Professional Cyclists Cycling Teams ProTour Races Vacations/Tours
Bouygues Telecom is a French cycling team based in the Loire Valley that, although based on a mission of developing young French cyclists, has reached the top level UCI Pro Tour.
The team was founded in 1984 under the name of System U. The team disbanded in 1985 but returned in 1986 under new management. Legendary coach Cyrille Guimard became the directeur sportif, bringing aboard his protégé Laurent Fignon who nearly won the 1989 edition of the Tour de France. Due to a change of principal sponsor in 1990, the team takes the name of Castorama.
In 1992 Cyrille Guimard became the manager of the team, and Quilfen takes over the role of directeur sportif. In 1995, Jean-Rene Bernardeau, a former professional racer, becomes director of the team. From 1996 to 1999, the team withdrew from top level professional competition and instead focused on its role as a development team: Bernaudeau then devotes himself to set up a structure of formation in the Vendée region called Vendée U which was primarily an elite-level amateur team.
In 2000, the team again became a professional team Bonjour, still under the control of the sporting director Jean-Rene Bernardeau. In 2003, the team becomes "Brioches La Boulangère", then "Bouygues Télécom" in 2005. The amateur team Vendée U is still affiliated with the current professional team, and acts as a feeder team from which the professional team recruits its riders.
As Bonjour and Brioches La Boulangère the team gained prominence with promising young stars Fabrice Salanson, Thomas Voeckler and Sylvain Chavanel. Salanson's untimely death due to heart disease in 2003 was a blow to the team. However, Voeckler wore the Maillot jaune for 10 days in the 2004 Tour de France while wearing the French National Champion jersey and became a national hero. The team competes mainly in French races and has had a near-monopoly of the French National Championship for several years. Chavanel left the team in the 2005 season to join Cofidis.
