Crédit Agricole (cycling team)
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The Équipe cycliste Crédit Agricole (formerly Z-Peugeot, Z and GAN) was a French cycling team that took part in the UCI ProTour and was sponsored by the major bank Crédit Agricole . It was considered the successor team to the Peugeot team and was headed by Roger Legeay .
The team celebrated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, great achievements, including the last Tour de France victory in 1990 by Greg LeMond .
After LeMond left, track specialist Chris Boardman , who won the prologues of the Tour de France in 1996 and 1998 , was hired. The young Australian Stuart O'Grady also joined the team in the mid-1990s. He won several tour stages and almost also the green jersey 2000, he wore the yellow jersey for several days this year. From 1998 to 2003 Jens Voigt was also part of the team, won a tour stage and also wore the yellow jersey for a few days in 2000.
The Americans Bobby Julich and Jonathan Vaughters drove in 2000 and 2000 and 2001 for the team to consider when de France Tour 2001 the team time trial was won by.
The sprinter Thor Hushovd became the team's most important sprinter in 2003 and Christophe Moreau was also the best French rider in the overall standings of the tour. At the end of the year O'Grady (to Cofidis ) and Jens Voigt ( Team CSC ) left the team.
Pietro Caucchioli finished eighth at the Giro d'Italia 2005 and Christophe Le Mével won a stage as an outlier. At the Tour de France 2005 , Christophe Moreau was the best French again in eleventh place and Thor Hushovd won the green jersey.
The team disbanded at the end of 2008.
2008 season
Successes in the ProTour
| date | run | driver |
|---|---|---|
| 22nd of January |
 1st stage Tour Down Under
|
Mark Renshaw
|
| May 19th |
 Prologue Tour of Catalonia
|
 Thor Hushovd
|
| May 20th |
1st stage Tour of Catalonia
|
Thor Hushovd
|
| 15th June |
 7th stage Dauphiné Libéré
|
 Dmitri Fofonov
|
| 16th September |
 3rd stage Tour of Poland
|
 Angelo Furlan
|
Successes in the Continental Circuits
Disposals-Additions
| Accesses | Team 2007 | Departures | Team 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Gerrans | Ag2r Prévoyance | Anthony Charteau | Caisse d'Epargne |
| Eric Berthou | Caisse d'Epargne | Christophe Edaleine | Ag2r Prévoyance |
| Jeremy Hunt | Unibet.com | Francesco Bellotti | Barloworld |
| Maxime Méderel | Except 93 | Julian Dean | Slipstream Chipotle |
| Gabriel Rasch | Maxbo Bianchi | Christophe Laurent | Slipstream Chipotle |
| Ignatas Konovalovas | Neoprofi | Benoît Poilvet | Brittany Armor Lux |
| Julien Simon | Neoprofi | Saul Raisin | End of career |
| Mads Kaggestad | Elite 2 | ||
| Dmitri Fofonow (until July 27th) | Unknown |
team
2007 season
Successes in the ProTour
| date | run | driver |
|---|---|---|
| July 11th |
4th stage Tour de France
|
Thor Hushovd |
Successes in the Continental Circuits
| date | run | driver |
|---|---|---|
| January 16 |
Tour Down Under Classic |
Mark Renshaw |
| February 4th |
 3rd stage Tour de Langkawi
|
Anthony Charteau |
| February 7th |
1st stage Etoile de Bessèges
|
Angelo Furlan |
| 2nd-11th February |
Overall ranking Tour de Langkawi
|
Anthony Charteau |
| April 6th |
Route Adélie
|
Rémi Pauriol |
| 10th of April |
1st stage Circuit Cycliste Sarthe
|
Angelo Furlan |
| May 19th |
2nd stage Tour de Picardie
|
Mark Renshaw |
| 6th of June |
 Prologue Tour of Luxembourg
|
Jimmy Engoulvent |
| June 29th |
 Irish time trial championship |
Nicolas Roche |
| June 29th |
 Hungarian time trial championship |
László Bodrogi |
| July 31 |
 4th stage Tour de la Région Wallonne
|
Rémi Pauriol |
| 15th of August |
4th stage Tour de l'Ain
|
Patrice Halgand |
| August 22nd |
2nd stage Tour du Limousin
|
Pierre Rolland |
| October 21 |
Chrono des Nations
|
László Bodrogi |
2006 season
In the 2006 season almost exclusively Thor Hushovd caused a sensation. After he celebrated his first win of the season at Tirreno-Adriatico , he won the Gent-Wevelgem semi-classic . This was followed by stage wins in the Tour of Catalonia , where he also won the points classification, and the Dauphiné Libéré . At the Tour de France , Hushovd, who had already proven his time trial qualities as the U23 world time trial champion in 1998, won the prologue and wore the yellow jersey for a total of 2 days. After an arm injury that he sustained on the first stage, he was unable to prevail in the sprint for the time being, but on the final stage on the Champs-Elysées he was able to get his second success at this year's Tour de France. In the points classification for the green jersey, Hushovd came third.
At the start of the Vuelta a Espana , Hushovd finished second three times in a row and, thanks to the time credits, wore the gold jersey of the front runner for three days, which he lost on the first mountain stage. On the 6th stage he was able to celebrate his first day win at this year's Vuelta. Due to his constant placements during the entire tour, he was able to secure the blue jersey as the best in the points classification at the end of the Vuelta.
Successes in the ProTour
| date | run | driver |
|---|---|---|
| March 11 |
4th stage Tirreno-Adriatico
|
Thor Hushovd |
| April 5th |
Gent – Wevelgem
|
Thor Hushovd |
| 17th of May |
3rd stage Tour of Catalonia
|
Thor Hushovd |
| June 11th |
7th stage Dauphiné Libéré
|
Thor Hushovd |
| July 1 |
Tour de France prologue
|
Thor Hushovd |
| July 23 |
20th stage Tour de France 2006 |
Thor Hushovd |
| August 31 |
6th stage Vuelta a España
|
Thor Hushovd |
Successes in the Continental Circuits
| date | run | driver |
|---|---|---|
| 17th April |
Tro-Bro Léon
|
Mark Renshaw |
| 30th July |
Polynormande
|
Anthony Charteau |
| 20th of August |
Châteauroux Classic de l'Indre
|
Nicolas Vogondy |
Placements in UCI rankings
UCI world rankings
| season | Team ranking | Driver ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 21st |
 Chris Boardman (42nd)
|
| 1996 | 8th. |
Chris Boardman (13th)
|
| 1997 | 10. |
Chris Boardman (18th)
|
| 1998 | 17th |
Stuart O'Grady (48th)
|
| 1999 | 20th |
 Jens Voigt (40.)
|
| 2000 | 2. (GSII) |
Jens Voigt (53.)
|
| 2001 | 20th |
Jens Voigt (15.)
|
| 2002 | 25th |
Jens Voigt (75.)
|
| 2003 | 24. |
Christophe Moreau (38th)
|
| 2004 | 18th |
Thor Hushovd (20th)
|
UCI ProTour
| season | Team ranking | Driver ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 9. |
Thor Hushovd (34th)
|
| 2006 | 11. |
Thor Hushovd (11th)
|
| 2007 | 15th |
Thor Hushovd (31st)
|
| 2008 | 6th |
Mark Renshaw (33rd)
|
Web links
- Crédit Agricole 2006 in the Radsportseiten.net database
- Crédit Agricole 2007 in the Radsportseiten.net database
- Crédit Agricole 2008 in the Radsportseiten.net database
- Z in the ProCyclingStats.com database
- Crédit Agricole in the ProCyclingStats.com database