Jamie Meehan, the Irish U23 road race champion and new elite gravel champion, may be only getting started with French World Tour team Cofidis but he already has a new team boss.
There has been a significant change at the team as it battles in these final weeks of the season to secure enough points to remain in the World Tour and avoid slipping to ProContinental level for the next three years.
Former pro rider Cédric Vasseur, who has been the team's manager for eight years, has effectively paid the price for the Cofidis finding itself in the position it must now fight to remain in the top tier.
He is being replaced as general manager by another French ex-professional, Raphaël Jeune, who has worked in managerial roles at Look Cycle International since he retired from racing just over 20 years ago.
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Vasseur was much better known as a rider, winning two stages in the Tour de France, including 1997 when he also held the race lead for five days. He was a professional for 14 years, ending his career in 2007, with QuickStep his last team.
Jeune rode as a pro for just two years, racing for CSC ProTeam-Tiscali in 2001 and 2002. However, he has gained significant managerial experience since then with Look, which is a key sponsor of the Cofidis team.
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At present, Cofidis are 20th in the team rankings and they must be in the top 18 to ensure they remain a World Tour team for the next three years. Uno-X Mobility are only 175 points ahead of them and if they could pass that team - and Intermarché and Lotto merge, as expected - that would push Cofidis into 18th place.
Whether they ride as a World Tour or ProConti team will not make much difference to Meehan, who was taken on as a stagiaire at the start of August but then immediately impressed and was signed for the remainder of this year and for the next three seasons.
Meehan will still get access to all of the races he would hope to ride, the only drawback being the team would be depending on invites to some of the very biggest events, including Grand Tours, as only World Tour teams gain automatic entry. However, Cofidis are very likely to secure those invites frequently even if they dropped to ProConti level.
"I leave Cofidis with great emotion and pride after intense years. I would like to thank Cofidis Group, the riders and all the staff for their trust and commitment throughout these years. I wish Team Cofidis many great and beautiful victories," Vasseur said as he departs.
Jeune said he was delighted to take on the role of general manager and he believes the team has the talent required to make a big impact in the years ahead.
"I am honored to join the Cofidis team, which shares ambitions and values that I am particularly attached to: commitment, team spirit, fighting spirit, and performance," he said.
"It's a team I've already had the chance to work with and whose strength and professionalism I know. My ambition is to continue to help it grow, capitalizing on its talents and supporting it towards new collective successes."
