Christophe Agnolutto (born 6 December 1969,

Soisy-sous-Montmorency Soisy-sous-Montmorency (, literally ''Soisy under Montmorency, Val-d'Oise, Montmorency'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ''département'' located north of Paris, France. History On 7 August 1850, a part ...

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.

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 common ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Agnolutto was a commercial artist when, as an amateur in 1995, he won Bordeaux-Saintes and the GP Nord-Pas de Calais and came third in the national championship. He rode successively for the CSM

Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. In 2016, it had a population of 44,941. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the ...

, the US

Créteil Créteil () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Cré ...

and the ASPPT

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He dedicated himself to cycling when he met his wife, Mélanie, when he was 23.L'Équipe, France, 8 July 2000, p3 He turned professional the following year for Petit Casino, sponsored by a supermarket chain. He stayed with the team and its

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' ( French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

, Vincent Lavenu, through changes of sponsors. He said: "I didn't exactly have a lot of other offers." Then he left for

Agritubel Agritubel Pro Cycling Team () was a French professional road race cycling team. The team's title sponsorAgritubel is a manufacturer and supplier of tubular metal products for cattle, livestock and farming. Agritubel mostly competed for wins at t ...

. He said: Agnolutto won the 1997

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

after breaking clear on the second stage. The favourites didn't take up the chase and couldn't make up Agnolutto's lead afterwards. He said in 2001: That win was stage seven of the 2000 Tour de France, taken in an early breakaway. It was France's first win in the Tour for two years, since

Jacky Durand Jacky Durand (born 10 February 1967 in Laval, Mayenne) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. Durand had an attacking style, winning the Tour of Flanders in 1992 after a breakaway, and three stages in the Tour de France. Durand tu ...

in 1998. He told his team-mates that morning what he planned to do and attacked three times at the start of the stage. On the third attempt he cleared the front of the race alone. He rode alone in the rain for 80 km of the 127 km from

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities 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 ...

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

, getting up to 8m 20s lead. Agnolutto rode the Tour five times and won nine races as a professional before retiring at the end of 2006.

Retirement

Agnulotto lives in Pau and coaches the UN Pau Béarn. He studied for a Brevet d'État to open a school of sport and business and organises training camps for cyclists. He runs a cycle shop at Salies-de-Béarnhttp://www.societe.com/societe/agnolutto-bien-etre-sport-502372253.html and helps organise a bike ride named after him.

Tour de France

* 1997 - 94th * 1998 - 31st * 2000 - 66th, winner 7th stage * 2001 - 120th * 2002 - 144th

Major results

;1996 – Petit Casino ''First year as a professional'' ;1997 – Casino : Overall and Stage 2 –

(2.1) : A Travers le Morbihan (1.2) : 97th overall –

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

;1998 – Casino : Stage 6 –

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. I ...

(2.HC) : 31st overall –

;1999 –

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest po ...

–

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the World Tour, by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the ...

(2.2) ;2000 – Ag2r Prévoyance : Stage 7 win and 66th overall –

(2.HC) ;2001 – Ag2r Decathlon : 120th overall –

;2002 – Ag2r Prévoyance : 144th overall –

;2003 – Ag2r Prévoyance ;2004 – Ag2r Prévoyance : 3rd overall –

Tour de Wallonie The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium in the end of July. Between 1974 and 1995 it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a ...

(2.3) ;2005 – Agritubel : Stage 1 – Tour du Poitou Charentes de la Vienne (2.1) ;2006 –

''Retired at end of season''

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Christophe Agnolutto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnolutto, Christophe 1969 births Living people People from Soisy-sous-Montmorency French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners Tour de Suisse stage winners Sportspeople from Val-d'Oise Cyclists from Île-de-France