Cyrille Guimard

Cyrille Guimard is a French former professional racing cyclist who became famous as the directeur sportif for two famous French cyclists and Tour de France winners: Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon. As a professional rider he was the French national champion in 3 separate occasions in 3 different disciplines: road in 1967 for the amateur category, vitesse in 1970 and cyclo-cross in 1976. he won several stages of the Tour de France and the points classification of the Vuelta a España. He was a team leader on the Gitane-Campagnolo team - in which a young Bernard Hinault was often a roommate - when he took over the team's management in 1977. He convinced Hinault to stay on his team.

Related Topics:
Cyclist - Tour de France - Bernard Hinault - Laurent Fignon - Cyclo-cross - Vuelta a España

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Guimard is known as a master tactician in a race, and innovator in training techniques. He is credited as one of the first cycling coaches to use the periodization method in the early 1980s. He is also known to have told his riders to hold back from entering certain races and competitions if he feels that they were not ready for the challenge yet. A famous example of this was Hinault's decision not to enter the 1977 edition of the Tour de France despite his impressive list of early season wins as a first-year professional (neo-pro), only to win strongly the following year. In his autobiography, Hinault credited Guimard with his uncanny tactical sense for many of his greatest wins, including the snowy Liège-Bastogne-Liège of 1980.

Related Topics:
Cycling - 1980 - Liège-Bastogne-Liège

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However, Guimard's strong personality also led to disagreements with his riders, most notably with Hinault in the mid-1980s. Hinault had to abandon the 1983 Tour de France due to his knee injury, and his lieutenant Fignon won the race. The following season he decided to switch to the newly-formed La Vie Claire cycling team. "With Guimard, you do not argue, you can only listen," Hinault was known to say. Fignon was a young cyclist and was already closely associated with Guimard since his youth. "With Hinault, Guimard already had a champion. With me, he made a champion. That is perhaps why we have a special bond," Fignon admitted in an interview.

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Guimard was also involved in the early development of the French UCI ProTour team Cofidis, although he no longer has a formal association. He is also closely associated with the frame maker Cyfac. His riders used to ride on Cyfac frames under the team sponsor's paint job.

Related Topics:
UCI ProTour - Cofidis - Cyfac

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