It’s truly the signature that no one imagined. At 30, Benoît Cosnefroy, at the end of his contract with Décathlon-AG2R and who has not run a single race since June, has signed up for two years with UAE, the best team in the world. The Norman will therefore be one of Tadej Pogacar’s teammates but probably not in the Tour de France where he has never shone.
Cosnefroy’s arrival at UAE is, a priori, not a question of money. “He absolutely wanted to sign for this team because he wanted to have an experience like this,” confides a relative. While he had the possibility of signing for a higher salary in a French team. »
Usually, negotiations for team changes begin at the end of spring. And almost everything is completed by the beginning of September. For Cosnefroy, announced in discussions with the French of Cofidis and the Dutch of PicNic, there was however nothing concrete until then.
“In fact, it all started at the Worlds in Rwanda at the end of September,” explains Mauro Giannetti, UAE manager. Joona Laukka, his agent, told me that he would be very interested in coming to us. I was a little surprised. We had one place left but we were counting on a young hopeful. I asked to speak to him and he made the difference with his motivation. »
We’re excited to announce the signing of @BenoitCosnefroy to UAE Team Emirates-XRG on a two-year deal ✍🏼
💥 The Frenchman packs a real punch when the road goes uphill, and will bolster our lineup for the one-day races!
🇫🇷👋 Bienvenue, Benoît. It is great to have you! #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/gmr0XZhV6l
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) October 25, 2025
Clearly, Cosnefroy knew how to find the right words even though his season was objectively missed. Due to a knee problem, he only competed for thirteen days. And he only has one success, at the Grand Prix du Morbihan on May 10. “But his knee problems are over,” announces Giannetti. We didn’t need to be convinced that Benoît is a good runner. We know it and he will bring us a lot with his punching qualities. What made the difference was that we felt his enormous motivation to be part of our team. »
It is obviously too early to know Cosnefroy’s 2026 program. But he should be one of the team’s cards in the Ardennes classics. Much more than in the Tour de France where in his five participations, he did no better than a 91st place finish and where he never even came close to a stage victory.
