There has been shock news this morning at La Poste HQ, as Le Coq Sportif pulled their jersey deal ahead of the new season with immediate effect.

Citing previous uncertainty for the MG's continuation as a whole and a focus towards to other projects within other sports, this has completely rocked the team, who are working hard now to secure a new sponsor ahead of the 2016 season.

Discussions have taken place with the MGUCI, who have accepted that we will need to submit a new design, along with the respective NC jerseys, and we will be working to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

More to follow on this story in the next couple of days...

After a much negotiation with a number of different companies, we have finally agreed a deal with Champion System as our Clothing Brand sponsor for the 2016 season.

Already sponsoring the PT team, Meiji - JR East, we are delighted to welcome them onboard, and more than happy with the outcome of their redesign of the La Poste p/b Mavic jersey.

The jersey redesign does mean that we can include SRAM, Unicef and Right to Play on the 2016 kit. Louis Garneau and Tag Hauer will no longer appear on the jersey, however will remain for the 2016.

Without further ado, we reveal to you the 2016 La Poste p/b Mavic Jersey, and corresponding National Champion Jerseys:

Renewals... hated by some, loved by others. For the La Poste team, it was a quick simple process, and we are happy to come out the other side with those we really wanted still part of the squad going into the Transfer period and the 2016 MG season.

Nat.	Name	2016 Wage	2015 Wage
	Anass Ait El Abdia	€ 50,000	€ 15,000
	Nabil Baz	€ 60,000	€ 50,000
	Hichem Chaabane	€ 50,000	€ 50,000
	Mikael Cherel	€ 60,000	€ 50,000
	Cedric Thaouta	€ 50,000	€ 10,000
	Jonathon Thire	€ 50,000	€ 50,000
	Sebastian Turgot	€ 60,000	€ 75,000
	Julien Antomarchi	Released	€ 50,000
	Guillaume Blot	Released	€ 50,000
	Guillaume Bonnafond	Released	€ 50,000
	Arnaud Coyot	Released	€ 50,000
	Tony Gallopin	Released	€ 50,000
	Saïd Haddou	Released	€ 70,000
	Wajdi Homrani	Released	€ 50,000
	Tony Hurel	Released	€ 50,000
	Christophe Kern	Released	€ 50,000
	Cédric Pineau	Released	€ 50,000
	Perrig Quemeneur	Released	€ 50,000
	Nicolas Rousseau	Released	€ 50,000

The renewals process sees the team cut from 19 riders to just 7, however that is all we really wanted to keep from a disastrous 2015 season. A majority were non-performers throughout the year, with the exception of Wadji Homrami

Wadji was offered a chance to stay with the team, but could not agree to the wages offered over the three rounds. Because of that, we regrettably lose our Tunisian champion for the new season.

We do have one or two regrets, mainly with Tony Gallopin and Guillaume Bonnafond. Both are good riders, and could have played a part this season, however the feeling was that they could be better off elsewhere. This is particularly the case with Tony. Releasing him has allowed him to work on some areas for improvement, and his new initial stats are the proof of that.


And so we come to the next point in the process - the start of transfers. If the reports coming out of the MGUCI, it is believed to be just around the corner... It is obvious that we need to build up the squad, and it has been made clear to all those remain (including the Team Leaders in 2015) that they will all most likely hold domestique roles on the team in 2016.

We have been very public when showing interest in some riders, and we are not holding back when it comes to identifying targets for this season. Hassen Ben Nasser, currently with Kenya Airways fits our Nation Focus and is certainly someone we have been an admirer of for some time. The same can be said for current French RR Champion, Romain Vanderbiest. Riding for Ayubowan!, we would love to have the sprinter on the team! We are also on the lookout for a Climber/GC rider, and a particular German and former Tour de France winner could fit that bill nicely, as he looks to end his career on a high and hopefully one last promotion from the CT.

The management team are not just looking at riders in other squads. In fact, more than 50% of our targets shortlist are currently without a team. The Free Agency market is packed with some fantastic talents, particular in Gabon and West Africa, as well as big names who have been released from disbanding teams or never made it through renewals...

Watch this space - that's all I can say!

We had renewals yesterday, today we have Sponsor Goals and C2HC Band selections. We are most certainly being kept busy here at the team HQ in Libreville.

	Race	Goal	Pts.
	La Tropicale Amissa Bongo	GC Win	5
/	Tour of Scotland / USA Pro Cycling Challenge	KoM Jersey	3
	Giro del Capo	Top 10	2
	Lincoln GP	Top 5	3
	CT Team Standings	Top 5	5

We start off with our Goals for the season. Best described as ambitious but achievable in some parts. La Tropicale Amissa Bongo is our home race, so we need to aim high there. We came away with the KoM jersey last season, and massively underestimated the terrain and competition. This season will be different.

A Top 10 finish at the Giro del Capo is something we are confident of, especially if we secure our main targets for the season, whilst we are hoping to go a little better at the Lincoln GP, where Turgot just missed out on a Top 5 last year.

We are currently undecided on whether to target the Tour of Scotland or USA Pro Cycling Challenge, however both races will be a KoM goal for the team. Our heart is leaning towards the Tour of Scotland, but only due to our one and only victory last season coming on the climb to Bealach na Bà.

Finally we ended with the very ambitious Top 5 in the Final CT Standings. Last year, we were in the bottom 4, so yes it might look a bit strange at the moment, however, it has been shown before that with the right transfers and signings a terrible team can become a great one in this division.


We are delighted to confirm that we have been granted our first choice Band selections for the 2016 season. It will see us travel around Europe in Band 1, ride our home race in Band 3 and tackle climbs in Band 4. All the bands suit our targets well, and really show what we are looking for come the end of transfer season.

	Race	Country	RDs
	Acropolis Cup	Greece	2
	Tour of Bulgaria	Bulgaria	5
	Geraardsbergen-Bosberg	Belgium	2
	GP Yekaterinburg	Russia	2
	Barcelona Classic	Spain	2
	Tour de Pologne	Poland	7
	La Tropicale Amissa Bongo	Algeria/Gabon	6
	Tatranska Klasika	Slovakia	2
	Tour de Langkawi	Malaysia	10
	Zuri Metzgete	Switzerland	2
	Benelux Challenge	Benelux	6
	Sachsen-Anhalt Classic	Germany	2
	San Marino Hill Classic	San Marino	2
	USA Pro Cycling Challenge	USA	8
	Busan GP	South Korea	2

So all that's left now is the Transfer Season! Confirmed by MGUCI that it will start tomorrow, and last for a 10 day period. We are ready, more experienced, and more confident that we will come out the other side in a much better place than last season, and also in a place where the goals set for the season can be achieved.

Did someone mention Transfers around here? Welcome to the most stressful and most frantic time in the MG season. Start just a few days ago, many teams, including ourselves, have got some deals signed, sealed and delivered, with many others in the pipeline.


A total of five riders have joined the team in the 48 hours of the Transfer Period. All coming in from the Free Agency, we cannot wait for them to show themselves in the team colours.

Fl	Mo	Hi	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cob	Sp	Acc	Fig	DH	Prl
73	69	72	67	70	71	68	68	67	70	70	62	75

Signed as Domestique to our target Puncheur, Mohamed Er Rafai will be a valuable rider to the team. His Prologue skills also add an extra dimension to him, which will be key in some races this season.

Fl	Mo	Hi	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cob	Sp	Acc	Fig	DH	Prl
68	74	71	70	73	70	73	58	64	64	67	63	70

Just like Er Rafai, Maher Hasnaoui is signed as Domestique in the Mountains. Unknown yet who he will be riding for, whether it will be Baz or another rider who could arrive before the end of the Transfers.

Fl	Mo	Hi	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cob	Sp	Acc	Fig	DH	Prl
68	55	61	66	70	64	67	54	75	76	71	67	69

The first of three talents joining the team, Abdalla Ben Youcef is close to being maxed with his stats. Primarily a sprinter, he will be a key part of the future lead-out train. We are looking for a PT loan in order to help him reach his potential.

Fl	Mo	Hi	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cob	Sp	Acc	Fig	DH	Prl
70	62	63	68	70	68	70	58	74	77	76	62	69

Talent number two and another sprinter for La Poste p/b Mavic. Like Ben Youcef, Adel Barbari will be a future lead-out man, and will be loaned to the PT for maximising his potential. An agreement has been signed with Team Kenya Airways - Dimension Data to make that happen.

Fl	Mo	Hi	TT	Sta	Res	Rec	Cob	Sp	Acc	Fig	DH	Prl
72	59	65	62	74	69	73	61	75	75	62	63	63

The final one of the Talents trio, Soufaine Haddi is another future sprinter and lead-out man in the team. A PT loan has been agreed in Principal with Grieg-Eftel, we are glad to see Haddi will be able to maximise his potential and reach max level.


With a few deals still subject to MGUCI approval, and a few others still in the pipeline, we are still very busy in the La Poste HQ. So far, our squad size is at 10 riders, with two loaned out. Last year, we made a mistake with the squad numbers and aimed for 20 in total. This year we want to be around the 17 rider mark.