.JPG) Voeckler at the 2014Grand Prix d'Isbergues | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Voeckler |
| Nickname | Ti-Blanc Francis |
| Born | (1979-06-22)22 June 1979 (age 45) Schiltigheim,Alsace, France |
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft8+1⁄2 in)[1] |
| Weight | 71 kg (157 lb; 11 st 3 lb)[1] |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder Climber Breakaway specialist |
| Amateur teams | |
| 1999–2000 | Vendée U |
| 2000 | Bonjour(stagiaire) |
| Professional team | |
| 2001–2017 | Bonjour |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Thomas Voeckler (French pronunciation:[tɔmɑvœklɛʁ]; born 22 June 1979) is a French formerroad racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2017, for theDirect Énergie team and its previous iterations.[2]
One of the most prominent French riders of his generation, Voeckler has been described as a "national hero", due to strong performances over several years in theTour de France.[3][4]
Born inSchiltigheim, Bas-Rhin, Voeckler has been a professional cyclist since 2001. He comes from theAlsace region of France but later moved toMartinique, where he was nicknamed"Ti-Blanc" (a contraction ofpetit blanc, the literal translation of which is "little white") due to his small stature and pale complexion.
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In 2003, Voeckler won two stages and the overall title in theTour de Luxembourg. The following year, he suddenly rose to international prominence in the world of cycling. After seizing theFrench National Road Race Championships, the lightly regarded Voeckler entered the2004 Tour de France. After escaping with five other riders during the fifth stage, Voeckler gained significant time against thepeloton, and earned theyellow jersey (French:maillot jaune). Remarkably, he defended his jersey for ten days, even on stages not well-suited to his strengths.
With the maillot jaune on his shoulders and intense media attention all around him, Voeckler only rode stronger. He survived the dreaded climbs of thePyrenees seconds ahead ofLance Armstrong. Voeckler finally surrendered the jersey to Armstrong on stage 15 in the French Alps. Voeckler then also lost the white jersey (French:maillot blanc; held by the best rider under 25) toVladimir Karpets. But by then Voeckler was already a national hero.
The 2005 season was busy as Voeckler rode many races, including some not considered a fit for his style of riding. His only win that year came in Stage 3 of theFour Days of Dunkirk. In 2006 he won the fifth stage in theTour of the Basque Country. At theCritérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Voeckler finished second on Stage 1, and he also wonParis–Bourges.
In 2007, Voeckler garnered a stunning win at theGP Ouest-France, in which he beat the favorites with a late breakaway. For 2008, his early season was highlighted with an overall win at theCircuit de la Sarthe and in 2009, he gained his first stage win at the Tour de France, winningstage 5. Voeckler went for victory with about 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) to go, having been part of a breakaway group for most of the race.[5]
After a somewhat slow start to 2010, Voeckler went on to win theFrench National Road Race Championships for the second time. He was able to break away from the bunch along withChristophe Le Mével, and Voeckler bested Le Mével in the sprint. He later described this win in theVendée department, where he had made his home, as the best moment of his career.[6] His form then continued into theTour de France where, after several unsuccessful attacks, he was first over the finish line during Stage 15. He launched himself before the summit of the Hors CatégoriePort de Balès, cresting the summit alone. He negotiated the very fast descent without incident, and crossed the line inBagnères-de-Luchon with more than a minute over the chasers.[7]
In September, Voeckler took the victory in the inaugural running of theGrand Prix Cycliste de Québec, a new event on theUCI World Tour calendar. He downplayed his chances in the press in the days before the event citing a lack of form. However, he attacked in the final kilometre to cross the finish line on theGrande-Allée with a couple of bike lengths overTeam Sky'sEdvald Boasson Hagen.[8]
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In 2011, Voeckler enjoyed his finest year as a professional. He recorded eight spring victories prior to theTour de France in July, notably taking two stages atParis–Nice, and winning the overall classification in theFour Days of Dunkirk as well as theTour du Haut Var.
In the ninth stage of the Tour de France, Voeckler led a breakaway, survived a collision caused by a media support car that injured two other riders,[9] and crossed the line second, taking the overall time lead and therefore wearing the yellow jersey (French:maillot jaune). He held on to the yellow jersey daily from the beginning of Stage 10 onwards, carrying it through all the Pyrenean mountain stages and into the Alps, but he was unable to retain it at the end of Stage 19, thequeen stage finishing atAlpe d'Huez. Voeckler finished in fourth place in the final general classification, 3 minutes and 20 seconds behind the winner,Cadel Evans. It was Voeckler's highest final general classification in the Tour, and the highest placing of any Frenchman in the Tour, at the time, sinceChristophe Moreau's fourth-place overall finish in2000.[10]
Voeckler's 2011 contract from Team Europcar was worth€420,000 a year, which made him the second highest-paid French cyclist afterSylvain Chavanel.[11][12] His planned switch toCofidis was worth almost twice as much, however Voeckler chose to remain at reduced salary withJean-René Bernaudeau's team, once it re-found sponsorship for 2011, able to continue his 15-year relationship with the coach.[3]
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In 2012, Voeckler followed his previous year's successes with another season of victories and top placements, including a new-found focus in theSpring Classics.
His spring campaign did not achieve strong results until April, where he attained a top-ten finish in theTour of Flanders, the secondclassic monument on the 2012 calendar; his first victory of the season came ten days later, during a 30-kilometre (19 mi) solo breakaway in the semi-classicBrabantse Pijl, which he won in cold, rainy conditions.[13] The following Sunday he took a top-five placement in the classicAmstel Gold Race,[14] and a week later continued his success in the Ardennes with a fourth-place in the final spring classic of the season, the monumentLiège–Bastogne–Liège.[15] Along with other Europcar riders, Voeckler managed to win a stage in the GaboneseLa Tropicale Amissa Bongo race, at the close of April.[16]
He started theTour de France slowly, suffering from a knee injury and almost abandoning the grand tour, after also abandoning earlier preparation races. However he gathered strength and later wonstage 10, the first mountain stage of the race, including crossing thehors catégorie climb of theCol du Grand Colombier in the lead, thus claiming the polka-dot jersey for themountains classification lead, which he held for a day.[17] He also prevailed in the queen stage of the race,stage 16 from Pau toBagnères-de-Luchon, which included four huge climbs including theCol du Tourmalet. Voeckler broke away from the peloton about 25 kilometres (16 miles) into the race and was part of a massive 38-man escape bunch. He passed all fourKing of the Mountains points locations in the lead, and grabbed the polka-dot jersey once again as well as the victory, dropping his last breakaway companionBrice Feillu of theSaur–Sojasun squad while ascending theCol de Peyresourde, the stage's final difficulty. He then charged down the mountain to reach the finish line with a minute and 40 seconds on the nearest chaser.[18] Voeckler subsequently won a classification podium spot in Paris for the first time in his career, by holding the tour's mountain classification jersey from the Pyrenees to the finish.[19]
Voeckler started the Classics season with a good showing inDwars door Vlaanderen. He escaped the lead group of riders on the last climb with 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) to race and made a solo bid for the line, but was caught inside the final meters, only to take fifth. Voeckler was clearly heartbroken after such a close call.[20] In the Ardennes ClassicAmstel Gold Race, Voeckler crashed with other favorites, was put on a stretcher and went to the hospital where a broken collarbone was detected.[21] By June Voeckler had rebounded and shown strong form once more, winning stage 6 of theCritérium du Dauphiné from a breakaway of four despite being outnumbered by twoAstana riders.[22] Voeckler continued his winning form by winning the overall titles of theRoute du Sud and theTour du Poitou-Charentes.
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In January, Voeckler was set to participate to theTour Down Under, but he crashed into a car while training in Australia and broke his collarbone.[23] He came back to competition at theTour Méditerranéen, then went on to finish 25th in theAmstel Gold Race and 36th inLiège–Bastogne–Liège. He then participated to theTour de Romandie in April, attacking to no avail in the final of the first stage.[24] On the fourth stage, he took second place after being beaten for the sprint by his breakaway companionMichael Albasini (Orica–GreenEDGE).[25] Voeckler finished 21st overall. Voeckler had a significant result in theTour de France, finishing second on the stage to Bagnères-de-Luchon behindMichael Rogers.[26] In August, while he was training, Voeckler hit a car and was injured again, this time dislocating his shoulder.[27] He came back at theTour du Doubs, finishing 46th. In October, Voeckler finished second ofParis–Tours, after being part of the early breakaway. He cooperated well with his breakaway companionJelle Wallays until the "last kilometer to go" sign, where Wallays refused to pull and Voeckler was beaten in the two-man sprint. He was so disappointed that he did not go to the podium ceremony, which resulted in a fine and the loss of the €3,770 second-place prize.[28]
Voeckler's 2015 season was relatively quiet, with a fifth place on a stage of theTour de France and third in the general classification of theinaugural Tour de Yorkshire being two of his most notable results.[29]
In February, Voeckler took his first wins since August 2013 when he won the first stage and the general classification at the first edition of theTour La Provence.[30] In early May Voeckler took the punishing final stage of theTour de Yorkshire, outsprintingNicolas Roche inScarborough and taking the overall classification.
In September 2016, Voeckler announced that he would retire from professional cycling, after the2017 Tour de France,[6] his fifteenth successive participation in the race.[2]
In 2019, Voeckler was appointed the manager of the French national team, replacingCyrille Guimard.[31]
Source:[32]
OverallTour de Luxembourg
Road race, National Road Championships after Stages 5–14
after Stages 5–18
after Stage 2
OverallRoute du Sud OverallTour du Poitou-Charentes Mountains classification,Paris–Nice OverallCircuit de la Sarthe after Stages 1–5 OverallTour du Haut Var OverallÉtoile de BessègesRoad race, National Road Championships
OverallFour Days of Dunkirk OverallTour du Haut Var
after Stages 9–18Mountains classification OverallRoute du Sud OverallTour du Poitou-Charentes
Combativity award Stage 4Tour de France OverallTour La Provence
OverallTour de YorkshireCombativity award Stage 3Tour de France| Grand Tour | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | 135 | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | 89 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de France | — | — | 119 | 18 | 124 | 89 | 66 | 97 | 67 | 76 | 4 | 26 | 65 | 42 | 45 | 79 | 91 |
 Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | 101 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Monument | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | — | — | — | — | 73 | 134 | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | 127 | — | — | — | — |
| Tour of Flanders | — | 93 | — | — | DNF | — | — | DNF | — | 57 | 28 | 8 | 35 | — | — | — | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | DNF | DNF | 53 | 77 | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | — | — | — | 36 | — | — | 40 | 47 | 10 | — | 4 | — | 36 | 27 | 106 | 112 |
| Giro di Lombardia | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 77 | — | DNF | — | 34 | — | — | — | — |
| Classic | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | — | — | 48 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | DNF | — | — |
| E3 Harelbeke | — | 68 | — | — | 43 | — | — | 4 | — | — | 31 | 67 | — | — | DNF | — | — |
| Brabantse Pijl | — | — | — | 47 | DNF | — | — | DNF | — | 6 | — | 1 | 14 | — | 46 | 95 | — |
| Amstel Gold Race | — | — | — | — | 69 | 32 | — | 30 | — | — | — | 5 | DNF | 25 | — | DNF | — |
| GP Ouest-France | — | — | 99 | — | — | 110 | 1 | 71 | 36 | — | 3 | 63 | 61 | — | 125 | DNF | — |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | Race did not exist | 1 | — | 7 | — | — | 55 | 114 | — | ||||||||
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | 85 | — | 21 | — | — | 47 | 62 | — | |||||||||
| Paris–Tours | — | 109 | — | — | 116 | 35 | 116 | 29 | DNF | 154 | — | — | 40 | 2 | — | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
The Frenchman will be 38 by the time he hits the Champs-Élysées for what will be an emotional farewell after 15 consecutive Tours, over the course of which he has given home fans much to cheer about.
| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
