Florent Brard (born 7 February 1976) is a French former

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

. He won three national championships, including the professional road race. He became a professional in 1999 and stopped racing in November 2009 after not finding a place in a team.

Childhood

Florent Brard was born into a cycling family. His father bought two copies of cycling magazines, one to read and the other to save, untouched.

Early career

Florent Brard raced as an amateur as a member of the Cercle Paul-Bert in the

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

region of France. He won the national youth pursuit championship in 1992 and 1993 and the junior pursuit in 1994. He tried professional racing as a ''stagiaire'', or apprentice, with the Française des Jeux team in 1997, riding at the Élite 2 level. From there he moved to next year as a full professional to Festina.

Professional career

Brard showed from his youth that he had a talent for long, lone efforts and for riding a large gear for long periods. He said: "I've ridden a lot on the track during the course of my career. The pursuit is an excellent school for progressing on the road. So I'm a fairly good ''rouleur'' and that's, therefore, the talent that I try to exploit to make an impression." That brought him his first win as a professional, the last stage of the

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

on 11 February 2001. He won alone after being in a breakaway group close to being caught by the main field after 120 km. He said: "It would have been just too stupid to miss the chance a kilometer from the finish. My legs hurt, I was cooked, but I gritted my teeth and threw my last force into the battle." He won the national time-trial championship later the same year and he won a stage in and led the

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...

. He also won

Paris–Bourges Paris–Bourges is a French road bicycle race. The race originally started in Paris and ran to the town of Bourges in the Région Centre. However, in recent year with the length of races shortened it has become impossible to link the two cities a ...

and GP-Cholet-Pays de la Loire. He moved to

Crédit Agricole Crédit Agricole Group (), sometimes called La banque verte (, , due to its historical ties to farming), is a French international banking group and the world's largest cooperative financial institution. It is the second largest bank in France, ...

in 2002, earning 30,500 euros a season but he was fired after starting the season poorly, then missing the middle following a fall which broke

vertebrae Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal ...

finally being caught in a drugs test 'See below.'' Only the small Marlux team in Belgium offered him a place for 2003. He said: "When I signed for them I wasn't at all happy because, when you come from big teams like Festina and Crédit d'Agricole, which have a prominent image, it's strange, I had the impression of going backward in my career. I went there on tiptoe, not knowing what I was going to find, and then I felt fine." In 2004, he stayed in Belgium with the Chocolade Jacques, team. He had tried to ride again with French teams "but their sponsor didn't want a doped rider." 'See below.'' He won the final stage of the Giro di Lucca and the second stage of Paris–Corrèze In 2005, with Agritubel, he won Paris–Troyes, the Trophée Luc Leblanc, and a stage at the

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

. In 2006, he moved to Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, with whom he rode the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

after winning the national road championship at Chantonnay a week before the start. He said: "When you've been down at the bottom 'See below''you appreciate the heights even more." He spent the rest of the year racing and training in his blue, white, and red jersey. "You only have it until the following June," he said, so he wore it when he could. He did not finish the Tour de France, falling during the penultimate stage.

Doping

Florent Brard was prescribed

corticoid Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are involved ...

to recover from a crash in the

Grand Prix du Midi Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation co ...

. He said he had seen his doctor "''n'' times" (''pour la énième fois'') and neither he nor the doctor thought of him as a racing cyclist, "only as a man broken everywhere who couldn't do anything because of all his sleepless nights." and was caught in a dope test in the Tour de l'Ain, which he finished an hour behind the winner. He was suspended for nine months by the Fédération Française de Cyclisme. His sponsor, Crédit Agricole, fired him. He said:

I think it's fair to say that that long period allowed me to change the way I looked at life. Until then, for me, the professionals were gods. Now, when I see a sportsman, I see the man. The status of the champion isn't enough. A champion can be a good guy as much as a bad one.

He rode then for Belgian teams because, he said,

Roger Legeay Roger Legeay (born 8 August 1949) is a French former professional racing cyclist and cycling team manager. Biography Legeay was the manager of the Peugeot cycling team in its final year of existence in 1986. In 1987, he created the Vétements Z ...

, his former boss at Crédit Agricole, was president of AC2000. "He knew that I was in touch with Agritubel; he said to a meeting of AC2000, 'If a French team takes on a former dope-taker, we'll throw it out of the association.'"

Personal life

Brard is married to Nathalie, with whom he has two daughters. In 2006 they moved to Serres-Castet, near the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, to profit from better weather for training than in the Loire valley around Tours and to improve his riding in the mountains.Vélo, France, February 2007

Major results

;1994 : 2nd Road race, National Junior Road Championships ;1998 : 3rd Paris–Troyes ;2000 : 5th

Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Grand Prix du Morbihan is a single-day men's road bicycle race held annually in May around Plumelec, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2020, the race is organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.Pro event on the UCI ProSeries, also being p ...

;2001 : 1st MaillotFra

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, National Road Championships : 1st

: 1st Cholet-Pays de Loire : 1st Joseph Voegeli Memorial (with

Christophe Moreau Christophe Moreau (born 12 April 1971 in Vervins) is a French former professional road racing cyclist. For many years Moreau was the primary French contender for the general classification in the Tour de France: he finished in the top 12 in the ...

) : 1st Stage 5

: 2nd Overall

: 3rd

Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise, formerly known as the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February around the city of Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in south ...

: 3rd

Châteauroux Classic The Châteauroux Classic de l'Indre Trophée Fenioux was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in the region of Indre, France, starting and finishing in Châteauroux. It was created in 2004 and since 2005 the race had been organi ...

: 4th Overall

Tour du Limousin Tour du Limousin is a 4-day road bicycle race held annually in Limousin, France. It was first held in 1968 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle raci ...

: 5th Grand Prix des Nations : 7th Overall

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day Stage (bicycle race), bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in ...

: 7th Grand Prix de Rennes : 10th

Tour du Haut Var The Tour des Alpes-Maritimes, formerly known as the Tour du Haut Var, () is an early-season two-day road bicycle race in the Var department region in the south of France. Until 2008 it was run as a one-day race, part of the UCI Europe Tour. In 20 ...

::Held

after Prologue, Stage 1 & Stages 3–4 ;2003 : 2nd

;2004 : 1st Stage 2

Paris–Corrèze Paris–Corrèze was a road bicycle race held annually in France, usually between a department near Paris and the department of Corrèze. It was created by Laurent Fignon and Max Mamers. It was first held in 2001 and since 2005 it has been organi ...

: 1st Stage 4 Giro della Provincia di Lucca : 6th Overall

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne (; ), officially abbreviated TdP, is an annual, professional men's Race stage, multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km ...

: 6th

;2005 : 1st Paris–Troyes : 1st Trophée Luc Leblanc : 1st Stage 2b ( ITT)

: 5th Route Adélie de Vitré : 7th

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

: 7th

;2006 : 1st MaillotFra

Road race, National Road Championships ;2007 : 5th

Paris–Camembert Paris–Camembert (also Paris–Camembert Trophée Lepetit or Paris–Camembert Lepetit) is a semi classic held annually in April. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The route of the race has varied over t ...

: 7th

Duo Normand The Duo Normand is a two-man team time trial (against the clock) for elite racing cyclists. Held annually at Marigny-le-Lozon in Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive wi ...

(with Nicolas Fritsch) ;2008 : 5th Grand Prix de la Somme : 8th

Tro-Bro Léon Tro-Bro Léon ( or ''The'' ''Hipsters’ Paris—Roubaix''; ) is a professional cycle road race held in Finistère, Brittany. The event was first run in 1984 as an amateur race before becoming a professional race since 2000. The race was establi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brard, Florent French male cyclists 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Chambray-lès-Tours Cyclists from Indre-et-Loire