Co-sponsors Duchy of Luxembourg Cactus Banque Raiffeisen
Bikes and equipment Peugeot
Clothing Le Coq Sportif
Helmets Eköi
Design
Jakstar22
Jersey
The team
Peugeot - Bancolombia was established for the 2025 season in the continental division. As a new team the road is always rocky, but on a small budget we managed to create a strong squad centered around Fredrik Strand Galta, Leo Vincent, Benjamin Thomas and Bert Van Lerberghe.
The team was tipped as one of the main favorites for the CT season while the main goal for the team was to fight for promotion. In the end we finished 4th while Galta won the individual standings, a season the team will look fondly back on in years to come with a promotion and a large step forward for the team.
For the 2026 cosponsor Bancolombia leaves the team and we have moved the main office to Luxembourg. While the focus will not be less on France than it has been it means we will focus less on South America and more on Luxembourg and Europe. The main goal this season is to build a competitive PCT squad, which will be an interesting challange!
Edited by Heine on 24-06-2026 12:19
Team History — From Telenor-SAS to Peugeot-Bancolombia
The full story of Heine's Man-Game team: 2011–2025. One manager, seven jerseys, three divisions, and one promise to keep coming back.
The short version
It started in 2010 when a Norwegian manager joined the Man-Game, and in 2011 a brand-new Scandinavian outfit rolled out of the garage. Across the next decade the team climbed out of the Continental ranks, bounced between the Pro Tour and the Pro Continental tier, changed its name and sponsors six times, and built a habit of turning relegation into rebuilds. It won the PCT, sent a rider to the top step of the Tour de France, took Paris-Roubaix, and finally bowed out after a relegation in 2021 and a quiet disbandment in 2022. In 2025 the manager came back from retirement to start all over again at the bottom — this time flying French and Colombian colours.
The whole adventure began as a Scandinavian project registered in Norway, bankrolled by Telenor and SAS (with Saab and Moods of Norway alongside). The squad was built almost entirely from scratch around a Nordic core, with Swedish climber Fredrik Kessiakoff as the marquee captain and best-paid rider, supported by Austrian all-rounder Thomas Rohregger, Lithuanian sprinter Tomas Vaitkus and Australian fast-man Graeme Brown.
It was a learning season — the team finished down in the high teens of the Continental standings (the manager's own recaps say 18th/19th) and missed almost every stated goal. But it had its moments: Vaitkus took the Scandinavian Race Uppsala and Fyen Rundt, Fabio Sabatini won the Air Force Cycling Classic, Lasse Bøchman delivered the team's first classic win at the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, and Kessiakoff bagged two stages and a runner-up GC at the Tour de Beauce. The riding was wildly inconsistent — a blank at the African opener, a flat home race at the Ringerike GP, redeemed by surprise wins elsewhere.
Mid-season the sponsors blinked: Telenor and SAS announced they were leaving cycling (SAS citing its financial troubles). Rather than fold, the manager went hunting and landed two giants — Volkswagen and Siemens — turning the Scandinavian start-up into a German project for 2012.
Squad — Team Telenor-SAS (2011)
Thomas Vaitkus Fredrik Kessiakoff Graeme Brown Xavier Florencio Thomas Rohregger Benjamin Noval Christian Pfannberger Rafã Chtioui Fabio Sabatini Niki Västergaard Jussi Veikkanen Sebastian Siedler Fredrik Wilman Lasse Böchman Daniel Foder Remco Te Brake Andreas Klier Lars Petter Nordhaug Stian Remme Stian Sommerseth Ole Haavardsholm Rasmus Guldhammer (Loaned in)
The VolksWagen Era
2012 — VolksWagen-Siemens (Continental)
The relaunch came with a manifesto: relocate the whole squad to one base, insist on at least 50% German/Austrian riders, develop young talent, and target promotion to the Pro Tour in 2013. The budget rose to around €3.4–3.5M and the recruitment was aggressive — German puncheur Alexander Flügel arrived as the headline signing (and promptly became top scorer), Dutchman Kai Reus and Italian Marco Marzano came in as GC leaders, and Ukrainian Vadim Ratiy was signed for a team-record fee.
On the road it was, in the manager's words, "a rollercoaster — from winning HC races to crashing out of everything." Kai Reus won the Tour of the Czech Republic and Post Danmark Rundt; Marzano took Le Tour de Langkawi; Flügel won the GP de Lugano, the Tour of Wellington and capped the year with the Japan Cup; and Jussi Veikkanen even stole a Paris-Nice stage — a Pro Tour scalp for a Continental team. The young Ruben Zepuntke, loaned out, took silver at the U23 Worlds. The team landed a Giro wildcard but finished roughly top-ten in the Continental standings — promotion narrowly escaped, exactly as the long-range plan had warned.
At season's end Siemens stepped aside and Mapei stepped in, nudging the team toward the classics.
Squad — VolksWagen-Siemens (2012)
Kai Reus Vadim Ratiy Alexandar Flügel Robert Förster Christian Müller Lucas Schädlich Andreas Klier Rick Zabel Kevin Predatsch Marco Marzano Alberto Loddo Fabio Sabatini Christian Pfannberger Georg Preidler Daniel Schorn Benjamin Noval Jussi Veikkanen Gregory Brenes Winner Anacona Wen Hao Li Loan from Festina - Conec
With Mapei aboard and an Italian/classics flavour added (Martijn Keizer and Damien Gaudin in, a host of veterans out), the goal was finally promotion. The team only managed 7th in the standings — short of its top-5 target — but it was enough for what Heine called a "lucky promotion" to the Pro Tour. Rick Zabel won the points jersey at the Tour de l'Avenir, the season goals were a mixed bag (a fine 4th at Giro dell'Emilia, a galling 2nd at the Japan Cup, a flop at Bad Harzburg), and the maiden Tour de France appearance was one to forget. But the team was up.
Squad — VolksWagen-Mapei (2013)
Martijn Keizer Vadim Ratiy Alexandar Flügel Christian Müller Rick Zabel Kevin Predatsch Ruben Zepuntke Marcel Sieberg Matthias Kessler Georg Preidler Daniel Schorn Matthias Brändle Christoph Taubel Damien Gaudin Gregory Brenes Winner Anacona Jaime Alberto Castañeda Lasse Böchman Phan Age Haugard Yeison Delgado Gilber Zurita Victor Shishelov (On Loan)
2014 — VolksWagen-Mapei (Pro Tour) — survived
The first taste of the top division was a year-long relegation scrap. The squad looked strong on paper — Filippo Pozzato, Emanuele Sella, the freshly-signed Nacer Bouhanni and a young core of Flügel, Zabel, Zepuntke, Preidler and Brändle — and in the end they survived, winning a tight relegation battle against the other German team, Rothaus. (Detailed race results from this season are thin in the archives.) At the close, Mapei departed in search of a more Italian project and the Austrian industrial group Andritz came in.
The second Pro Tour campaign went the wrong way. Despite signing Austrian mountain leader Stefan Denifl and setting top-ten ambitions for the Grand Tours, the season disappointed and the team was relegated back to the Pro Continental ranks. There were bright individual notes — Matthias Brändle won the Austrian TT and road race double, Phan Age Haugard took the Norwegian TT title, and in his farewell ride in the colours Alexander Flügel won the German National Championship road race, the team's first-ever German champion. Off the bike, VolksWagen quit cycling (citing the diesel scandal) and Wiesenhof arrived as the new main sponsor.
Squad — VolksWagen-Andritz (2015)
Alexandar Flügel Rick Zabel Kevin Predatsch Ruben Zepuntke Christoph Mai Mike Aaron Egger Stefan Denifl Georg Preidler Daniel Schorn Matthias Brändle Daniel Paulus Lukas Pöstlberger Christoph Taubel Dimitri Claeys Yonathan Monsalve Jaco Venter Shane Archbold Ivan Kovalev Ruben Fernandez (Loaned in) Rasmus Sterobo (Loaned in) Haavard Blikra (Loaned in) Alex Standfest (Stagiare) Nevio Tirolini (Stagiare)
The relegation turned into the team's finest season. Wiesenhof-Andritz dominated the Pro Continental tour, won the division outright and earned immediate promotion back to the Pro Tour. The campaign opened in style at the Tour Down Under, where Flügel — still in his German champion's jersey — won the Willunga stage and the overall GC, with Rick Zabel collecting podium placings in the sprints. The big off-season move was bringing Lucas Schädlich back to the team for around €1,000,000.
Squad — Wiesenhof-Andritz (2016)
Alexandar Flügel Rick Zabel Kevin Predatsch Ruben Zepuntke Christoph Mai Mike Aaron Egger Lucas Schädlich Jan Dieteren Emanuel Buchmann Willi Willwohl Georg Preidler Daniel Schorn Matthias Brändle Daniel Paulus Lukas Pöstlberger Christoph Taubel Romain Zingle Yonathan Monsalve Shane Archbold Josh Atkins Ivan Kovalev
2017 — Wiesenhof-Andritz (Pro Tour)
Back in the top flight, both Wiesenhof and Andritz stuck around for the return. The PCT-winning campaign was reviewed (a 2nd at Strade Bianche for Flügel the highlight, the team title the prize), Brändle again won the Austrian TT, and the plan was set: keep the German/Austrian backbone but chase results, sign a genuine big-race leader, and develop Emanuel Buchmann into a hilly threat. The big arrival was Estonian Rein Taaramäe, who repaid the faith immediately with 4th overall at the Tour de France — the closest the team had ever come to a Grand Tour, and a sign of what was about to follow.
Squad — Wiesenhof-Andritz (2017)
Ruben Zepuntke Christoph Mai Andreas Stauff Mike Aaron Egger Lucas Schädlich Jan Dieteren Emanuel Buchmann Willi Willwohl Kevin Predatsch (Loaned out) Georg Preidler Daniel Schorn Daniel Paulus David Wöhrer Hermann Pernsteiner Christoph Taubel (loaned out) Gregor Muhlberger (Loaned in) Milos Borisavljevic (Loaned in) Isaac Bolivar (Loaned in) Rein Taaramäe Mattia Catteneo Enrico Franzoi Alex Dowsett
The T-Mobile Era
2018 — T-Mobile (Pro Tour) — TOUR DE FRANCE WINNERS
The iconic T-Mobile pink returned to the peloton, and with it came ambition. Tejay van Garderen arrived in a team-record €3,000,000 deal and elite time-triallist Jacob Fiedler came across in a big-money trade, but the story of the year was Rein Taaramäe. Having finished 4th at the 2017 Tour after crashes wrecked his bid, in 2018 he finished the job: Taaramäe won the Tour de France by just 32 seconds over Simon Spilak. It became the crowning achievement of the team's history, the win the manager would point to above all others. For flavour, retired pros Jan Ullrich and Andreas Klöden were brought in as coaches. The goal of "staying up" was comfortably met.
Squad — T-Mobile (2018)
Jacob Fiedler Rudiger Selig Thomas Bontenackels Emanuel Buchmann Kevin Predatsch Michael Schwarzmann Georg Preidler Andreas Hofer David Wöhrer Gregor Muhlberger (Loaned in) Rein Taaramäe Artemio Mochella Enrico Battaglin Tejay van Garderen Connor McCutcheon (Loaned in) Florentino Marquez Delio Fernandez Mitch Docker Geoffrey Soupe Alexandre Geniez Mikayil Krasnoperov Maani Altanzul (Loaned in) Torkil Veyhe (Faroe Islands) (Loaned in)
2019 — T-Mobile (Pro Tour) — RELEGATED
A heavy rebuild — only seven riders retained, both former leaders Taaramäe and Marquez gone — saw the team go more international and add cobbled-classics firepower around van Garderen, the new signing Matteo Trentin and the rising Buchmann. Readers fancied a top-ten finish, but the results didn't follow and the season ended in relegation from the Pro Tour. With the drop, T-Mobile walked away from the sponsorship.
Squad — T-Mobile (2019)
Tejay Van Garderen Matteo Trentin Rasmus Gulldhammer Jacob Fiedler Sergio Luis Henao Montoya Emanuel Buchmann Georg Preidler Elia Favilli Jhonatan Restrepo (Loan) Deins Kanepejs (Loan) David Wohrer Christoph Mai Luis Enrique Lemus Davila Abel Kenyeres (Loan) Gaspar Goncalves Marcus Burghardt Michael Schwarzmann Olivier Le Court de Billot Abou Sanogo (Loan) Kevin Predatsch Faycal Hamza Peter Varga
The Mapei Era
2020 — Mapei (Pro Continental) — PROMOTED
The legendary Mapei brand returned for its second stint with the team, and the response to relegation was a masterclass in rebuilding. Several leaders took pay cuts to fund a promotion push, and the squad arrived with six genuine leaders — Rasmus Guldhammer in the mountains, Buchmann in the hills, Trentin and the new Rick Zabel for the classics and sprints, Fiedler against the clock, and Andrea Guardini for the bunch finishes — plus a fearsome team time-trial unit. Pre-season the field tipped them to win the division, and they delivered: promotion straight back to the Pro Tour. The cost was steep, though — Tejay van Garderen and long-serving Georg Preidler (with the team since 2012) both moved on.
Squad — Mapei (2020)
Rasmus Guldhammer Emanuel Buchmann Matteo Trentin Rick Zabel Jacob Fiedler Andrea Guardini Elia Favilli David Wohrer Luis Enrique Lemus Davila Alfredo Balloni Ziga Groselj Niki Ostergaard Josh Atkins Csaba Palyi Sven Vandousselaere Kevin Predatsch Aaron Grosser Benjamin Brkic Simone Velasco Simone Ravanelli Pit Schlechter
2021 — Mapei (Pro Tour) — RELEGATED, then disbanded
For the return to the top, the team was built for depth rather than top-heavy star power. New sprinter Jonas Ahlstrand ("the best sprinter we have ever had", cobbles veteran Sam Bewley, climber Warren Barguil and the versatile Mathieu van der Poel headlined, with Buchmann the one core rider kept. The season's jewel was a Paris-Roubaix victory — the monument that, with Taaramäe's Tour win, gave the team the rare distinction of having won both the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix. But survival proved beyond them: Mapei finished 18th in the Pro Tour and was relegated, falling about 200 points short of EA Vesuvio in the 15th-place safety spot. In a blockbuster farewell trade, Guldhammer and Trentin were sold to Carlsberg–Danske Bank.
Squad — Mapei (2021)
Jonas Ahlstrand Sam Bewley Warren Barguil Emanuel Buchmann Mathieu van der Poel Matteo Fabbro Julius van den Berg Jernej Svab Nihal Silva Alex Ariya Destribois Aaron Grosser Luis Enrique Lemus Davila Gaspar Gonçalves Dayer Quintana Teten Rohendi Cristian Rodriguez Dominik Neuman Ziga Groselj Csaba Palyi Kevin Predatsch
2022 — Disbandment
In March 2022 the manager announced he was stepping away and disbanding the team. After several seasons of fading activity — he had hoped the promotion and rebuild would reignite his motivation, but it hadn't — and a new job on the horizon, he called time on twelve years in the game. He thanked the community and signed off looking back on the highlights: those first two wins in 2011, winning the PCT, and above all Taaramäe's Tour de France. "To the end of Mapei, T-Mobile, VolksWagen and Telenor-SAS."
The Comeback
2025 — Peugeot-Bancolombia (Continental)
After four years away, Heine came back. The reasons were simple — he missed it. The new project is a fresh start at the very bottom of the ladder: a French team backed by Peugeot and Colombia's Bancolombia, with the stated mission of becoming the best French team in the peloton and putting French cycling back at the top. Peugeot, wary of writing the cheques alone, demanded a second big backer before committing — enter Bancolombia — and the team handed the reins to an experienced returnee: the former boss of Mapei, T-Mobile, Wiesenhof and VolksWagen.
The palmarès isn't the flashiest, but it carries weight: a Tour de France, a Paris-Roubaix, a PCT title, and a decade of building teams worth watching. The garage doors are open again. L'aventure continue.
The season ended with promotion and Galta winning the CT individual standings. A great comeback with a lot more to come!
Squad — Peugeot - Bancolombia (2025)
Fredrik Strand Galta Nicholas Schultz Leo Vincent Benjamin Thomas Clement Russo Sergey Luchshenko Markus Kopfauf Bert Van Lerberghe Matthew Holmes Ziga Groselj Mario Vogt Luke Keough Arno Wallenborn Maicol Adrian Tabarez Camilo Andres Gomez Gustav Wang (Loaned in) Carl-Frederik Bevort (Loaned in) Kiaan Watts (Loaned in) David Beckham Elkatohchoongo (Loaned in)
The wait is over! After the blurred teaser and the first glimpse of the crest, we are finally proud to pull back the curtain on the jersey that will carry Peugeot - Bancolombia into the PCT next season.
The concept, "The Lion Meets the Lion", marries the Peugeot lion with the red lion of Luxembourg — a natural fit now that the team has made the Grand Duchy its new home. The colours pull straight from the French and Luxembourgish flags, tying together where we come from and where we are headed.
A huge thank you to our jersey designer Jakstar22, who nailed the brief and then some. Working with him this year has been a pleasure, and we think the result speaks for itself.
We also raise a glass to the partners who made the move possible — Banque Raiffeisen, our new banking solution and one of Luxembourg's oldest institutions, and Cactus, who will keep our riders fuelled from start line to podium — alongside main backer Peugeot.
Onwards and upwards. Promotion earned, new colours on our backs, and a lion on the chest. See you in the PCT! L'aventure continue.
Love the kit as said before, and love the concept, picking up the baton from EA Vesuvio, keeping the Luxembourgish dream alive in the MG. Very best of luck in your maiden PCT season (in awhile at least ) and I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other in transfers!
It is a cool jersey, I have to admit. And also a nice read of your long history in ManGame. But I'm not sure we already agreed (even to release) that you're now an Ekoi Devo Team, because otherwise I can't explain why the Ekoi badges are placed so prominently
Peugeot 
Duchy of Luxembourg 
Thomas Vaitkus
, cobbles veteran Sam Bewley, climber Warren Barguil and the versatile Mathieu van der Poel headlined, with Buchmann the one core rider kept. The season's jewel was a Paris-Roubaix victory — the monument that, with Taaramäe's Tour win, gave the team the rare distinction of having won both the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix. But survival proved beyond them: Mapei finished 18th in the Pro Tour and was relegated, falling about 200 points short of EA Vesuvio in the 15th-place safety spot. In a blockbuster farewell trade, Guldhammer and Trentin were sold to Carlsberg–Danske Bank.
