Philippe Mauduit will leave his position as a directeur sportif at UAE Team Emirates to take up the same role with Groupama-FDJ in 2019, his new team has announced. Mauduit, 50, has played the sports director role with a number of teams since his retirement as a professional after a year in the pro ranks with Besson Chaussures in 1999. The Frenchman has worked at Bouygues Telecom, the Cervélo TestTeam, Saxo Bank, Lampre-Merida and Bahrain Merida, and then for UAE Team Emirates this season. "I really like what the team stands for, and have spoken regularly with [team boss] Marc Madiot over the years, realising that everything he says tallies with my way of working. The offer was too good to refuse," said Mauduit of his new role with Groupama-FDJ, which is home to French sprint star Arnaud Démare and one of France's big Grand Tour hopes, and this year's Il Lombardia winner, Thibaut Pinot.ADVERTISEMENT "I've worked for foreign teams for 10 years, and so it's nice to come back to a French squad. Now I need to get to know the team and learn how things work, as everyone needs to be on board to ensure that this team continues to head in the right direction," Mauduit said. Groupama-FDJ started life as La Française des Jeux in 1997, and have gone through a raft of subtle name changes, although Madiot's team always retained the French national lottery as its main sponsor, until the Groupama insurance company came on board as the title sponsor for the 2018 season
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