Direct Energie to apply for WorldTour licence for 2019
The Direct Energie team hope to return to the top tier of professional cycling and will submit a formal application to the UCI for a WorldTour licence for the 2019 season.
The French team, run by Jean-René Bernaudeau, currently operates at Professional Continental level, making wildcard appearances at selected WorldTour races - primarily in France - such as Paris-Nice and the Tour de France.
In announcing their WorldTour aspirations on Wednesday, Bernaudeau insisted it would be merited on sporting criteria. The team has 14 victories so far this season, the highlight being Jonathan Hivert and Jérôme Cousin's wins at Paris-Nice. Lilian Calmejane hasn't hit the heights of last year, when he won seven races including a stage on his Tour de France debut, but the 25-year-old is widely considered one of the top talents in French cycling.
"I have always believed that candidature for the WorldTour should be based on sporting considerations. We've just finished a Tour de France in which our team of baroudeurs were among the most visible. Even if we didn't win a stage, we animated the Tour and set ourselves apart through our audacity and aggressiveness - that's what the public want, and that's how we're going to go after the biggest success," said Bernaudeau.
"In the past two-and-a-half years, we have taken 63 victories in the colours of Direct Energie. This season, we're on 14, and despite sparing appearances in WorldTour races, we claimed two prestigious victories at Paris-Nice. We want to multiply our chances to shine."
Bernaudeau established the Direct Energie team in 2000, when it was known as Bonjour. They started out in the second tier of professional cycling teams categories but moved up to the top tier from 2002. They joined the ProTour when it was launched in 2005 but they dropped out after a poor 2009 season. They made a brief return to the top tier in 2011, when the ProTour changed to the WorldTour.
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