Since the end of last season, Raphael Jeune has been the General Manager of Cofidis. The French executive, fifty years old with a past at Look, has replaced Vasseur, giving new momentum to the team where Edoardo Zamperini, Martina Alzini, and Nadia Quagliotto also race. Below, we present the key points of a long interview published on the Velofute website.

THE FIRST MONTHS AT COFIDIS. "My appointment was on October 1st, we were at the end of the season with only three weeks of races to manage: it was a definitely 'hot' and busy period. However, my arrival in the team was not a leap into the unknown, I come from Look and have been working with the Cofidis team for about fifteen years. I know very well how this team works, the staff, the riders, and the general habits. You could almost say that between my last day of work at Look and the start of my team activity, only the role changed. On the day of my arrival in the team, we were 700 points behind Uno X, and before the last race, the gap was only 170 points: we tried to raise the bar, athletes and staff worked extremely hard. We missed the victory, but we obtained many placements, racing well in almost all races."

THE CRITICALITIES OF 2025. "When things aren't going well, there's never just one reason but several factors. The World Tour calendar was very packed for our team that doesn't have a Devo Continental. We had several injuries and were not always able to be competitive with the 'substitutes', when you have to race on three fronts it's very difficult to be competitive everywhere. There was also a loss of confidence."

THE IMPORTANCE OF "HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS". "In today's world, human relationships are often forgotten, and this happens in sports too. In Cofidis, this very important aspect had been somewhat lost. Upon my arrival in the team, I tried to bring back the necessary trust, to be close to everyone, to make my presence felt. I was in Italy for the end-of-season races; I was in the team car, helped with supplies and mechanics when they needed it. I tried to be with everyone, and things improved."

OBJECTIVES FOR 2026. "In general, I hope that each of our athletes can have personal opportunities to play their cards, to be team leaders: it's better to have many points than a single captain. I'm convinced that the number of victories is not the only important thing for a team, we must also work together and have fun. More specifically, I believe we can be one of the five strongest teams at Paris/Roubaix, we have very high ambitions for that period in the North. The Tour de France? On paper, everyone would like to win it, and we are no exception, but honestly, we will aim for stages without thinking too much about the general classification, we already have plans to be competitive in sprints."

BEING A PROTEAM CAN BE AN ADVANTAGE. "We must transform the disadvantage of relegation into a strength. Being a ProTeam means being able to choose our calendar more carefully, we must be good at finding the right balance between calendar, performance peaks, and satisfying our sponsors."

THE CHOICE TO SAY NO TO THE GIRO D'ITALIA. "We chose not to do the Giro, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Strade Bianche. We respect these races very much, but May is already very intense with French Cup races, the Four Days of Dunkirk, and Tour de France preparation. It's unthinkable to race on three or four fronts with at least twenty available riders, we would risk compromising their physical and mental health."

MENTAL HEALTH, AN IMPORTANT TOPIC. "Psychophysical well-being is already a priority in many work fields, such as the economic sector, and it must be the same in high-level sports. We are so convinced of this that we have hired a person who will specifically deal with mental preparation, not only for riders but also for staff: as far as I know, we are the only French team to have done this."

THE FUTURE. "Cofidis has proven to be a loyal partner of our team, we have certainties until the end of 2028, but when I was hired, I was guaranteed a solid and well-considered long-term commitment. For now, the project continues. Moreover, we are evaluating the possibility of creating a Development team for 2027."