Direct Énergie (cycling team)
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| UCI code | DEN |
|---|---|
| Registered | France |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Discipline | Road |
| Status | UCI Professional Continental |
| Bicycles | BH |
| Website | Team home page |
| General manager | Jean-René Bernaudeau |
| 2000–2002 2003–2004 2005–2008 2009–2010 2011–2015 2016– |
Bonjour Brioches La Boulangère Bouygues Télécom Bbox Bouygues Telecom Team Europcar Direct Énergie |
Direct Énergie (UCI team code: DEN) is a professional road bicycle racing team that competes as a UCI Professional Continental team in UCI Continental Circuits races, and UCI World Tour races when invited as a wild card entry. In previous years, the team was known as Brioches La Boulangère, Bonjour, Bouygues Télécom, and Bbox Bouygues Telecom and Europcar. The 2015 season was the last under the sponsorship of Europcar; the team has been sponsored by Direct Énergie since 2016.
The team was founded in 1984 as System U. The team disbanded in 1985 but returned in 1986 under new management. Cyrille Guimard became the directeur sportif, bringing his protégé Laurent Fignon who nearly won the 1989 edition of the Tour de France. A change of sponsor in 1990 renamed the team Castorama.
In 1992 Guimard became manager of the team. In 1995, Jean-René Bernaudeau, a former professional racer, became director of the team. From 1996 to 1999, the team withdrew from top-level competition. Bernaudeau set up a development team in the Vendée region called Vendée U.
In 2000, the team again became a professional team Bonjour, still under the control of the sporting director Bernaudeau. In 2003, the team became "Brioches La Boulangère", then "Bouygues Télécom" in 2005. The amateur team Vendée U still acts as feeder team for the professional team.
As Bonjour and Brioches La Boulangère the team gained prominence with promising young stars Fabrice Salanson, Thomas Voeckler and Sylvain Chavanel. Salanson's death due to heart disease in 2003 was a blow to the team. Voeckler wore the maillot jaune for 10 days in the 2004 Tour de France while also French national champion and became a national hero.
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