When FDJ hesitated to renew Kenny Elissonde’s contract at the end of the 2016 season, Team Sky made their move. It was an unexpected, somewhat left field signing for the British WorldTour team, who until that point had only registered two Frenchmen on their books since their inception in 2010.
Elissonde, 25, has of course been touted as a promising climber ever since he first surfaced at the junior rankings, but in Team Sky’s perceived universe of power over panache, how would the Frenchman – who one could describe as more Riquelme than Ronaldo, fit into a machine refined on consistent efficiency?
Yet the transfer went through, and at the start of the 2017 Elissonde, once a jewel in Marc Madiot’s crown, crossed the channel to join Chris Froome, Dave Brailsford and the Sky armada.
Staying at FDJ was the easy option
Until you actually see the 5-foot-5-inch climber in Sky’s casual attire the transfer still doesn’t quite register, but here he is, striding down the steps at the lobby of the Adelaide Hilton, at the Tour Down Under - his Sky baseball cap tilted to one side, Sky-covered iPhone in one hand and a warm handshake in the other.
“When you’re French it’s quite easy to just stay in France and have that comfort,” he tells us as he relaxes into the interview almost straight away.
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“There are some good teams, like FDJ, but I felt that if I didn’t make the move now I might never have left. Each year I passed with the team I felt a bit more ‘safe’ so when this opportunity came to me I had to say ‘let's go’ because it was a bit, now or never.”
Elissonde came through the ranks at FDJ, and under the leadership of Madiot and the coaching of Julien Pinot he had flourished, at times. There was the memorable stage win on the Angliru at the 2013 Vuelta a Espana, a promising result at the Tour of Oman that same year, and of course a valiant top-20 at the 2015 Vuelta. Riders such as Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot and Warren Barguil may have progressed at faster knots but Elissonde was, and still is, regarded as a brilliant climber on his day.
At the end of 2016, however, he needed a change. Quick-Step and Team Sky had shown interest some years earlier but the British team had kept closer tabs during the intervening years. After taking time to mull over the offer from Brailsford – and in the end the chance to re-sign at FDJ – the Nice-based rider decided to gamble. Cutting ties after such a long relationship is never an easy move for an athlete, however, and Elissonde, as he waves to his old teammates when they walk past in the lobby, admits that taking the plunge comes with risks.
“As a French rider, on a French team, everything is so easy. When you’re in a foreign team you need to make so much more effort. At the end of my career I want to say that I’ve been through an experienced journey.
“This move, it puts me under pressure because if I want to do the big races then I really need to perform. There are a lot of teammates who can do the job you talk about,” he says when asked about Sky’s habit of sitting on the front and controlling races, “but maybe that’s what I need to do to help bring me up a level. You need to be strong just to make the team at Sky.
“Sure, the French media were surprised [by the move] but I didn’t see anything special. I was in contact with Sky a few times. Back in 2013 I talked to them a bit. When I was an amateur I had talked to Rod Ellingworth. The media maybe were a bit surprised but I can’t really speak for them.”
Telling a boss like Madiot that you are leaving for Team Sky is not a duty most riders would relish. The FDJ manager is in many ways the antithesis of Brailsford. Madiot waves away those who converse in marketing speak and marginal fantasies, and has a more resolutely old-school approach to the world of cycling.
“Telling him… it was pretty simple,” Elissonde says before a lengthy pause.
“We talked. I was honest and straightforward. I said, 'Marc, I have an opportunity. Thanks for everything that you did for me.’ I had a great time but I wanted to have another experience. I’m sure that he understands. He wished me good luck and there was no tension. I still have good contact so when we see each other at races there’s no problem. You can’t have five years together and not have respect for each other.”
Elissonde smiles as he recounts part of what Madiot left him with before the two said their final goodbyes. “He said, ‘Now I will have someone to support at the team.' You need guys like Marc in cycling. No one at Sky dislikes him, not at all. It’s just different personalities. The passion for cycling is the same.”
A new culture
However, in many senses Team Sky and FDJ are different worlds. Budget, culture, and without any disrespect to the French team, the disparity in quality at the teams is visible too. The question has to be asked: How will an enigmatic 59kg climber fit into a team that that historically signed domesticated rouleurs and turned them into 'Skybots'?
“I can’t really say if it’s my style or not,” Elissonde says.
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