He said it was his first contract with an overseas team and he had heard about the opportunity through some "Kiwi connections".
"They were looking for a rider of my type, like a strong sprinter type of rider that can do a lot of work," he said. "I had to put through a CV and they were happy with me."
Since landing a spot in the French team, Phipps has been training hard on the roads near his Rerewhakaaitu home as well as working on the family farm. He leaves for France on February 1, and will be based near Marseille for most of the year.
Phipps said his goal this year was to gain experience racing in Europe and hopefully pick up some good results.
"I'm pretty new to this kind of racing," he said. "I will be doing a lot of hard work for the team and get good experience and hopefully get some good results."
He said his long-term goal was to ride professionally for a team. He will race as an amateur this year.
Phipps said Dean had helped him a lot with his cycling and was a big part of helping him get to this level.
"I see him most of the time and he sets up my training."
He said Dean had also given him some advice ahead of leaving for France: "He just said to try to fit in with the culture of the team and stay focused."
Phipps started out as a motocross rider.
"I did cycling just as a bit of training for motocross, and my passion for cycling outgrew my passion for motocross."
Phipps said he had been training hard since finishing at Reporoa High School and was stoked to see that hard work pay off.
Phipps is regularly on the podium at cycling events around the Bay of Plenty but said his best races had probably been during the Tour of Southland.
Some of the main tours the La Pomme Marseille Espoir team will be riding on this year include Ronde de L'isard, Paris-Tours Under-23, Giro di Lombardia Under-23 and Okinawa Japan.
One other Kiwi rides for the La Pomme Marseille Espoir team - Boris Clarke of Te Awamutu.
