In the peloton since 1997
Sponsor: Telephone credit banker
Budget: $4.9 million
Manager: Alain Bondue
Directeur sportif: Bernard Quilfen
Assistants: Alain Delœil, Francis Van Londersele
Consultant: Tony Rominger

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Riders
ATIENZA Daniel  (Sp),   September 22, 1974
CUESTA Inigo  (Sp),   June 3, 1969
FERNANDEZ Bingen (Sp)
KIVILEV Andréï  (Kaz),   September 21, 1973
LELLI Massimiliano  (I),   December 2, 1967
MATTAN Nico  (B),   July 17, 1971
MILLAR David  (GB),   January 4, 1977
MONCOUTIÉ David   (F),   April 30, 1975
VASSEUR Cédric  (F),   August 18, 1970

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Raised ambitions

This French team will try to rediscover its performances of 1998, whenBobby Julich and Christophe Rinero won glory in the Grande Boucle. In 2001,Cofidis’s leaders for stage races were David Millar and David Moucoutié.The pleasant surprise came from Andreï Kivilev, who finished fourthin the Tour de France, after getting into the famous marathon break toPontarlier. This year, Cofidis is counting on Kivilev and Millar — eventhough the Brit’s early season was frustrated by a case of mononucleosis.Nico Mattan and Cédric Vasseur should also make their presence felt.Though Cofidis’s 2001 season eneded with the team ranked seventh by theUCI, that was only meager compensation for Alain Bondue, who has raisedhis ambitions for 2002.TEAM WINS2001
MILLAR: Vuelta a España, two stages; Circuit de la Sarthe,overall and two stage wins; Bicicleta Vasca, one stage win.
MATTAN: Paris-Nice, prologue; Three Days of De Panne, overalland one stage win; GP Ouest France.
TOMBAK: Golden Spurs two-day, one stage win.
TESSIER: Circuit des Mines, one stage win.
SASSONNE: Circuit des Mines, two stage wins.
KIVILEV: Route du Sud; Dauphiné-Libéré,one stage win.
PEERS: Circuit Franco-Belge, overall and one stage win.2002
TOMBAK: GP Mosqueteiros, two stage wins.
MONCOUTIÉ: Criterium International, one stage win.INTERVIEW
Alain Bondue, Manager:
"The objective is clear. It’s a matter of placing two riders in theGC: Kivilev, fourth last year, and, why not, Millar. The rest of the groupwill be trained to work for the two leaders, but Vasseur, Mattan or evenMoncoutié may get into a break on certain stages. The prologue,fairly difficult, will give a first indication of who’s in shape. We willthen have to be careful of the stages of the first week that can oftencatch you out, and also the team time trial. Generally, you need to beat 100 percent at the end of the first week, but in this Tour, in my opinion,we will have to be at 100 percent by the end of the individual time trialat Lorient, to be prepared for the Pyrénées and the Alps.In any case, it’s always easy to set objectives, but you know, as (I), do, there are always unexpected hazards, and so anything can be calledinto question."