Arnaud Démare devastated after being left off Tour de France roster

French sprinter Arnaud Démare is very unhappy after being overlooked by Groupama-FDJ for its 2023 Tour de France roster. The snub led him to confirm his departure from the team at the conclusion of the season in an interview with L‘Équipe. This is the second year in a row he has been left off the team for the TdF.

During an interview at the Tour de Suisse, Démare expressed his feelings at being left out and revealed that directeur sportif Marc Madiot had informed him of the news.

Geraint Thomas’s Giro hotel toilet shows the unglamorous side of pro cycling

“I’m angry and disheartened because I worked for this, and I made concessions this winter knowing that I would only have one teammate with me for the sprints,” Démare said. “Normally, when they tell me I’m not doing the Tour, it’s in December, and you don’t speak of preparation. This time, I was on the Tour,” he added. “My close ones had booked holidays around the Tour, my wife had reserved hotel rooms to come on the rest days. I don’t know what I’m going to do instead. I don’t know. I’ll look at the results but I’m going to feel sick watching the stages finish in sprints.”

The Tour de France Netflix doc has a clip about that incredible Tom Pidcock descent

He also confirmed to L‘Équipe that he learned he would no longer be on the squad in 2024.

Watch Démare give a master class in bike throwing to win stage 6 of the Giro

“This was the second hard blow,” Démare said. “At the Boucles de la Mayenne, Madiot announced that it was the end with the Groupama. Not in so many words, but I did understand that it was all over. He told me: ‘We can’t keep you.’ And that was it.”