Vocation : Sports : Race Bikes

Robert Alban (9 April 1952) was a French professional road bicycle racer. Alban won the stage 18 in the 1981 Tour de France, and finished third place in that year's overall classification.
Alban was born in Saint-André-d'Huiriat.

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.

Sylvain Calzati (born 1 July 1979 in Lyon) is a former French road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2003 and 2011. He turned professional during the year 2003 with Barloworld, and his biggest success was winning the 8th Stage in the 2006 Tour de France. He also won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2004. He lives in Genay with his wife and daughter. He works as industrial cleaner.

Edgard De Caluwé (1 July 1913 in Denderwindeke – 16 May 1985 in Geraardsbergen) was a Belgian cyclist.
He had twenty victories as a professional from 1933 to 1947. He won the Paris-Brussels and Bordeaux-Paris in 1935. He finished second in the Tour of Flanders in 1936 and won it in 1938. He had already won the Tour of Flanders in 1933, but as an independent.
His career was interrupted by World War II. He also won some victories after the war, but his best years were before it.
He also participated in the Tour de France twice, without much success.
The Grote Prijs Beeckman-De Caluwé in Ninove has been named after him.

Jean-Christophe Péraud (born 22 May 1977) is a retired French cyclist who rode for Omega Pharma–Lotto and AG2R La Mondiale during his professional career. He was a member of the French team at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.