Jacky Durand
Durand in 2000
|
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jacky Durand |
| Nickname | Doudou or Dudu ("teddy bear") |
| Born |
February 10, 1967 Laval, France |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1990–1995 | Castorama |
| 1996 | Agrigel |
| 1997–1998 | Casino |
| 1999–2000 | Lotto |
| 2001–2003 | Française des Jeux |
| 2004 | Landbouwkrediet-Colnago |
| Major wins | |
| Tour de France, 3 stages Tour of Flanders (1992) Paris–Tours (1998) French National Champion (1993, 1994) |
|
Jacky Durand (born February 10, 1967 in Laval, Mayenne) is a retired French professional road bicycle racer. Durand had an attacking style, winning the Tour of Flanders in 1992 after a 217 kilometres (135 mi) breakaway, and three stages in the Tour de France.
Durand turned professional in 1990. He was national road champion in 1993 and 1994 and won Paris–Tours in 1998, the first French winner in 42 years. Durand rode seven Tours de France, finishing last in the 1999 race. In 1995 he was the surprise winner of the prologue, starting before it began raining. He wore the yellow jersey for two days. Durand won the combativity award in the 1998 and 1999 Tour de France; the latter year he also took the Lanterne Rouge. He retired at the end of 2004. He has since worked for Eurosport as a commentator.
Durand was born to a poor farming family in the Mayenne region of northern France. He started racing in the minime class, the very youngest, but never won a race there or in the older cadet category. "It's difficult to win as a kid when you're neither a climber nor a sprinter," he said. "For me, the most beautiful jersey in the world is the French champion's. Yes, when they play the Marseillaise for you after a championship and then you go and show it off for three weeks in the Tour de France, the national flag on your shoulders, it's emotion and pleasure every day." As a senior, however, he won the national amateur team time-trial championship in 1988 with Laurent Bezault, Pascal Lino and Thierry Laurent. He turned professional in 1991.
Jacky Durand became celebrated for long, lone attacks which sometimes succeeded but usually didn't. The French magazine, Vélo, printed a monthly Jackymètre to log the kilometres ridden at the head of races during the course of the season. Durand said: "Fortunately, in cycling, it's not always the best who wins, otherwise we wouldn't win so often."
...
Wikipedia