Eric Coquard Popular Books

Eric Coquard Biography & Facts

Bryan Coquard (born 25 April 1992) is a French cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam Cofidis. Since turning professional, Coquard has taken more than fifty victories in road racing, primarily in French races – including six stage wins and an overall victory at the Four Days of Dunkirk, nine stage wins at the Étoile de Bessèges, and a joint-record two victories at the Route Adélie de Vitré one-day race. He has also competed professionally in track cycling – having won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the omnium, the world title in the madison at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, and five medals (two gold) at the UEC European Track Championships. Career Youth and amateur career Born in Saint-Nazaire, Coquard began cycling in 1999 at the age of seven, at the US Pontchâteau club. In September 2008, aged sixteen, he joined CREPS Bordeaux, where he was coached by Éric Vermeulen. In 2009, Coquard won the gold medal in the omnium at the UCI Junior World Championships, as well as winning the scratch at the UEC European Junior Championships. He retained his Junior omnium crown in 2010, winning four of the six events, and he won a second medal with silver in the scratch race. Having also finished second in the junior road race at the 2010 European Road Championships, Coquard signed with amateur team Vendée U – the feeder team for Team Europcar – for the 2011 season. In 2011, Coquard won his first senior titles at the French National Track Championships, in the team pursuit and scratch races, and he won a silver medal in the omnium at the UEC European Track Championships. The following year at the French National Track Championships, Coquard won the omnium – winning 5 of the 6 races within – and madison titles, winning the latter with Morgan Lamoisson. He was selected to represent France in the omnium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and won the silver medal behind Lasse Norman Hansen of Denmark. On the road, Coquard won a stage of the Tour de Berlin, and won a silver medal in the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships, missing out to Alexey Lutsenko in a group sprint. Team Europcar (2013–2017) Coquard signed a contract for a professional career on the roads from the 2013 season onwards, signing with Team Europcar. 2013–2015 His 2013 campaign began well, as he took two stages and the points classification in the Étoile de Bessèges in January and February. He then contested the Tour de Langkawi, where he also won two stages – this time consecutively on stages eight and nine. Coquard then recorded second-place finishes at the Val d'Ille Classic in March, the Grand Prix de Denain in April, and the Tour de Picardie in May, also winning a stage. He competed at the UEC European Under-23 Track Championships in Portugal, where he won three medals – silver medals in the scratch and the team pursuit, and a gold medal in the madison with Thomas Boudat. At August's Châteauroux Classic, Coquard won the race in a sprint finish, and the following month, he finished third at the Grand Prix de Fourmies. At the start of 2014, Coquard again won two stages at February's Étoile de Bessèges, but did not take another win until the Route Adélie de Vitré in April. He then won the Paris–Camembert in a sprint finish, before taking his fifth victory of the season on the opening day of the Tour de Picardie. Having lost the race lead the following day, Coquard ultimately finished the race in third place overall. He made his Tour de France début, finishing fourth on the first stage into Harrogate, avoiding a crash in the final sprint. He recorded a total of seven top-ten stage finishes as he finished the race in third place in the points classification, losing second to Alexander Kristoff on the final stage. Coquard took his first victory of the 2015 season at the Étoile de Bessèges in February, where he won stage three. Later in the month, Coquard won his first elite world title, when he won the madison at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships with Morgan Kneisky on home soil at the Vélodrome National. In May, Coquard won the first stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk, which featured cobbled sectors, fracturing the peloton to bits, and Coquard won the sprint of a small group of three. He lost the race lead on the penultimate stage to Ignatas Konovalovas, having lost 38 seconds on the day; Konovalovas ultimately won the race by 14 seconds from Coquard, but Coquard won the points and young rider classifications. The following month, Coquard won two stages and the points classification at the Route du Sud, before he contested the Tour de France – his best stage result was second on the final stage into Paris. Following the conclusion of his road campaign, Coquard won two titles at the French National Track Championships, and two medals at the UEC European Track Championships – gold in the inaugural stand-alone elimination race and bronze in the madison with Kneisky. 2016 Coquard began the 2016 season with consecutive victories in the first two stages of the Étoile de Bessèges, ultimately winning the race's points classification. However in mid-February, while preparing for the Vuelta a Andalucía, he fractured his right shoulder blade in a training accident in Spain. He returned to racing a month later, losing a victory to Jens Debusschere in a small bunch sprint at Dwars door Vlaanderen, having celebrated too early. At the start of April, Coquard won the Route Adélie de Vitré for the second time in three years – as a result, becoming only the second rider after Jaan Kirsipuu to win the race more than once. After a stage win at the Circuit de la Sarthe, his form continued into the hilly classics of Brabantse Pijl and the Amstel Gold Race, finishing fourth in both. In May, he won his first professional stage race at the Four Days of Dunkirk; he won the first three stages, finished second in the remaining two, and won the points and young rider classifications as well. He won another French stage race the following month, when he won the Boucles de la Mayenne; he won two stages, including a victory in the prologue individual time trial, and the points classification. In his build up to the Tour de France, he won the first two stages of the Route du Sud, but failed to finish the race. At the Tour de France, his best stage result was a second-place finish to Marcel Kittel in Limoges on stage four. He took two further podium finishes over the remainder of the season, with third-place finishes at the Grand Prix de Fourmies and the Tour de Vendée. 2017 In February, Coquard won a stage at both the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana – a weather-effected stage which was reduced to approximately 50 kilometres (31 miles) in length – and the Vuelta a Andalucía. Two more stage wins followed for Coquard at the Circuit de la Sarthe, where he also won the points classification. The following month, it was announced that Coquard would be leaving Direct Énergie at the end of the 2017.... Discover the Eric Coquard popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Eric Coquard books.