David Moncoutié

David Moncoutié

Personal information
Full name	David Moncoutié
Nickname	Moncoucou
Born	April 30, 1975 (1975-04-30) (age 36) Provins, France[1]
Team information
Current team	Cofidis
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber
Professional team(s)
1997–	Cofidis
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 2 Stages Vuelta a España Mountains Classification (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) 4 Stages Stage Races Paris-Nice King of the Mountains (2005, 2006)
Infobox last updated on November, 2008

David Moncoutié (born April 30, 1975) is a French professional road racing cyclist with the French team Cofidis, with whom he turned professional in 1997. He is a climber, and won his first professional race in a mountain stage of Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. He has won Mountains Classification in Vuelta a España four times, one short of the record of five held by José Luis Laguía.

Origins

David Moncoutié had no familial connection to cycling – he was raised in a football (soccer)loving family in which nobody had raced a bike.^[2] Moncoutié played football until he was 16 before being introduced to cycling by a friend. He gained his baccalauréat in biology. His father, mother and two sisters worked for the post office and wanted him to work there as well.^[3] Friends suggested he join them for a ride. He said: "They all had beautiful racing bikes, I had a sports bike that was nothing to talk about... and I dropped them right from the start. I said to myself,' Tiens, you're not going to be too bad!' and I joined the Entente Vélocipédique Bretenous-Bars, my village in the Lot. I won from my second race."^[4]

He continued playing football but abandoned it when cycling took over at 19. He had dreamed of winning a mountain stage in the Tour de France after watching the Colombian rider, Luis Herrera outride Europeans in the Tour in the 1980s.^[2][4] Moncoutié was a boy and thought anybody could turn up and ride the Tour.^[5] In 1995 he joined the club at Blagnac, the airport district of Toulouse where Airbus builds aircraft, and took his exams to join the rest of his family in the post office.^[4]

Since the start, for me cycling was all about pleasure. When I started I didn't think, for example, that one day I would ride the Tour de France. In a way, I am like a weekend cyclist who gets on his bike on a Saturday or a Sunday simply for the pleasure. OK, I suppose with age you start to assume a bit more responsibility and see it more like a job. But for me, the most important thing is that I enjoy it.^[2]

Professional racing

David Moncoutié on his way to winning the eighth stage of the Vuelta 2008.

He was seen at Blagnac by the team manager, Cyrille Guimard, who offered him a place at Cofidis, a French team sponsored by a money-lending company. He joined in 1997 and has ridden for the team ever since. Moncoutié said:

It was the day before the national éspoirs championship in 1996. I was an amateur with the VC Blagnac and doing my national service with the Joinville Battalion,^[6] but I'd never made much of an impact and I hadn't won the least international race. On the other hand, I had a small reputation as a climber. I'd spoken to Guimard a couple of times on the phone and he came to see me, a contract in his hand."^[3]

He finished 13th in the Tour de France in 2002, saying: "I'm not capable of following the leaders."^[7] He finished in 2003, shaken by the speed. He said:

That season, I won a stage of the Tour du Pays Basque, I came 13th in the Tour of Catalonia and sixth in the Dauphiné Libéré, so I said to myself 'Why not?' I was hoping to end up reasonably high in the general classification. But in the Tour, that's madness. From the Vosges, I realised that the best I could hope for was a stage. I've often heard it said that I could finish in the first five of the Tour de France. It's a dream! Me, I've never believed that. I've always fixed myself realisable objectives that matched my way of riding and my convictions.^[7]

His breakthrough was when he won a stage of the 2004 edition of Tour de France to Figeac. The following Tour de France he won the stage from Briançon to Digne-les-Bains on Bastille Day, guaranteeing him a place in the hearts of French fans.

Moncoutié said: "A single stage, that could seem a bit thin but for me, that's enough. The emotion that I felt was enormous. In one day, I had saved my Tour."^[7]

He won a stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in 1999, the Tour de l'Avenir in 2000, the Tour of Limousin (2001), the Critérium International (2002) and the Tour of the Mediterranean (2003).

Personality

Moncoutie in 2002

He is known as a humble person, and many have compared his mentality to that of a recreational cyclist who enjoys riding his bicycle. In the past he has been criticised for lacking aggressiveness and for haplessness. For a while he was not able to put on a rain cape without having to put his feet on the ground.^[2][3][4]

The magazine Vélo said he had a "calm and a lucidity, a way of talking openly, something too of a rage hidden behind a smile, for him, a little painful."^[8]

He is known as a clean cyclist who relies on homeopathy.^[2][3] François Migraine of Cofidis said: "Everyone is more or less unanimous that David Moncoutié doesn't dabble [in drugs]. I would have 10 of him in the team if I could. He wins three races a year and he still manages to finish in the UCI's top 50. It goes to show that you don't have to dabble in drugs to have a career in cycling."^[9]

When Cofidis was at the centre of a doping scandal in 2004, one of those at the centre of events, Philippe Gaumont, wrote that Moncoutie did not follow most riders in taking drugs.^[10]

His team-mates have joked that while they are eager to try the latest and lightest equipment, Moncoutié would be happy riding on wooden wheels. Moncoutié said: "Equipment, even the latest technology, that's not my thing. What I like is to be on my bike and to ride. That's when I'm happy."^[11] His directeur sportif, Eric Boyer, said:

David is a loner. He's happy in a group but he doesn't need it to live. When I came to the team, I said to myself, as other people must have, that I was going to try to change him, to chivvy him up so that he got more involved, that he raised his ambitions. Today, I realise that even if I find one or two keys to open the door, I won't get very far. It doesn't interest him. He just wants to be left in peace.^[7]

Accomplishments

1999

1st, Stage 6, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

2000

2nd, Tour de l'Avenir

1st Stage 7

2001

1st, Stage 2, Tour du Limousin

4th Overall Paris–Nice

6th, GP Ouest-France

9th Overall Tour de Romandie

2002

1st, Clasica de Alcobendas

1st Stage 2

1st Regularity Competition

3rd Overall Critérium International

1st Stage 2

11th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

13th Overall Tour de France

4th, Stage 17

2003

1st, GP Lugano

1st, Stage 4, Route du Sud

1st, Stage 4, Tour Méditerranéen

8th, Züri-Metzgete

8th Overall Tour de Romandie

2004

1st, Stage 11, Tour de France (in Figeac)

11th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

2005

1st, Stage 12, Tour de France (in Digne-les-Bains)

1st Stage 2 Vuelta al País Vasco

1st, Mountains classification, Paris–Nice

3rd, Stage 5

3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya

3rd, Stage 5

6th, Clásica de San Sebastián

6th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

2nd, Stage 6

2006

1st, Mountains classification, Paris–Nice

2008

8th overall Vuelta a España

1st Mountains Classification, Vuelta a España

1st, Stage 8

2009

1st Mountains Classification, Vuelta a España

1st, Stage 13

1st, Stage 6, Tour Méditerranéen

1st Super Combativity award, Tour de Romandie

1st, Stage 7, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

2010

1st Overall, Route du Sud

1st, Stage 2b

14th Overall Vuelta a España

1st Mountains Classification, Vuelta a España

1st, Stage 8

2011

1st Overall, Tour Méditerranéen

1st, Stage 5

1st Overall, Tour de l'Ain

1st, stage 11 Vuelta a España

1st Mountains Classification, Vuelta a España

Results in Tour de France

• 2000 Tour de France : 48th
• 2001 Tour de France : 82nd
• 2002 Tour de France : 13th
• 2003 Tour de France : 43rd
• 2004 Tour de France : 34th & 1 stage win
• 2005 Tour de France : 67th & 1 stage win
• 2006 Tour de France : 58th
• 2008 Tour de France : 42nd
• 2009 Tour de France : 58th
• 2011 Tour de France : 41st

Results in Vuelta a España

• 2008 Vuelta a España : 08th & 1 stage win
• 2009 Vuelta a España : 27th & 1 stage win
• 2010 Vuelta a España : 14th & 1 stage win
• 2011 Vuelta a España : 37th & 1 stage win

References

1. ^ Eurosport, Cycling database, David Moncoutie
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Procycling, UK, May 2004
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Vélo, France, September 2002, p43
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Vélo, France, April 2001
5. ^ Vélo, France, May 2001
6. ^ An army unit to which talented athletes were sent.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} L'Équipe, France, 27 July 2005
8. ^ Vélo, France, August 2005
9. ^ L'Équipe, France, 26 January 2004
10. ^ "J’ai passé sept années chez Cofidis et, durant tout ce temps, je n’ai côtoyé que deux coureurs qui ne prenaient pas de produits: l’Estonien Janek Tombak et, surtout, le Français David Moncoutié", Gaumont, Philippe (2005), Prisonnier du Dopage, Grasset, France
11. ^ L'Équipe, France, 2 July 2003

External links

Persondata
Name	Moncoutié, David
Alternative names
Short description	Road bicycle racer
Date of birth	1975-04-30
Place of birth	Provins, France
Date of death
Place of death