Tour de France wildcard team Total Direct Energie changes name and kit before Grande Boucle
French ProTour squad now Team TotalEnergies
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Photo courtesy of Team TotalEnergies
It’s become a tradition that at least one of the teams going to the Tour de France races with a different uniform at La Grande Boucle, but this year one of the French wildcard teams has gone one better, with Total Direct Energie rebranding as Team TotalEnergies on Wednesday, the opening stage ten days away.
Un maillot aux couleurs lumineuses représentant le chemin des énergies qu’emprunte notre partenaire majeur @TotalEnergies ? #AllezTotalEnergies⚡ pic.twitter.com/0mvuRorpJ6
— Team TotalEnergies (@TDE_ProCycling) June 16, 2021
The red and light blue are retained on the new kit, with white dominating the jersey and touches of green and yellow on the sides’ gradient spectrum. The navy blue and white shorts have been replaced with red and white.
Team principal Jean-René Bernaudeau said, “This change of colours is symbolic for us all. It’s an opportunity to remind the riders and staff that the world, and in particular the world of professional cycling, is currently undergoing a major change. On the Tour de France, the objective will be to do justice to this new TotalEnergies brand. To do that, we have to be worthy and consistent. Today, we have a team that has been strengthened thanks to the precious support of our sponsor.”
The squad has been around since the turn of the millennium and has also been known as Bonjour, Brioches La Boulangère, Bouygues Telecom and Europcar, the latter of which was home to Canadians Antoine Duchesne and David Veilleux. In the Brioches La Boulangère iteration, Thomas Voeckler famously wore the yellow jersey for ten days, and in the Europcar days he won the King of the Mountains. In 2014 Europcar was in the WorldTour for a single season. In 2016, when Canadian Ryan Anderson was in the lineup, it became Direct Energie before French energy concern Total purchased Direct Energie ahead of the 2019 Tour and renamed the team for the race.
Team TotalEnergies is a regular wildcard choice for the Tour. It last won a stage in 2017 via Lilian Calmejane.
