2004: home sweet home for Moncoutié

In twenty participations on the Tour de France, the Cofidis team has experienced delectable moments of glory that were sometimes unexpected: the yellow jersey worn by David Millar after his win on his first day on Le Tour, on the prologue of the new millennium edition at Futuroscope in Poitiers; or the victory by Jimmy Casper in 2006 in Strasbourg, which is the last by a French sprinter on the Grande Boucle. However, the stage had been marked down well before the race when David Moncoutié set off from Saint-Flour on 15th July 2004. A regular participant in breakaways, and loyal to the attacking spirit held dear by the team from Northern France, the adventurer battled hard to grab a place in the breakaway on a stage visiting his native region. On approaching Figeac, just a few kilometres from the village where he climbed onto his first bike, Moncoutié found the strength and inspiration to leave his road companions in his wake, namely Juan-Antonio Flecha and Egoi Martínez. That day, the man from the Lot became one of the rare riders to taste victory on the Tour de France in his native department, the previous “home hero” having been Jacques Michaud with his victory in Morzine in 1983.

Cofidis riders to watch out for on Le Tour 2017: Nacer Bouhanni (Fra), Dani Navarro (Spa)