French male cyclists

Thierry Bourguignon (born 19 December 1962 in La Mure) is a French former road cyclist.

Jean Bobet (22 February 1930 – 27 July 2022) was a French road bicycle racer. He was the younger brother of Louison Bobet. Less successful, he nevertheless won the world students' championship as an amateur and then, as a professional, Paris–Nice in 1955, Genoa–Nice in 1956 and the Circuit du Morbihan in 1953. He came third in Milan–San Remo in 1953. He rode from 1949 to 1959, including all three Grand Tours.
He and his brother retired from racing after a car carrying them crashed outside Paris in the autumn of 1960. Louison went into business ventures and Jean became a journalist. He became head of sport at Radio Luxembourg, wrote for L'Équipe and then Le Monde. He made occasional contributions to Miroir du Cyclisme and still (2008) appears on television, notably in retrospective programmes. He was instrumental in forming a museum in his brother's memory in Saint-Méen-le-Grand.
He wrote several books, including Louison Bobet, une vélobiographie (Éditions Gallimard, 1958), an account of life with his brother in Demain on roule (Editions de la Table Ronde, 2004), translated as Tomorrow We Ride (Mousehold Press, 2008), and a history of Octave Lapize, one of the first stars of the Tour de France: Lapize, celui-là était un 'as' (Editions de la Table Ronde, 2003), translated as Lapize ... now there was an ace (Mousehold Press, 2010).

Walter Bénéteau (28 July 1972 – 10 December 2022) was a French professional cyclist. He raced in every Tour de France from 2000 until 2006.

Christophe Bassons (born 10 June 1974) is a French former professional road racing cyclist. His career ended when he spoke out about doping in the Tour de France.

Gilbert Bauvin (born 4 August 1927 in Lunéville, Meurthe-et-Moselle) is a former professional French road bicycle racer. He was a professional from 1950 to 1960. The highlights of his career include winning the Paris–Camembert in 1954 and Tour de Romandie in 1958 and winning four stages in the Tour de France as well as wearing the yellow jersey for a total of four days.
His best grand tour result was the 1956 Tour de France, where he finished second after surprise winner Roger Walkowiak.

Pierre Barbotin (29 September 1926 – 19 February 2009) was a French racing cyclist, riding professionally from about 1948 to 1961. He was born in Nantes and died in the same city.Barbotin become known in 1951 when he finished second to Louison Bobet in the Milan–San Remo cycle race between Milan and Sanremo. This race marked the beginning of the so-called "B-B" duo - that is, a Bobet-Barbotin partnership where Barbotin became one of the principal teammates of Bobet, especially as part of the Tour de France. Barbotin rode for various teams, including Stella Dunlop (1948–50), Bottechia (1951–52), Stella Wolber Dunlop (1953), Royal-Codrix (1954), Saint Raphael (1955–57), Margnat-Coupry (1959), and Bobet BP Hutchinson (1958, 1960). Barbotin won 13 victories in his career.

Stéphane Augé (born 6 December 1974 in Pau) is a French former road racing cyclist. Following his career, he worked as a sporting director for UCI Professional Continental team Cofidis from 2011 until 2016. While he initially had a contract to ride competitively with them in the 2011 season, he chose instead to retire as a cyclist and fill an opening in the team's management. He was known to be part of the breakaway in every first stage of the Tour de France.

Maurice Archambaud (30 August 1908 in Paris – 3 December 1955 in Le Raincy) was a French professional cyclist from 1932 to 1944. His short stature earned him the nickname of le nabot, or "the dwarf", but his colossal thighs made him an exceptional rider.
As an amateur, he won the Paris-Soissons and the Paris-Verneuil in 1931 and turned professional the following year for Alcyon, one of the top teams in France. He won the inaugural Grand Prix des Nations in his first season.He set the world hour record at 45.767 km at the Vigorelli velodrome in Milan on 3 November 1937. He beat the Dutchman, Frans Slaats' record of 45.485 km, set on 29 September 1937. The record stood for five years before being beaten by Fausto Coppi.
Archambaud rode for France in the Tour de France between the wars. His sudden changes of form and frequent falls meant that he never won the race, but he did win ten stages and wear the yellow jersey.
He won a shorter stage race, Paris–Nice, in 1936 and 1939.

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.