The Groupama-FDJ cycling team and Kevin Geniets gave their all on Sunday, on the very first French race of the 2025 season, but in the Grand Prix La Marseillaise, the Luxembourger couldn’t retain his title. After he didn’t manage to follow the best in the climbs and struggled to make his way in the sprint that eventually concluded the day, the 28-year-old took sixteenth place. Next appointment: the Étoile de Bessèges, from Wednesday.
As usual, the Grand Prix La Marseillaise, the first round of the FDJ French Cup, launched the season on French soil this Sunday. The course also remained similar to the past editions, with the Route des Crêtes as the major difficulty of the final before the Col de la Gineste then the descent towards Marseille. On the other hand, the finish line came after a slightly uphill last kilometre this year, while Kevin Geniets claimed victory on the flat in 2024. The Luxembourg champion was back on the land of his first pro “international” victory, together with his new teammates Rémi Cavagna, Clément Braz Afonso and Johan Jacobs. “We had a strong team at the start, we were ambitious, and we knew that it wouldn’t be a tailwind in the Gineste, so we figured it could be easy for the sprinters to come back”, explained William Green. “For this reason, we wanted to put a little pressure on”. This materialized after the descent of the Espigoulier, halfway through the race, when Rémi Cavagna made a counterattack behind the five-man early breakaway. “It was a great move but Chamberlain from Decathlon-AG2R joined Rémi and unfortunately didn’t work with him,” William regretted. “They came back just thirty seconds off the breakaway, but it didn’t work out. It still put pressure on Arkéa-B&B Hôtels, which was very good for us. We were saving our guys.”
“We’ll keep the same energy and the same collective,” William Green
The “TGV of Clermont-Ferrand” was caught by the pack after twenty-five kilometres on the front, then it got increasingly nervous before heading towards the crucial Route des Crêtes (4 km at 7.5%). “Johan Jacobs and Olivier Le Gac did an excellent job of positioning at the bottom,” William specified, “as did Clément who set a hard pace to set it up for Kevin. After a few minutes, there were attacks, Kevin was in a position to follow but he couldn’t. Honestly, he just didn’t have the legs today.” Five men broke away at the summit, about twenty-five kilometres from the finish, but Groupama-FDJ didn’t give up in what was left of the bunch. “Clément continued to work after the Route des Crêtes, with no help at all,” William said. “He paced on his own and chased for more than ten kilometers. It was a strong performance for a small guy like him.” The peloton tackled the Col de la Gineste a minute behind the break, but almost came back towards the summit. Kevin Geniets tried to follow some new attacks, but the pack remained more or less together, a few seconds behind the fugitives.
The latter still entered the last kilometre with a small margin, but because they looked at each other, the peloton came back just 500 metres from the finish. “It was luck to come down to a sprint, but again, we have to be realistic and honest,” William added. “Kevin didn’t have the legs to position himself in the final and to make a good sprint.” In a bunch of around thirty riders, the tall man from Groupama-FDJ took sixteenth place, while Clément Braz Afonso finished at the back of the group. “I’m happy with the team’s performance and especially with how the riders committed to the day’s strategy,” William concluded. “There’s more work to do with physical preparation, but we’ll continue on this path and go on to the next races. We’ll have four similar riders in Bessèges, with the addition of Paul, Clément and Cyril. We’ll keep the same energy and the same collective, and hopefully we’ll make a step forward physically.”
