<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s a challenge, because first of all I am riding with the best cyclist in the world,\u201d Cosnefroy said. \u201cIn recent years, it was difficult to counter a plan involving Tadej, it was frustrating, but now I am changing sides, so it is going to be interesting. I will be on the winning side, normally.\u201d<\/p>\n
A late transfer in a tense market<\/p>\n
Cosnefroy\u2019s arrival at UAE came together only at the end of September, after a complicated summer of negotiations and uncertainty across the peloton.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone saw it, the market was complicated this year,\u201d he explained. \u201cWith the shutdown of Arkea and the merger, there were quite a lot of changes that were not necessarily positive for the world of cycling. So it was a very tense market.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old revealed that he had options earlier in the year, but circumstances pushed his decision back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had several offers in June. I had given my word to a team, but it did not end up happening, so I came back onto the market quite late. In the second round of negotiations, it was the UAE team that made the first offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leaving Decathlon AG2R with no regrets<\/p>\n
Cosnefroy also spoke warmly about closing a long chapter with AG2R, a team he had been part of through multiple iterations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent some very good years with the AG2R team, then AG2R Citroen, and then AG2R Decathlon,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is a lot of years, really intense years, with great encounters, victories and moments. I am really grateful for all of those years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The separation, he stressed, felt right on both sides. \u201cI also felt that I was coming to the end of the story with the team. I think it was the right moment to separate, for both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winning opportunities without Grand Tours<\/p>\n
At UAE Team Emirates – XRG, Cosnefroy\u2019s role will be selective rather than all-consuming. There are no Grand Tours on his programme, but plenty of freedom in targeted races.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time I will try to win as much as possible in secondary races,\u201d he said. \u201cI will not have a team riding for me all day, but I will be able to play my card in the final, and that is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while he will not race alongside Pogacar every week, the shift in perspective is already clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are in the train with a plan to make sure everything goes perfectly for Tadej, it is not the same as being in the peloton and following wheels,\u201d Cosnefroy added. \u201cIn the end, you are in a winning position, so that is cool.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cFor me, it\u2019s a challenge, because first of all I am riding with the best cyclist in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[109467,4985,109469,101,8782,109609,12183,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-322017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-benoit-cosnefroy","tag-cycling","tag-decathlon-ag2r-la-mondiale-team","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-transfers-negotiations","tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}