Jean-René Bernaudeau (born 8 July 1956) 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 common ...

, who competed professionally from 1978 to 1988. Bernaudeau currently works as the general manager for

UCI ProTeam UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

. In 1982, he said that dope controls in cycling were a breach of the freedom of work. Before turning professional he represented

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 ...

competing in the individual road race event at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

. Career highlights include four wins 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 cou ...

between 1980 and 1983, winning a Bronze medal at the 1979 World Championship road race, as well as wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...

for one day after the first stage in the 1979 Tour de France. He would also win the best young rider classification in the 1979 Tour and would go on to finish in 5th place overall. As the high mountains and the third week began in the 1980 Tour de France Bernaudeau rose through the standings getting as high as 5th behind leading GC riders Zoetemelk,

Kuiper Kuiper is a Dutch occupational surname meaning cooper. Common spelling variants include Kuyper, Kuipers, Kuijper, Kuijpers, Kuypers, and De Kuyper. Notable people with the name include: Kuiper *Adrian Kuiper (born 1959), South African cricket ...

, Martin and de Muynck. He DNS stage 18. He would finish in the top 10 of the

1981 Tour de France The 1981 Tour de France was the 68th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 19 July. The total race distance was 24 stages over . It was dominated by Bernard Hinault, who led the race from the sixth stage on, increasing h ...

, in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

he finished 13th and in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

he finished in the top 10 again. He DNF either the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

editions but did finish the final two of his career, finishing 26th and 17th respectively. For the team's entire existence he has been involved with in all of its different variations between Continental level and UCI World Tour level.

Thomas Voeckler Thomas Voeckler (; born 22 June 1979) is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2017, for the team and its previous iterations. One of the most prominent French riders of his generation, Voeckler has b ...

spent his entire career riding for Bernaudeau and became known all over France for his spirited defense of the

Yellow Jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

during the

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route en ...

where he held the jersey against all odds until the final climb of the final high mountain stage, which was

Alpe d'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Western Alps, in the commune of Huez, which is part of the department of Isère in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is part of th ...

. Voeckler's 2011 contract from Team Europcar was worth

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

420,000 a year, which made him the second highest-paid French cyclist after Sylvain Chavanel. He turned down a contract for nearly double the pay from Team Cofidis to stay riding for Bernaudeau. His son

Giovanni Bernaudeau Giovanni Bernaudeau (born 25 August 1983 in Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée) is a French former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2005 and 2015, for the team and its previous iterations. He is the son of former professional cyc ...

was on his team for 11 seasons until he retired in 2015.

Notable victories

1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 *

Paris–Bourges Paris–Bourges is a French road bicycle racing, road bicycle race. The race originally started in Paris and ran to the town of Bourges in the Centre (French region), Région Centre. However, in recent year with the length of races shortened it ha ...

: 1979 *

Route du Sud The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de France ...

: 1981 *

Tour de Vendée Tour of Vendée is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in October (Previously May) in the region of Vendée, France, finishing in a circuit inside La Roche-sur-Yon town. From 2005 until 2009, the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the ...

: 1977, 1980 * Tour du Tarn: 1981 * Tour de Lorraine: 1982 * Grand prix de Monaco: 1981 *

Bol d'Or des Monédières The Bol d'or des Monédières was a cycling criterium that took place after the Tour de France, traditionally on the first Thursday in August. It was run on a circuit of about 20 kilometers to be covered seven times, around the village of Cha ...

: 1983

References

External links

* * 1956 births Living people Sportspeople from Vendée French male cyclists Cyclists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of France French Giro d'Italia stage winners Cyclists from Pays de la Loire Directeur sportifs 21st-century French people 20th-century French people {{France-cycling-bio-1950s-stub