouygues Telecom season
Manager Jean-René Bernaudeau
One-day victories 2
Stage race overall victories 2
Stage race stage victories 11
Previous season • Next season

The team's manager is former cyclist Jean-René Bernaudeau, who has led the team since its origination. The team nearly folded at the end of 2010, after a search for a title sponsor to replace the outgoing Bouygues group proved very difficult. Europcar came forward at the last moment to save the team.

2010 roster

Ages as of January 1, 2010.

Rider Date of birth
 Yukiya Arashiro (JPN) (1984-09-22)September 22, 1984 (aged 25)
 Freddy Bichot (FRA) (1979-09-09)September 9, 1979 (aged 30)
 Giovanni Bernaudeau (FRA) (1983-08-25)August 25, 1983 (aged 26)
 William Bonnet (FRA) (1983-05-06)May 6, 1983 (aged 26)
 Franck Bouyer (FRA) (1974-03-17)March 17, 1974 (aged 35)
 Steve Chainel (FRA) (1983-09-06)September 6, 1983 (aged 26)
 Anthony Charteau (FRA) (1979-06-04)June 4, 1979 (aged 30)
 Mathieu Claude (FRA) (1983-03-17)March 17, 1983 (aged 26)
 Jérôme Cousin (FRA) (1989-06-05)June 5, 1989 (aged 20)
 Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) (1978-11-30)November 30, 1978 (aged 31)
 Damien Gaudin (FRA) (1986-08-20)August 20, 1986 (aged 23)
 Cyril Gautier (FRA) (1987-09-26)September 26, 1987 (aged 22)
 Yohann Gène (FRA) (1981-06-25)June 25, 1981 (aged 28)
Rider Date of birth
 Saïd Haddou (FRA) (1982-11-23)November 23, 1982 (aged 27)
 Vincent Jérôme (FRA) (1984-11-26)November 26, 1984 (aged 25)
 Guillaume Le Floch (FRA) (1985-02-16)February 16, 1985 (aged 24)
 Laurent Lefevre (FRA) (1976-07-02)July 2, 1976 (aged 33)
 Alexandre Pichot (FRA) (1983-01-06)January 6, 1983 (aged 26)
 Perrig Quéméneur (FRA) (1984-04-26)April 26, 1984 (aged 25)
 Pierre Rolland (FRA) (1986-10-10)October 10, 1986 (aged 23)
 Matthieu Sprick (FRA) (1981-09-29)September 29, 1981 (aged 28)
 Yuri Trofimov (RUS) (1984-01-26)January 26, 1984 (aged 25)
 Johann Tschopp (SUI) (1982-07-01)July 1, 1982 (aged 27)
 Sébastien Turgot (FRA) (1984-04-11)April 11, 1984 (aged 25)
 Thomas Voeckler (FRA) (1979-06-22)June 22, 1979 (aged 30)
 Nicolas Vogondy (FRA) (1977-08-08)August 8, 1977 (aged 32)

One-day races

Stage races

The team opened their season in Africa, at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, in the nation of Gabon. After first taking the overall lead in stage 3,[1] Charteau backed it up with a stage win from a breakaway the next day, padding his lead.[2] Gène and Bernaudeau finished in the top two positions in a mass sprint finish to stage 5 a day later.[3] Charteau won the race overall the next day by finishing with the peloton in a stage conquered by a breakaway.[4]

Grand Tours

Giro d'Italia

Bbox was one of 22 teams in the Giro d'Italia. They sent a squad headed by Voeckler and there with the express goal of trying for stage wins.[5] The team was not competitive in the Giro's opening stages in the Netherlands. They did not have any riders contesting the sprint finishes to the first two road race stages, and their highest-placed man in the overall standings prior to the transfer to Italy was Bonnet in 40th place.[6] Their fortunes changed little in the stage 4 team time trial, when they finished 17th.[7]

In stage 5, Arashiro instigated the day's principal breakaway 25 km (16 mi) into the stage. He and two of the three riders who first broke away with him stayed away to the finish line, coming home 4 seconds ahead of a fast-charging peloton that had just mistimed the catch. Arashiro was last of the three in the sprint for the stage win, but received much praise for his combativity on the stage in starting the break and in his pacemaking, which helped them stay away.[8][9] The next day's stage featured a depleted group sprint for the high stage placings available to the peloton after a two-man breakaway stayed away to the finish. Bonnet took sixth in this stage.[10]

The team was then quiet until stage 12. With a field sprint seemingly shaping up as the stage neared its conclusion, a counterattack made as the day's principal breakaway was caught got ten riders to the finish line 10 seconds ahead of the peloton. Voeckler made this split, but just missed out on the stage win, finishing second to Filippo Pozzato in the sprint.[11] Voeckler said after the stage that he was satisfied with his ride even though he narrowly missed a victory, stating that Pozzato is simply the better sprinter.[12] The next day's stage featured a winning morning breakaway. Claude was part of this group, though he was only seventh out of nine in the sprint for the stage win.[13]

The team claimed their only win of the Giro in the queen stage, stage 20. Tschopp and Gilberto Simoni were the day's principal escape group. After Tschopp beat Simoni to the top of the Passo di Gavia for the prize money that went along with winning the Cima Coppi, the Giro's tallest climb, he rode an aggressive descent of the mountain and was out front for the entirety of the stage. Tschopp climbed the Passo del Tonale alone en route to victory 16 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans in second place. He was the first Swiss rider to win a stage at the Giro since Alex Zülle in 1998.[14] The team's highest-placed rider in the final overall standings was Voeckler in 23rd. They finished tenth in the Trofeo Fast Team standings and 15th in the Trofeo Super Team.[15]

Tour de France
The Bbox team car at the start of stage 1 in Rotterdam.

Voeckler led the squad sent to the Tour de France, again seeking stage wins. The squad was combative in the Tour's early flat stages, making morning breakaways in stages 2, 3, 4, and 6. Turgot took fifth place in back-to-back field sprints, in stages 5 and 6.[16][17] After taking mountains points in morning breakaways in several previous stages, Charteau took the polka-dot jersey after stage 9, again making the breakaway. This one stayed away to decide the stage, though Charteau did not contest the sprint, finishing in fifth place two seconds behind Sandy Casar, Luis León Sánchez, and Damiano Cunego.[18] He lost it to Jérôme Pineau the next day,[19] but took it back again after stage 12.[20] From this point on, there was not much competition in the mountains classification. The race's elite riders took some of the more difficult climbs, like the Col du Tourmalet, while other breakaways involving riders who had not yet scored many points took place on other climbs. Christophe Moreau came close to challenging Charteau for the jersey, but Charteau clinched it after stage 17 when he and Moreau both failed to score further[21] – none of the stages after 17 had any categorized climbs, so Charteau needed only to finish the race to win the classification, which he did.[22]

The team also had consecutive stage wins in the race's final week. Voeckler soloed to victory in stage 15 up the Port de Balès and arrived in Bagneres-de-Luchon with a comfortable margin of a minute and a half over the remnants of the morning breakaway he had left behind and nearly three minutes over the race's elite riders.[23] The next day, Fédrigo won in Pau on a stage that had been targeted by Lance Armstrong. Eight of nine riders from an early breakaway, Fédrigo and Armstrong among them, finished together after riding over the hors catégorie Col du Tourmalet and Col d'Aspin climbs.[24] Charteau was the team's highest-placed rider in Paris, finishing the Tour in 44th place, at a deficit of 1 hour, 24 minutes, and 12 seconds to Tour champion Alberto Contador. The squad was tenth in the teams classification.[25]

Vuelta a España

Bbox attended the Vuelta a España, but was shut out of any noteworthy results. Tschopp's third place from a breakaway in stage 8 on the Xorret del Catí was the only time they so much as finished in the top ten of a stage.[26] The squad's highest-placed rider in the final overall standings was Sprick in 54th, at a deficit of an hour and 45 minutes to Vuelta champion Vincenzo Nibali. The squad was 19th in the teams classification, better only than the small Spanish teams Andalucía–Cajasur and Footon–Servetto–Fuji.[27]

Season victories
DateRaceCompetitionRiderCountryLocation
January 22La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, Stage 4UCI Africa Tour Anthony Charteau (FRA) GabonLambaréné
January 23La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, Stage 5UCI Africa Tour Yohann Gène (FRA) GabonKango
January 24La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, OverallUCI Africa Tour Anthony Charteau (FRA) Gabon
March 9Paris–Nice, Stage 2UCI World Ranking William Bonnet (FRA) FranceLimoges
March 27Critérium International, Stage 1UCI Europe Tour Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) FranceCol de l'Ospedale
March 28Critérium International, OverallUCI Europe Tour Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) France
March 28Critérium International, Points classificationUCI Europe Tour Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) France
March 28Critérium International, Mountains classificationUCI Europe Tour Pierre Rolland (FRA) France
March 30Three Days of De Panne, Stage 1UCI Europe Tour Steve Chainel (FRA) BelgiumOudenaarde
March 31Three Days of De Panne, Stage 2UCI Europe Tour Sébastien Turgot (FRA) BelgiumSaint-Idesbald
April 2Route Adélie de VitréUCI Europe Tour Cyril Gautier (FRA) FranceVitré
May 22Circuit de Lorraine, Stage 4UCI Europe Tour Pierre Rolland (FRA) FranceBelleville-sur-Meuse
May 23Circuit de Lorraine, Teams classificationUCI Europe Tour[N 1] France
May 29Giro d'Italia, Stage 20UCI World Ranking Johann Tschopp (SWI) ItalyPasso del Tonale
June 10Critérium du Dauphiné, Stage 4UCI World Ranking Nicolas Vogondy (FRA) FranceRisoul
July 19Tour de France, Stage 15UCI World Ranking Thomas Voeckler (FRA) FranceBagnères-de-Luchon
July 20Tour de France, Stage 16UCI World Ranking Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) FrancePau
July 25Tour de France, Mountains classificationUCI World Ranking Anthony Charteau (FRA) France
September 10Grand Prix Cycliste de QuébecUCI ProTour Thomas Voeckler (FRA) CanadaQuebec City

Footnotes
  1. The riders on the squad were Freddy Bichot, Steve Chainel, Cyril Gautier, Matthieu Sprick, Laurent Lefèvre, Nicolas Vogondy, and Pierre Rolland

References
  1. Cycling News (2010-01-21). "Rousseau continues French success". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
  2. Cycling News (2010-01-22). "Charteau backs up overall lead with stage win". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
  3. Cycling News (2010-01-23). "Gene gets another for Bbox". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
  4. Cycling News (2010-01-24). "Reihs rules Tropicale final stage". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
  5. Greg Johnson (2010-04-23). "BBox-Bouygues Telecom to chase Giro stage wins". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  6. Les Clarke (2010-05-10). "Weylandt takes chaotic stage". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  7. Les Clarke and Stephen Farrand (2010-05-12). "Liquigas-Doimo fly to TTT victory". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  8. Jean-François Quénet (2010-05-14). "HTC-Columbia director credits Giro break". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 17 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
  9. Peter Hymas and Jean-François Quénet (2010-05-13). "Pineau nabs Quick Step's second stage". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-05-15. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
  10. Peter Hymas and Jean-François Quénet (2010-05-14). "Lloyd solos to stage win". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  11. Les Clarke (2010-05-20). "Pippo powers home in Porto Recanti". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  12. Jean-François Quénet (2010-05-21). "Voeckler not frustrated by missed Giro opportunity". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  13. Cycling News (2010-06-11). "Belletti sprints to hometown win in Cesenatico". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-05-23. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  14. Cycling News (2010-05-29). "Tschopp nets first Swiss stage win since Zulle". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  15. Stephen Farrand (2010-05-30). "Basso wins Giro d'Italia". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  16. Les Clarke (2010-07-08). "Cavendish vindicated in Montargis!". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-09-13. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  17. Les Clarke (2010-07-09). "Cavendish sprints for second consecutive stage win". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-07-09. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  18. Les Clarke (2010-07-13). "Casar claims stage win for France". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  19. Les Clarke (2010-07-14). "Paulinho gives Radioshack something to celebrate". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-08-15. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  20. Barry Ryan (2010-07-16). "Rodriguez powers to victory in Mende". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  21. Les Clarke (2010-07-22). "Schleck takes stage win atop Col du Tourmalet". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  22. Anthony Tan (2010-07-25). "Tres victorias de Francia para Contador!". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-08-15. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  23. Les Clarke (2010-07-19). "Voeckler victorious in Bagneres-de-Luchon". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-08-19. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  24. Les Clarke (2010-07-20). "Fedrigo prevails in Pau". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  25. Anthony Tan (2010-07-25). "Tres victorias de Francia para Contador!". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-08-15. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  26. Barry Ryan (2010-09-04). "Moncoutie takes solo victory". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  27. Stephen Farrand (2010-09-19). "Nibali seals Vuelta a España win". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 2010-09-22. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
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