 Durand in 2000 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jacky Durand |
| Nickname | Doudou or Dudu ("teddy bear") |
| Born | (1967-02-10)10 February 1967 (age 58) Laval, France |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Breakaway specialist[1] Classics specialist |
| Professional teams | |
| 1990–1995 | Castorama |
| 1996 | Agrigel–La Creuse–Fenioux |
| 1997–1998 | Casino |
| 1999–2000 | Lotto–Mobistar |
| 2001–2003 | Française des Jeux |
| 2004 | Landbouwkrediet–Colnago |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Jacky Durand (born 10 February 1967 inLaval, Mayenne) is a French former professionalroad bicycle racer. Durand had an attacking style,[2] winning theTour of Flanders in 1992 after a 217 kilometres (135 mi) breakaway, and three stages in theTour de France.
Durand turned professional in 1990. He was national road champion in 1993 and 1994 and wonParis–Tours in 1998, the first French winner in 42 years. Durand rode seven Tours de France, finishing last in the 1999 race. In1995 he was the surprise winner of the prologue, starting before it began raining. He wore theyellow jersey for two days. Durand won thecombativity award in the1998 and1999 Tour de France; the latter year he also took theLanterne Rouge. He retired at the end of 2004. He has since worked forEurosport as a commentator.
Durand was born to a poor farming family in the Mayenne region of northern France.[3] He started racing in theminime class, the very youngest, but never won a race there or in the oldercadet category. "It's difficult to win as a kid when you're neither a climber nor a sprinter", he said. "For me, the most beautiful jersey in the world is the French champion's. Yes, when they play theMarseillaise for you after a championship and then you go and show it off for three weeks in the Tour de France, the national flag on your shoulders, it's emotion and pleasure every day."[4] As a senior, however, he won the national amateur team time-trial championship in 1988 with Laurent Bezault, Pascal Lino and Thierry Laurent. He turned professional in 1991.
Durand became celebrated for long, lone attacks which sometimes succeeded but usually didn't. The French magazine,Vélo, printed a monthlyJackymètre to log the kilometres ridden at the head of races during the course of the season. Durand said: "Fortunately, in cycling, it's not always the best who wins, otherwise we wouldn't win so often."[5]
His riding style was encouraged by his firstdirecteur sportif,Cyrille Guimard. It brought him a seemingly suicidal win in theTour of Flanders (see below). Guimard told him to attack early in the national championship at Châtellerault in 1993, to try his chance and to spoil those ofLaurent Brochard andLuc Leblanc.[6] The writer, Jean-François Quénet, said Guimard told Durand to attack far from the finish "because he didn't want to see Laurent Brochard in blue, white and red and even less did he want a second consecutive title for Luc Leblanc, who was in disgrace in the Castorama team.".[7]
Of the way he rode, Durand said:
Durand won the Ronde van Vlaanderen, orTour of Flanders, in 1992, 36 years after the last French winner,Jean Forestier, in 1956. He broke away from the field withThomas Wegmüller after a quarter of the race, with 217 km still to ride.[9] His success as an outsider, and after such a long lone ride, stayed in the memory of Belgian fans. Years later, Durand was stopped for speeding. The Belgian policeman who came to his car said, "Vous avez gagné le Tour des Flandres en nonante-deux" ("You won the Tour of Flanders in '92") – and let him drive on.
Durand finished his career with Belgian teams. "Winning the Ronde made me a bit of a naturalised Belgian", he said.[10]
Durand took drugs during the Tour de la Côte Picarde in 1996 and was given a one-month probationary suspension.[11] He was disqualified during the Tour de France in 2002 for holding on to a car during the mountainous stage to the Plateau de Beille in the Pyrenees. There had been complaints from riders, including the Czech,Ján Svorada, that he had done the same the previous year.[12]
His name was on the list of doping tests published by theFrench Senate on 24 July 2013 that were collected during the1998 Tour de France and found positive forEPO when retested in 2004.[13]
Durand retired from racing in 2005 after receiving no team offers.[14] He followed that year's Tour de France as representative of the supermarket chain, Champion.[15] He is now a television commentator for Eurosport.
Durand stayed loyal to his first club, CC Renazé (53), throughout his career. He lives inMauritius.
On 25 November 2017, Durand's 80-year-old father, Henri Durand, was reported missing by his wife, Colette, after he went out for his usual bicycle ride and never returned. His body was found in a lake on 2 January 2018, in betweenBallots andSaint-Michel-de-la-Roë. An autopsy confirmed he had died from drowning.[16][17]
Road race, National Road Championships
Points classificationCritérium du Dauphiné LibéréRoad race, National Road Championships
after Prologue & Stage 1 after Prologue
Combativity award
after Stages 1–2| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
