Thibaut Pinot has been named to the Groupama-FDJ team for the Tour de France in his final season as a professional, but there is no place for Arnaud Demare.

Director Marc Madiot announced the first five names on the team sheet Tuesday afternoon, also revealing that sprinter Arnaud Demaré will miss selection for the second consecutive year.

David Gaudou, who finished fourth overall the year before, will lead the team's overall contenders, while Pinot will be making his 10th and final Tour appearance in hopes of winning a stage. Valentin Maduas, Kevin Jenietz, and Stefan Kühn are also confirmed for the Tour, with the final three riders to be announced closer to the Grande Palais.

"Our team will concentrate on the mountains," Maduas said in a statement to Groupama-FDJ on Tuesday.

"Our goal is, of course, to win the overall with David Gaudoux. We can also go on the offensive with Thibaut Pinot, Valentin Maduas, and Stefan Küng."

De Mare had been touted as a possible selection for the Tour since last winter, but in a publicly leaked online chat conversation in January, Gaudoux voiced his opposition to the idea.

"He knows I don't want him on the tool.

Speaking to L'Équipe from the Tour de Suisse, Demare said he was informed by Madio last Thursday that he was no longer a member of the Tour. The Frenchman also revealed that he would be leaving Groupama-FDJ when his contract expires.

"It's the second time it hurts," he said. In Mayenne, [Madio] announced the end of his contract with Groupama." Madio told me at the boucle in Mayenne that he was done with Gulpama. He told me: 'I'm done with Gulpama. That's it."

Demare expressed his frustration at missing out on the Tour, despite having spent most of the season working on the Tour, including training camps at his own expense.

"I worked for this, and I conceded this winter knowing that I would only have one teammate in the sprint.

"Usually it's not until December that people tell me I won't be in the Tour, and they don't talk about preparation. This time I was in the Tour. 'People close to me had booked vacations before and after the Tour, and my wife had booked a hotel for me to come for a rest day. I don't know what I will do (instead). I don't know. I'll see the results, but it's going to make me sick to see a stage where I have to sprint to the finish."

Demare is currently competing in the Tour de Suisse, where he was second to Biniam Guillemay in a group sprint on stage 2. 31-year-old Demare has raced in the Tour five times, winning two stages.

"It was a difficult selection. It was a difficult selection, especially not selecting Arnaud Demaret. I am especially disappointed not to have selected Arnaud Démare, because he is a good friend of the players. I have a good relationship with the players, but I have to put the team's interests first. It is a sporting choice. I am here to decide which team is the most competitive. There are pros and cons. I take responsibility for that choice."

However, DeMarre insisted that there is room for the team's big stars: Pino, Gordou, and himself.

"It wasn't a battle for position between Thibault and me. I think the three of us (with Gaudoux) did a good job together. I think there was a place for us as teammates."

"In Paris-Nice I proved that I am a great professional and a good teammate.

"I knew I didn't have four riders around me and I understood that at a certain moment we would be important teammates and when the time came we would compete in the sprint. I'm sure we would have done well if we had run together.

Demare's interview with L'Equipe was particularly tinged with sadness, given that he was confirmed to be leaving Groupama-FDJ, where he had spent 12 years, or his entire career.

"I wanted to have the option to continue. Maybe that was already the message when my lead-out train was dismantled last year. I felt my enthusiasm for sprinting was waning, but I knew they would give me a choice, and in their eyes I was important."

"I was part of the foundation of the team. We did special things together. 'We made memories in sports and in life. It's my life. To wipe out 12 years like that."