# Florent Brard

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French cyclist (born 1976)

Florent Brard Brard in 2008 Personal information Full name Florent Brard Born (1976-02-07) 7 February 1976 (age 50) Chambray-lès-Tours, France Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Weight 74 kg (163 lb) Team information 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)[1][2] is a French former [road bicycle racer](/source/Road_bicycle_racer). He won three national championships, including the professional road race. He became a professional in 1999[3] and stopped racing in November 2009 after not finding a place in a team.[4]

## 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 [Tours](/source/Tours) region of France. He won the national youth pursuit championship in 1992 and 1993 and the junior pursuit in 1994.[6] He tried professional racing as a *stagiaire*, or apprentice, with the [Française des Jeux](/source/Fran%C3%A7aise_des_Jeux_(cycling_team)) team in 1997, riding at the Élite 2 level. From there he moved to next year as a full professional to Festina.

## 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](/source/Individual_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](/source/%C3%89toile_de_Bess%C3%A8ges) 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](/source/Tour_de_l'Avenir). He also won [Paris–Bourges](/source/Paris%E2%80%93Bourges) and GP-Cholet-Pays de la Loire.[11]

He moved to [Crédit Agricole](/source/Cr%C3%A9dit_Agricole_(cycling)) in 2002, earning 30,500 euros a season but he was fired after starting the season poorly, then missing the middle following a fall which broke [vertebrae](/source/Vertebrae)[12] finally being caught in a drugs test [*See below.*]. Only the small Marlux team in Belgium offered him a place for 2003.[13] He said: "When I signed for them I wasn't at all happy because, when you come from big teams like Festina and Crédit d'Agricole, which have a prominent image, it's strange, I had the impression of going backward in my career. I went there on tiptoe, not knowing what I was going to find, and then I felt fine."[14]

In 2004, he stayed in Belgium with the [Chocolade Jacques](/source/Chocolade_Jacques_(cycling)), team. He had tried to ride again with French teams "but their sponsor didn't want a doped rider."[*See below.*][15] He won the final stage of the Giro di Lucca and the second stage of Paris–Corrèze

In 2005, with [Agritubel](/source/Agritubel), he won Paris–Troyes, the Trophée Luc Leblanc, and a stage at the [Circuit de la Sarthe](/source/Circuit_de_la_Sarthe_(cycling)).

In 2006, he moved to Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, with whom he rode the [Tour de France](/source/2006_Tour_de_France) after winning the [national road championship](/source/2006_National_Cycling_Championships) at [Chantonnay](/source/Chantonnay) a week before the start. He said: "When you've been down at the bottom [*See below*] you appreciate the heights even more."[16] He spent the rest of the year racing and training in his blue, white, and red jersey.[17] "You only have it until the following June," he said, so he wore it when he could.

He did not finish the Tour de France, falling during the penultimate stage.

## Doping

Florent Brard was prescribed [corticoid](/source/Corticoid) to recover from a crash in the [Grand Prix du Midi Libre](/source/Grand_Prix_du_Midi_Libre). He said he had seen his doctor "*n* times" (*pour la énième fois*) and neither he nor the doctor thought of him as a racing cyclist, "only as a man broken everywhere who couldn't do anything because of all his sleepless nights."[18] and was caught in a dope test in the Tour de l'Ain, which he finished an hour behind the winner.[19] He was suspended for nine months by the [Fédération Française de Cyclisme](/source/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration_Fran%C3%A7aise_de_Cyclisme). His sponsor, Crédit Agricole, fired him. He said:

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](/source/Roger_Legeay), his former boss at Crédit Agricole, was president of AC2000.[20] "He knew that I was in touch with [Agritubel](/source/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](/source/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](/source/French_National_Road_Race_Championships), National Junior Road Championships

**1998**
- 3rd [Paris–Troyes](/source/Paris%E2%80%93Troyes)

**2000**
- 5th [Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan](/source/Grand_Prix_de_Plumelec-Morbihan)

**2001**
- 1st [Time trial](/source/French_National_Time_Trial_Championships), National Road Championships

- 1st [Paris–Bourges](/source/Paris%E2%80%93Bourges)

- 1st [Cholet-Pays de Loire](/source/Cholet-Pays_de_Loire)

- 1st Joseph Voegeli Memorial (with [Christophe Moreau](/source/Christophe_Moreau))

- 1st Stage 5 [Étoile de Bessèges](/source/%C3%89toile_de_Bess%C3%A8ges)

- 2nd Overall [Tour de l'Avenir](/source/Tour_de_l'Avenir)

- 3rd [Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise](/source/Grand_Prix_d'Ouverture_La_Marseillaise)

- 3rd [Châteauroux Classic](/source/Ch%C3%A2teauroux_Classic)

- 4th Overall [Tour du Limousin](/source/Tour_du_Limousin)

- 5th [Grand Prix des Nations](/source/Grand_Prix_des_Nations)

- 7th Overall [Critérium International](/source/Crit%C3%A9rium_International)

- 7th [Grand Prix de Rennes](/source/Grand_Prix_de_Rennes)

- 10th [Tour du Haut Var](/source/2001_Tour_du_Haut_Var)

- [Tour de France](/source/2001_Tour_de_France) - Held after Prologue, Stage 1 & Stages 3–4

**2003**
- 2nd [Paris–Bourges](/source/Paris%E2%80%93Bourges)

**2004**
- 1st Stage 2 [Paris–Corrèze](/source/Paris%E2%80%93Corr%C3%A8ze)

- 1st Stage 4 [Giro della Provincia di Lucca](/source/Giro_della_Provincia_di_Lucca)

- 6th Overall [Tour de Pologne](/source/2004_Tour_de_Pologne)

- 6th [Châteauroux Classic](/source/Ch%C3%A2teauroux_Classic)

**2005**
- 1st [Paris–Troyes](/source/Paris%E2%80%93Troyes)

- 1st Trophée Luc Leblanc

- 1st Stage 2b ([ITT](/source/Individual_time_trial)) [Circuit de la Sarthe](/source/Circuit_de_la_Sarthe_(cycling))

- 5th [Route Adélie de Vitré](/source/Route_Ad%C3%A9lie_de_Vitr%C3%A9)

- 7th [Paris–Roubaix](/source/2005_Paris%E2%80%93Roubaix)

- 7th [Tour du Haut Var](/source/2005_Tour_du_Haut_Var)

**2006**
- 1st [Road race](/source/French_National_Road_Race_Championships), National Road Championships

**2007**
- 5th [Paris–Camembert](/source/Paris%E2%80%93Camembert)

- 7th [Duo Normand](/source/Duo_Normand) (with [Nicolas Fritsch](/source/Nicolas_Fritsch))

**2008**
- 5th [Grand Prix de la Somme](/source/Grand_Prix_de_la_Somme)

- 8th [Tro-Bro Léon](/source/2008_Tro-Bro_L%C3%A9on)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** L'Équipe, France, 13 July 2007

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["BRARD Florent"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120322022642/http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/pelotons/coureurs.php?c=1538). Archived from [the original](http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/pelotons/coureurs.php?c%3D1538) on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2009-11-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Vélo, France, March 2001

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** L'Équipe, 29 November 2009

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Vélo, France, February 2007

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["BRARD Florent"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120322022642/http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/pelotons/coureurs.php?c=1538). Archived from [the original](http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/pelotons/coureurs.php?c%3D1538) on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2009-11-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Vélo, France, March 2001

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** A rider who can ride at speed for prolonged periods.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Vélo, France, March 2001

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Vélo, France, March 2001

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** L'Équipe, France, 13 July 2001

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Vélo, France, November 2003, p45

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Vélo, France, November 2003

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Vélo, France, November 2003, p14

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Vélo, France, November 2003, p44

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Vélo, France, July 2006

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Vélo, France, February 2007

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Vélo, France, November 2003, p45

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Vélo, France, July 2006

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Vélo, France, February 2007

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Vélo, France, February 2007

## External links

- [Official website](http://florentbrard.wixsite.com/officiel) (in French)

v t e French National Road Race Champions (men) 1900–1919 Gustave Garrigou (1907–1908) Jean Alavoine (1909) Émile Georget (1910) Octave Lapize (1911–1913) Charles Crupelandt (1914) Henri Pélissier (1919) 1920–1939 Jean Alavoine (1920) Francis Pélissier (1921) Jean Brunier (1922) Francis Pélissier (1923–1924) Achille Souchard (1925–1926) Ferdinand Le Drogo (1927–1928) Marcel Bidot (1929) Roger Bisseron (1930) Armand Blanchonnet (1931) André Godinat (1932) Roger Lapébie (1933) Raymond Louviot (1934) Georges Speicher (1935) René Le Grevès (1936) Georges Speicher (1937) Paul Maye (1938) Georges Speicher (1939) 1940–1959 René Vietto (1941) Émile Idée (1942) Paul Maye (1943) Urbain Caffi (1944) Eloi Tassin (1945) Louis Caput (1946) Émile Idée (1947) César Marcelak (1948) Jean Rey (1949) Louison Bobet (1950–1951) Adolphe Deledda (1952) Raphaël Géminiani (1953) Jacques Dupont (1954) André Darrigade (1955) Bernard Gauthier (1956) Valentin Huot (1957–1958) Henry Anglade (1959) 1960–1979 Jean Stablinski (1960) Raymond Poulidor (1961) Jean Stablinski (1962–1964) Henry Anglade (1965) Jean-Claude Theillière (1966) Désiré Letort (1967) Lucien Aimar (1968) Raymond Delisle (1969) Paul Gutty (1970) Yves Hézard (1971) Roland Berland (1972) Bernard Thévenet (1973) Georges Talbourdet (1974) Régis Ovion (1975) Guy Sibille (1976) Marcel Tinazzi (1977) Bernard Hinault (1978) Roland Berland (1979) 1980–1999 Pierre-Raymond Villemiane (1980) Serge Beucherie (1981) Régis Clère (1982) Marc Gomez (1983) Laurent Fignon (1984) Jean-Claude Leclercq (1985) Yvon Madiot (1986) Marc Madiot (1987) Éric Caritoux (1988–1989) Philippe Louviot (1990) Armand de Las Cuevas (1991) Luc Leblanc (1992) Jacky Durand (1993–1994) Eddy Seigneur (1995) Stéphane Heulot (1996) Stéphane Barthe (1997) Laurent Jalabert (1998) François Simon (1999) 2000–2019 Christophe Capelle (2000) Didier Rous (2001) Nicolas Vogondy (2002) Didier Rous (2003) Thomas Voeckler (2004) Pierrick Fédrigo (2005) Florent Brard (2006) Christophe Moreau (2007) Nicolas Vogondy (2008) Dimitri Champion (2009) Thomas Voeckler (2010) Sylvain Chavanel (2011) Nacer Bouhanni (2012) Arthur Vichot (2013) Arnaud Démare (2014) Steven Tronet (2015) Arthur Vichot (2016) Arnaud Démare (2017) Anthony Roux (2018) Warren Barguil (2019) 2020–2039 Arnaud Démare (2020) Rémi Cavagna (2021) Florian Sénéchal (2022) Valentin Madouas (2023) Paul Lapeira (2024) Dorian Godon (2025) Romain Grégoire (2026)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Florent Brard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florent_Brard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florent_Brard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.