Florent Brard
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Florent Brard |
Born | Chambray-lès-Tours, France | 7 February 1976
Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) |
Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) |
Team information | |
Current team | Retired |
Discipline | Road |
Role | Rider |
Professional teams | |
1998 | Mattei |
1999–2001 | Festina–Lotus |
2002 | Crédit Agricole |
2003–2004 | Vlaanderen–T Interim |
2005 | Agritubel–Loudun |
2006–2007 | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears |
2008–2009 | Cofidis |
Major wins | |
French National Road Race Champion (2006) |
Florent Brard (born 7 February 1976, in
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.[5]
Early career
Florent Brard raced as an amateur as a member of the Cercle Paul-Bert in the
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.[7] 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[8] and that's, therefore, the talent that I try to exploit to make an impression."[9] That brought him his first win as a professional, the last stage of the Étoile de Bessèges 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."[10] He won the national time-trial championship later the same year and he won a stage in and led the Tour de l'Avenir. He also won Paris–Bourges and GP-Cholet-Pays de la Loire.[11]
He moved to
In 2004, he stayed in Belgium with the
In 2005, with
In 2006, he moved to Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, with whom he rode the
He did not finish the Tour de France, falling during the penultimate stage.
Doping
Florent Brard was prescribed
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, his former boss at Crédit Agricole, was president of AC2000.[20] "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.'"[21]
Personal life
Brard is married to Nathalie, with whom he has two daughters. In 2006 they moved to Serres-Castet, near the Pyrenees, to profit from better weather for training than in the Loire valley around Tours and to improve his riding in the mountains.[22]
Major results
- 1994
- 2nd Road race, National Junior Road Championships
- 1998
- 3rd Paris–Troyes
- 2000
- 5th Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
- 2001
- 1st Time trial, National Road Championships
- 1st Paris–Bourges
- 1st Cholet-Pays de Loire
- 1st Joseph Voegeli Memorial (with Christophe Moreau)
- 1st Stage 5 Étoile de Bessèges
- 2nd Overall Tour de l'Avenir
- 3rd Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
- 3rd Châteauroux Classic
- 4th Overall Tour du Limousin
- 5th Grand Prix des Nations
- 7th Overall Critérium International
- 7th Grand Prix de Rennes
- 10th Tour du Haut Var
- Tour de France
- 2003
- 2nd Paris–Bourges
- 2004
- 1st Stage 2 Paris–Corrèze
- 1st Stage 4 Giro della Provincia di Lucca
- 6th Overall Tour de Pologne
- 6th Châteauroux Classic
- 2005
- 1st Paris–Troyes
- 1st Trophée Luc Leblanc
- 1st Stage 2b (Circuit de la Sarthe
- 5th Route Adélie de Vitré
- 7th Paris–Roubaix
- 7th Tour du Haut Var
- 2006
- 1st Road race, National Road Championships
- 2007
- 5th Paris–Camembert
- 7th Duo Normand (with Nicolas Fritsch)
- 2008
- 5th Grand Prix de la Somme
- 8th Tro-Bro Léon
References
- ^ L'Équipe, France, 13 July 2007
- ^ "BRARD Florent". Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
- ^ Vélo, France, March 2001
- ^ L'Équipe, 29 November 2009
- ^ Vélo, France, February 2007
- ^ "BRARD Florent". Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
- ^ Vélo, France, March 2001
- ^ A rider who can ride at speed for prolonged periods.
- ^ Vélo, France, March 2001
- ^ Vélo, France, March 2001
- ^ L'Équipe, France, 13 July 2001
- ^ Vélo, France, November 2003, p45
- ^ Vélo, France, November 2003
- ^ Vélo, France, November 2003, p14
- ^ Vélo, France, November 2003, p44
- ^ Vélo, France, July 2006
- ^ Vélo, France, February 2007
- ^ Vélo, France, November 2003, p45
- ^ Vélo, France, July 2006
- ^ AC2000 is a grouping of French cycling teams making a stand against drug-taking in the sport. A condition of membership was not to employ riders or staff implicated in doping.
- ^ Vélo, France, February 2007
- ^ Vélo, France, February 2007
External links
- Official website (in French)