The most Swiss of Frenchmen

Born in Abbeville because his father was posted there in 1962, Jean-Claude Leclercq deserves a glowing tribute. In 2015, the 30th anniversary of his French national road title will be celebrated, and this Tour will also tackle the Mur de Huy, where he put on a brilliant show of force to win Flèche Wallonne in 1987. French-born Jean-Claude Leclercq became Swiss at heart when he left Abbeville after his father's next assignment took him to German-speaking Switzerland. He was discovered on the other side of the border by French team director Jean de Gribaldy on the roads of Tours of Switzerland and Romandy, where he took some of his greatest successes, often under the leadership of Paul Koechli. A fearsome puncheur, he went close to having an outstanding career in the Classics, achieving  a “little double” in 1990 by finishing second in Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He didn't shine in the six Tours de France in which he participated, and decided to retire in 1993 to take up a new career in his adopted country. He was the national technical director for Swiss cycling between 2001 and 2004 and a popular commentator on Swiss-German television. He now works for Eurosport Germany.