# Bryan Coquard

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 season. When celebrating his victory in the opening stage of the Tour of Belgium, Coquard made a gesture aimed at his general manager Jean-René Bernaudeau in the hopes that he would ride the Tour de France with the team. Ultimately, Bernaudeau did not pick Coquard for the race, a decision that left Coquard "very disappointed". He took no further victories during the season, his best result being a second-place stage finish on the final stage of the Tour de Wallonie, leading home the peloton five seconds behind Dylan Teuns.

### Vital Concept (2018–2021)

In August 2017, it was confirmed that Coquard had signed for the newly formed Vital Concept team as team leader for 2018. Coquard was also offered a place on the Quick-Step Floors team, but turned it down as he felt he would be put as second sprinter behind Fernando Gaviria, who had won the points classification at the Giro d'Italia earlier in the year.
Coquard made his debut for Vital Concept in January at the Sharjah International Cycling Tour. He took his first victory in February during the opening stage of the Tour of Oman where he won a sprint finish ahead of Mark Cavendish. Earlier in the month, Coquard narrowly missed out on victory at the Étoile de Bessèges, when Christophe Laporte passed him at the finish line of the second stage while Coquard celebrated an anticipated win too early. He went winless until May's Four Days of Dunkirk, where he won the fourth stage of the race, before withdrawing ahead of the final stage. He won the final stage of the Tour of Belgium, moving up to seventh place in the final general classification standings. He took no further victories during the year, the best result being a runner-up finish at Paris–Bourges to Valentin Madouas.
Coquard started the 2019 season with a victory on his first day of racing, winning the opening stage of the Étoile de Bessèges. Having placed second to Marc Sarreau at Cholet-Pays de la Loire, Coquard won a stage and the points classification at April's Circuit de la Sarthe. He followed this up with a stage win at the Four Days of Dunkirk, and then victory at the Grote Prijs Marcel Kint, his first one-day victory since 2016. He finished third overall at the Boucles de la Mayenne, moving into a podium position as a result of bonus seconds earned with his victory on the final stage, before winning the final stage of the Tour of Belgium. In the second half of the year, Coquard won the Grand Prix Pino Cerami, the points classification at the Tour de Wallonie, and the second stage of the Arctic Race of Norway. At the end of the road season, Coquard then contested a track campaign, winning two medals at the UEC European Track Championships – a gold in the points race and a silver to Elia Viviani in the elimination race. He also won a silver medal in the opening round of the 2019–20 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Minsk, in the madison with Benjamin Thomas.
In an abbreviated 2020 season largely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Coquard's only victory came at the Route d'Occitanie, where he won the opening stage; he also finished second to Arnaud Démare at the French National Road Race Championships, and third at the Scheldeprijs. The following year, in what would turn out to be his final season with B&B Hotels p/b KTM, Coquard went winless throughout the year for the first time since turning professional. Having finished third in his season-opening race at the Grand Prix La Marseillaise in January, Coquard did not improve on this individual result until his penultimate race of the season, where he finished second to Arne Marit at the Grand Prix du Morbihan in October.

### Cofidis (2022–present)

In August 2021, Coquard signed an initial two-year contract with Cofidis, from the 2022 season.
Coquard ended his 18-month winless streak when he won the second stage of the Étoile de Bessèges in February, winning an uphill sprint in Rousson ahead of Mads Pedersen. He also won the second stage at his next start, the Tour de la Provence, but he failed to start the following stage. He recorded a second-place finish at La Roue Tourangelle in March, losing out to Nacer Bouhanni in the sprint. Having only previously contested the Tour de France at Grand Tour level, Coquard rode the Vuelta a España for the first time; his best stage result was a second-place finish on stage thirteen, losing out to Pedersen in the sprint. Towards the end of the season, Coquard won the Tour de Vendée and finished third at Paris–Bourges.
Coquard's 2023 season commenced in Australia, where he won the fourth stage of the Tour Down Under, which was his first victory on the UCI World Tour. After two second-place stage finishes at the Volta a Catalunya – losing out to Kaden Groves on both occasions – Coquard took two stage victories at the Région Pays de la Loire Tour, the first of which was his 50th professional road victory. He took no further victories during the campaign, but was a part of the French team that won a silver medal in the mixed team relay at the UCI Road World Championships in Glasgow, missing the gold medal by seven seconds. During the season, he extended his contract with Cofidis by a further two years, until the end of the 2025 season.
Coquard began the 2024 season with a second-place finish at the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969, missing out to Dylan Groenewegen in the final sprint. At the AlUla Tour, Coquard thought that he had won the fourth stage of the race, but was unable to get ahead of Tim Merlier before the finish line, who won by a narrow margin.

## Major results
### Road

Source:

#### 2010

    2nd Road race, UEC European Junior Championships
    2nd La Bernaudeau Junior

#### 2012

    1st Grand Prix Cristal Energie
    1st Stage 5 Tour de Berlin
    2nd Road race, UCI World Under-23 Championships

#### 2013 (6 pro wins)

    1st Châteauroux Classic
    Étoile de Bessèges
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2 & 4
    Tour de Langkawi
       1st Stages 8 & 9
    2nd Overall French Cup
       1st Young rider classification
    2nd Overall Tour de Picardie
       1st Stage 2
    2nd Val d'Ille Classic
    2nd Grand Prix de Denain
    3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies
    5th Paris–Camembert
    5th Boucles de l'Aulne
    6th Tour de Vendée
    8th Grand Prix d'Isbergues

#### 2014 (5)

    1st Route Adélie de Vitré
    1st Paris–Camembert
    Étoile de Bessèges
       1st Stages 3 & 4
    3rd Overall Tour de Picardie
       1st Stage 1

#### 2015 (4)

    Route du Sud
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2 & 4
    1st Stage 3 Étoile de Bessèges
    2nd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
       1st Points classification
       1st Young rider classification
       1st Stage 1
    4th Overall Tour de Picardie
    4th Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
    4th Brussels Cycling Classic
    5th Trofeo Playa de Palma
    5th Grand Prix de la Somme
    9th Trofeo Santanyi-Ses Salines-Campos
    10th Grand Prix de Denain

#### 2016 (13)

    1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
       1st Points classification
       1st Young rider classification
       1st Stages 1, 2 & 3
    1st Overall Boucles de la Mayenne
       1st Points classification
       1st Prologue & Stage 2
    1st Route Adélie de Vitré
    Étoile de Bessèges
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 1 & 2
    Route du Sud
       1st Stages 1 & 2
    1st Stage 2a Circuit de la Sarthe
    2nd Dwars door Vlaanderen
    3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies
    3rd Tour de Vendée
    4th Brabantse Pijl
    4th Clásica de Almería
    4th Amstel Gold Race
    5th Paris–Tours
    6th Grand Prix d'Isbergues

#### 2017 (5)

    Circuit de la Sarthe
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2a & 4
    1st Stage 4 Vuelta a Andalucía
    1st Stage 5 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
    1st Stage 1 Tour of Belgium

#### 2018 (3)

    1st Stage 1 Tour of Oman
    1st Stage 4 Four Days of Dunkirk
    2nd Paris–Bourges
    7th Overall Sharjah International Cycling Tour
    7th Overall Tour of Belgium
       1st Stage 5

#### 2019 (8)

    1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
    1st Grote Prijs Marcel Kint
    1st Points classification, Tour de Wallonie
    Circuit de la Sarthe
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 2
    1st Stage 1 Étoile de Bessèges
    1st Stage 2 Arctic Race of Norway
    1st Stage 4 Four Days of Dunkirk
    2nd Cholet-Pays de la Loire
    3rd Overall Boucles de la Mayenne
       1st Stage 3
    3rd Tour de Vendée
    5th Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
    5th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
    6th La Roue Tourangelle
    7th Overall Tour of Belgium
       1st Stage 5
    8th Paris–Chauny

#### 2020 (1)

    1st Stage 1 Route d'Occitanie
    2nd Road race, National Championships
    3rd Scheldeprijs

#### 2021

    2nd Grand Prix du Morbihan
    3rd Grand Prix La Marseillaise
    4th Overall Boucles de la Mayenne
    5th Paris–Bourges
    6th Paris–Tours

#### 2022 (3)

    1st Tour de Vendée
    1st Stage 2 Tour de la Provence
    1st Stage 2 Étoile de Bessèges
    2nd La Roue Tourangelle
    3rd Paris–Bourges
    6th Grand Prix La Marseillaise
    7th Omloop van het Houtland
    10th Circuit Franco-Belge

#### 2023 (3)

    2nd Team relay, UCI World Championships
    4th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    4th Tour de Vendée
    5th Paris–Chauny
    5th Route Adélie de Vitré
    7th Overall Région Pays de la Loire Tour
       1st Stages 1 & 3
    8th Paris–Bourges
    9th Down Under Classic
    10th Overall Tour Down Under
       1st Stage 4

#### 2024 (1)

    1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse
    2nd Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969
    4th Muscat Classic
    7th Overall AlUla Tour
    10th Gran Premio Castellón

#### 2025 (1)

    1st Stage 4 Tour Down Under
    6th Surf Coast Classic

#### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Giro d'Italia | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |
| Tour de France | 104 | 110 | 113 | — | — | — | 122 | DNF | — | 98 | 104 |
| Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | DNF |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |

### Track

Source:

#### 2009

    1st Omnium, UCI World Junior Championships
    UEC European Junior Championships
       1st Scratch
       3rd Team pursuit

#### 2010

    UCI World Junior Championships
       1st Omnium
       2nd Scratch
    National Junior Championships
       1st Individual pursuit
       2nd Madison (with Jauffrey Betouigt-Suire)
    2nd Omnium, National Championships
    UEC European Junior Championships
       3rd Madison (with Romain Le Roux)
       3rd Scratch
       3rd Team pursuit

#### 2011

    National Championships
       1st Team pursuit
       1st Scratch
       2nd Madison (with Morgan Lamoisson)
    2nd Omnium, UEC European Championships
    3rd Omnium, UCI World Cup, Cali

#### 2012

    National Championships
       1st Omnium
       1st Madison (with Morgan Lamoisson)
       3rd Scratch
    2nd Omnium, Olympic Games
    UEC European Under-23 Championships
       2nd Omnium
       2nd Points race
    2nd UCI World Cup, Beijing
    2nd Six Days of Grenoble (with Morgan Kneisky)

#### 2013

    UEC European Under-23 Championships
       1st Madison (with Thomas Boudat)
       2nd Scratch
       2nd Team pursuit

#### 2015

    1st Madison, UCI World Championships (with Morgan Kneisky)
    UEC European Championships
       1st Elimination
       3rd Madison (with Morgan Kneisky)
    National Championships
       1st Madison (with Thomas Boudat)
       1st Team pursuit
       2nd Omnium

#### 2019

    UEC European Championships
       1st Points race
       2nd Elimination
    2nd Madison, UCI World Cup, Minsk (with Benjamin Thomas)