Dutch rider Maaike Coljé has been confirmed as an Arkea Pro Cycling Team rider for 2023. The 25-year-old Dutch rider has spent 2022 riding for Massi-Tactic and was visible at the front of races, often in the breakaways. Coljé was also 11th in GC at the CIC Tour des Pyrenees and a top-20 regular in the Coupe de France races. That no doubt will have caught the attention of her new team.
“I dream of riding the Tour de France, it would be another big step in my career. I will do everything to get into the selection. I think this team is the right place for me, because last year I already saw how professional the team works.”
Maaike Coljé
She’ll be joined by Canadian Clara Emond who is promoted up a level from the Emotional.fr Tornatech GSC Blagnac team. She was able to get strong results in a mixture of races, including 8th at the hilly La Perigord Ladies and 14th on the Mount Ventoux Denivele Challenge. The latter naturally an impressive climbing display.
“I started cycling competitively last year, and I immediately took to it. I have a sporting background as I have been skiing competitively for many years. I did alpine skiing, and I was on the Quebec team. Once that skiing career was over, I took up triathlon, and the cycling part of it attracted me, so I switched to road cycling.
I’m delighted to be joining the Arkéa Pro Cycling Team, because it’s a professional team with a structure that has proven itself in the peloton, even if it’s still young. My qualities? I like difficult races, I am above all a climber, and the 2023 calendar of the Arkéa Pro Cycling Team presents many competitions with these characteristics“.
Clara Emond
Another young rider joining is Lucie Liboreau, who was 8th in the very flat GP d’Isbergues race that usually finishes in a bunch sprint. She’s also got another top-20 in the flat MerXem Classic. As she develops, Liboreau will hope to become a consistent one-day racer as she is able to get over some of the climbs the pure sprinters can’t.
“I have the qualities of a sprinter, but I am also able to get over short bumps of 3 to 4 kilometres, which sometimes allows me to eliminate some pure sprinters. I started out in the national division, and for the last two years I have been racing in the UCI, so my arrival next season with the Arkéa Pro Cycling Team will allow me to take a step forward.
I am happy to be part of the Arkéa Pro Cycling Team, the strength of this team is its collective spirit, the girls race for each other, together. I’m also going to discover a new calendar of competitions, with some great events that I used to watch on television and that we will be racing in next season. I don’t have any specific objectives yet, we’ll talk about it at the beginning of the season with Franck Renimel”.
Lucie Liboreau
Maurène Tregouet is developing into a similar sort of rider as Liboreau. She comes out of the junior ranks going into 2023, with a year spent riding for Breizh Ladies. She was on the podium at Gent Wevelgem Juniors, finishing 3rd ahead of the likes of Emma Jeffers in the final sprint.
“It’s great for me to sign my first professional contract with Arkéa Pro Cycling Team. I’m a Breton woman joining a Breton team! I’m not arriving in unfamiliar territory either, as I’ve been followed by Franck Renimel for a season. This form of trust and closeness that has been established over this period of time is now reflected in my first contract. There is a good atmosphere in the team. It’s a group that lives, and that suits me. It’s this atmosphere in the team that convinced me to join Arkéa Pro Cycling Team in 2023. From a sporting point of view, I qualify as a sprinter, with the qualities of a puncher.
This year – as a second year junior – I scored a podium in a Nations Cup round at Ghent-Wevelgem, and I finished 5th in a similar event in the Netherlands. I also ride track and cyclo-cross, two disciplines that I will continue in the future. My objectives in 2023 will be to open my eyes wide and to capitalise on all the experience I can gather. I want to learn, to play a role as a teammate. I will be satisfied with all the races I have the chance to participate in on one condition: that my work has been well done”.
Maurène Tregouet
Contract extensions
Amandine Fouquenet, Anaïs Morichon, Marie-Morgane Le Deunff and Maryanne Hinault have all confirmed contract extensions to stay with Arkea in 2023 and further.
“In 2023 I will start my 4th season with the Arkéa Pro Cycling Team. I have known the beginnings of the team, and I have seen it evolve over time. My desire was to continue to progress at the same time as the Arkéa Pro Cycling Team structure with the ambition of improving my results in some of the big events on the calendar. I am happy to be able to compete in some great races at a very high level, whether in France or in Europe.
I feel I have gained experience and maturity. I wanted to continue within the team, without changing my environment. I am young, but I appreciate this form of stability. It’s a factor that allows me to perform well. I know the staff, I have my habits.
The team is from Brittany, based near my home, and I am happy to wear these colours. I have some races in the corner of my mind, but I don’t want to talk about objectives so as not to put unnecessary pressure on myself, but it’s clear that I hope to be able to take part in certain events. But before that, my wish is to have a good cyclo-cross season”.
Amandine Fouquenet
“I am very lucky to be able to renew my contract with a structure such as Arkéa Pro Cycling Team. My objective in 2023 will be to continue my progression cycle started this season, including in cyclo-cross this winter. I want to perform better next year than I did this year, especially in the biggest races of the calendar.
I have gained a lot of power during the 2022 season and I think I will improve even more in 2023. I’m looking forward to it. I appreciate the trust that has been placed in me by the Arkéa Pro Cycling Team, including Emmanuel Hubert, the General Manager. We are really put in excellent conditions within the team. The calendar is interesting with big races on our programme, including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France if we are selected…”.
Anaïs Morichon
“Arkéa Pro Cycling and I have had a contract of trust since I joined the professional ranks in 2021. I am therefore happy that our collaboration will continue. It is a Breton team and I feel good in it.
Everything is done to help us progress and perform. I can’t wait for 2023 because the race programme will be dense and at the same time intense in quality. I also know that Arkéa Pro Cycling Team has a family atmosphere and that’s what I’m looking for because it allows me to develop my sporting skills”.
Marie-Morgane Le Deunff
“I loved my first year as a professional with the Arkéa Pro Cycling Team. I had a lot of fun, learned a lot and actually improved. I am delighted to continue with the team. I’ve grown a lot in one season, and my greatest desire, even though the 2022 season has just ended, is to put on a number in 2023 in order to discover new races and to work for the riders who will have the status of leaders in these races.
Confidence is an important word for me, and the trust granted to me by the General Manager Emmanuel Hubert, as well as by the team’s sporting director Franck Renimel, is very touching. My objectives will be to gain even more experience in the coming months in the beautiful races of the calendar that we will be racing in”.
Maryanne Hinault
