François Neuens (Gonderange, 6 September 1912 — Wiltz, 27 August 1985) was a Luxembourgian professional road bicycle racer. In the 1939 Tour de France, Neuens won two stages. During the Second World War, Neuens won two editions of the Tour de Luxembourg. He competed in the individual and team road race events at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Arsène Mersch (14 December 1913, in Koerich – 11 July 1980, in Koerich) was a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer and cyclo-cross racer, who became national champion in both categories twice. He also won one Tour de France stage, and wore the yellow jersey for one day.
Sandy Casar (born 2 February 1979) is a French former professional racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 2000 and 2013, all for the Française des Jeux team. His greatest results have been winning three stages of the Tour de France, as well the overall classification of the Route du Sud in 2005. He also won the one-day race Paris–Camembert in 2011.
Éric Boyer (2 December 1963) is a French former professional road bicycle racer.Boyer was born in Choisy-le-Roi. In the 1988 Tour de France, he finished in 5th place in the overall classification - the highest placed French finisher. Boyer won a stage in the 1991 Giro d'Italia.
After his racing career, Boyer worked for television (including Eurosport and L'Equipe) and newspapers. He was manager of the Cofidis team from 2005 until June 2012. In addition he briefly served as president of the AIGCP from 2008 to 2009.
Christophe Agnolutto (born 6 December 1969, in Soisy-sous-Montmorency, Val-d'Oise) is a professional road bicycle racer from France.
Agnolutto was a commercial artist when, as an amateur in 1995, he won Bordeaux-Saintes and the GP Nord-Pas de Calais and came third in the national championship. He rode successively for the CSM Puteaux, the US Créteil and the ASPPT Paris. He dedicated himself to cycling when he met his wife, Mélanie, when he was 23. He turned professional the following year for Petit Casino, sponsored by a supermarket chain. He stayed with the team and its directeur sportif, Vincent Lavenu, through changes of sponsors. He said: "I didn't exactly have a lot of other offers."Then he left for Agritubel. He said:
I needed a change of air. I owe a lot to Vincent, who let me turn professional and who gave me contracts for nine years, but the current didn't pass any more with certain members of the team. And finally, Vincent wasn't able to say if he would keep me for 2005, so I needed to move. I was in contact with Agritubel during the Tour du Poitou-Charentes in August and I was interested straight away.
Agnolutto won the 1997 Tour de Suisse after breaking clear on the second stage. The favourites didn't take up the chase and couldn't make up Agnolutto's lead afterwards. He said in 2001:
Winning served me well financially but also in terms of being known inside and outside the peloton. On the other hand, I rested on my laurels for the next two years. Especially after the 1998 Tour, which killed my enthusiasm for riding a bike. In 1999, the birth of my daughter occupied all my thoughts for a few months but I put myself out of the running [hors-jeu]. I didn't want to ride a Tour de France which had lost its shine [qui ne me faisait plus rêver] That year I lived the Tour via my television screen and I realised I was missing something important. I promised myself I'd ride as many as I could. And to compete. Which is how my stage win came about.
That win was stage seven of the 2000 Tour de France, taken in an early breakaway. It was France's first win in the Tour for two years, since Jacky Durand in 1998. He told his team-mates that morning what he planned to do and attacked three times at the start of the stage. On the third attempt he cleared the front of the race alone. He rode alone in the rain for 80 km of the 127 km from Tours to Limoges, getting up to 8m 20s lead.
Agnolutto rode the Tour five times and won nine races as a professional before retiring at the end of 2006.
Gilbert Desmet (born 2 February 1931 in Roeselare), nicknamed Smetje van Lichtervelde, is a former Belgian cyclist who was professional from 1952 to 1967. In the 1956 Tour de France, he wore the yellow jersey for 2 days, and in the 1963 Tour de France he wore it for 9 days. Desmet won 101 professional races, including Paris–Tours, La Flèche Wallonne and Four Days of Dunkirk. His best result in the Tour de France was his 4th place in 1962. He finished second in the 1959 Paris–Roubaix.Throughout his career, he was often confused with Gilbert De Smet, another Belgian cyclist with a similar name.