Queenstown’s Reuben Thompson’s getting ready to step up to the WorldTour team in Europe next year, following an unprecedented season for his Groupama-FDJ Continental team.
The 21-year-old came fourth overall in the recent Tour d’Alsace, which the team won.
It was their 20th win of the year, something Thompson says is ‘‘unheard of for an under-23 development team’’.
Thompson, along with seven of his teammates, including Canterbury’s Laurence Pithie, will join the WorldTour team from January 1.
That, too, is unprecedented.
Groupama-FDJ general manager Marc Madiot says the Contimodel, implemented in 2018, has proven itself.
Athletes train and live together, have access to performance facilities and can switch to the WorldTour team in certain races, so
when they step up into that team, ‘‘they know what they are getting in to’’.
‘‘Next year, I think we will break records in terms of average age.
‘‘We were at a crossroads for the team, there was an opportunity in front of us, we had to take it,’’ Madiot says.
Thompson, who first started riding a BMX and soon started competing against a mate, says the WorldTour’s a ‘‘natural choice’’.
He says it’s tough to summarise what he’s learned from the Conti, but says he feels like a ‘‘more complete rider’’.
‘‘I am not so far from the top level.
‘‘Having the opportunity to judge myself against the best is a source of motivation.
‘‘I know that I still have to work to play in the final, but I also know that it is possible.”
