Cosnefroy returns to Brabantse Pijl with UAE - 'I have to live up to the trust placed in me'

Now riding for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the 30-year-old lines up for his first Ardennes campaign with the team that signed him last autumn after a decade at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. His move followed a summer of uncertainty, with a proposed transfer elsewhere falling through before UAE stepped in.

Few riders arrive with a stronger record in the race. Cosnefroy has finished on the podium four times in the past six editions, including victory in 2024, when he emerged from a six man sprint ahead of Dylan Teuns and Tim Wellens.

“The Brabantse Pijl is really the race that suits me best,” Cosnefroy said to L’Equipe. “I've always had a good feeling with this course. It's atypical, with cobbled hills and paved climbs.”

That affinity has been reflected in consistent results. He was third in 2020, second in 2022 and third again in 2023, underlining his ability to navigate a race that sits somewhere between the cobbled classics and the Ardennes.

Wellens, now a teammate at UAE, is also set to start, marking his return to racing after fracturing his collarbone at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in early March.

Cosnefroy’s record extends beyond Brabantse Pijl. He has regularly been a factor in the Ardennes, finishing second at La Flèche Wallonne in 2020 and fourth last year, while also taking second at the Amstel Gold Race in 2022, where he briefly believed he had won before a photo finish went in favour of Michał Kwiatkowski.

His arrival at UAE inevitably places him within a structure built around Tadej Pogačar, but Cosnefroy insists his role will not be limited to support duties.

“Joining the number one team in the world brings pressure, but I put it on myself first and foremost,” he said. “I have to live up to the trust placed in me.”

“The team doesn't restrict its riders, it's never all for a single rider anyway. The day I feel capable of winning, I'll have the cards to win. If I ask for freedom, the team will back me.”