Ronan Pensec (born 10 July 1963) is a former French professional

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 ...

. He was professional from 1985 to 1997.

Racing career

Pensec was born in

Douarnenez Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France. It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estuary ...

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

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 ...

. He became professional in 1985 with the Peugeot cycling team. His best performances in the

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 ...

were in the first editions he competed in, where he finished sixth in the 1986 edition and seventh in the

1988 Tour de France The 1988 Tour de France was the 75th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 24 July. It consisted of 22 stages over . The race was won by Pedro Delgado with the top three positions at the end of the race being occupied by specialis ...

. Pensec continued his career, still under Roger Legeay's guidance, with the Z team with

Greg Lemond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...

as his leader, who later became one of his best friends in the peloton. In the

1990 Tour de France The 1990 Tour de France was the 77th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 30 June and 22 July 1990. The race consisted of 21 stages and a prologue. American Greg LeMond () repeated his 1989 victory ...

Pensec wore 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 ...

. While he defended his lead on the

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 ...

, Pensec lost the lead to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Claudio Chiappucci Claudio Chiappucci (born 28 February 1963 in Uboldo, Varese, Lombardy) is a retired Italian professional cyclist. He was on the podium three times in the Tour de France general classification: second in 1990, third in 1991 and second again in 19 ...

in an

Individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also track-b ...

. Pensec retired in 1997 after riding the French national championships.

Charitable efforts

In 1994 he created the cycling event called ''La Ronan Pensec'' which is an event that raises money for AIDS research and AIDS fighting organisations. The operation also financially contributed to educate young high school students. Over the years, Ronan Pensec donated €350,000 to various associations.

Media and other work

Pensec is now a television commentator and consultant for France Télévision on major cycling events. He gives the producer tactical advice on which live images he should select. In 2003, he founded his own travel agency.

Major results

;1985 :1st place overall

Étoile des Espoirs The Étoile des Espoirs was an end of the season French cycling stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day even ...

;1986 :Lamballe :Meymac :Saint-Martin de Landelles :Villeneuve-sur-Yonne :

: ::6th place overall classification ;1987 :Lanarvily (Cyclo-cross) :

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 sta ...

;1988 :Callac :

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 ...

Grand Prix de Rennes Grand Prix Cycliste de la Ville de Rennes was a professional cycle road race held in Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. R ...

: ::7th place overall classification ;1989 :Angers ;1990 :

Boucles de l'Aulne Boucles de l'Aulne is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in May or June around Châteaulin, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2006, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It was previously known as Grand Pri ...

:Lèves :Ronde d'Aix-en-Provence :

: ::Wearing

for two days ;1992 :Brest :

GP Ouest-France The Bretagne Classic, also called Bretagne Classic Ouest–France, is an elite cycling classic held annually in late summer around the Breton village of Plouay in western France. The race was originally named Grand–Prix de Plouay and, from 19 ...

:Monmarault

References

External links

Official site with details of Tour de France touring rides
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pensec, Roman French male cyclists 1963 births Living people Cycling announcers Sportspeople from Finistère Cyclists from Brittany