| Team information | ||
|---|---|---|
| UCI code | C.A | |
| Based | France | |
| Founded | 1987 | |
| Disbanded | 2008 | |
| Status | ProTour | |
| Key personnel | ||
| General manager | Roger Legeay | |
| Team name history | ||
| 1987 1988–89 1990 1991–92 1993–98 1998–2008 |
Vétements Z-Peugeot Z-Peugeot Z-Tomasso Z GAN Crédit Agricole |
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Crédit Agricole (UCI Team Code: C.A) was a French professional cycling team managed by Roger Legeay and sponsored by the French bank, Crédit Agricole, since 1997. Before 1997 the team was known as GAN. Since 2005, the team is one of the 20 that compete in the UCI ProTour. Crédit Agricole announced that they would cease to sponsor the team after 2008.[1] The team itself subsequently disbanded.
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Crédit Agricole team is the continuation of Roger Legeay's Z-Peugeot and then the GAN team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, in which Greg LeMond won his last Tour de France in 1990. LeMond credited strong team support and tactics for his third victory.
Just prior to LeMond's departure the then GAN team acquired the British track rider, Chris Boardman, a time trialist who won the prologues of the 1996 and 1998 Tours de France. The team acquired a young Australia track rider, Stuart O'Grady, in the mid-1990s. He won several Tour stages and nearly took the Green Jersey in the 2000 Tour de France. O'Grady held on to the Yellow Jersey for many days during that same tour. German rider Jens Voigt joined the team until the 2003 season, winning a Tour stage and spending a day in the yellow jersey in 2000.
The 2000 and 2001 seasons saw Americans Bobby Julich and Jonathan Vaughters in the team, making it the team with the most English speakers. The team also won the 2001 Tour de France team time trial in front of the ONCE and U.S. Postal. Julich and Vaughters left after one and two seasons respectively.
The 2003 season saw the emergence of Thor Hushovd of Norway as the main sprinter of the team. At the end of 2003 O'Grady and Voigt left for Cofidis and Team CSC respectively.
2005 was successful for the team. Pietro Caucchioli finished in the top ten of the Giro d'Italia and Christophe Le Mével took a breakaway stage win. In the 2005 Tour de France Christophe Moreau was the highest-placed French rider (11th) and Thor Hushovd secured the green jersey points classification.
In 2006, Crédit Agricole captured the team classification at the Tour de Pologne. Hushovd took stage wins and two days in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, won the Gent–Wevelgem classic, and a stage win and the points classification at the Vuelta a España.