Vasseur acknowledged that the team fell short of
expectations despite strong performances earlier in the season. “We saw
him perform very well in the Dauphiné, but he probably peaked at the wrong
time,” he said of Emanuel Buchmann, their top finisher in 30th overall.
“We saw him start the Tour de France looking very thin. We’re going to do
medical tests to see if he’s injured anything. His level in the Dauphiné was
well above that of the Tour.”

Vasseur stood by his roster, even in the face of
underperformance. “We have riders of a very high level, who have won the
Tour in the past, and guys who should have performed better. Perhaps they
arrived at the Tour tired… We weren’t at our best, we’re disappointed, but on
paper, we had the best team.”

He pointed to modest successes outside the Tour as a sign
the team isn’t broken, just outclassed at the sport’s highest level.
“Oliver Knight won the second stage of the Tour de Wallonie, Jesús Herrada
finished second in Spain, so you could say… But there’s such a huge
difference in level between the Tour de France and other races… We deployed
the most experienced team here, and it didn’t work.”

Whilst these results outside of the Tour are positive,
nothing compares in terms of priority with the Tour. It has now been two years
since Ion Izagirre won stage 12 of the 2023 Tour, the teams last victory at the
Tour de France.

Looking for answers, Vasseur hinted at deeper changes ahead.
“We’ll have to look at how other teams are preparing for the Tour de
France. Is there work to be done in terms of nutrition? Are technological
developments possible, particularly in aerodynamics?” He reflected on how
racing has evolved beyond what Cofidis brought to the line. “We see that
riders hardly need to take a break during a stage… A new kind of cycling is
emerging, and that only leaves room for those who truly perform at the highest
level.”

The presence of Pogacar, who claimed another Tour title, set
the bar impossibly high. “When Pogacar and his team are at the start of a
race, it’s almost impossible for us to compete. He’s extremely fast; he’s never
been that fast in a Tour de France. When I was a rider, we needed a break every
now and then. Now there was never a moment of rest,” Vasseur said.

Despite all of it, he’s not throwing in the towel.
“There will be a strong desire for revenge. The team is ready to fight all
the way to Guangxi.”