David Moncoutié

David Moncoutié (born 30 April 1975) is a retired French professional road racing cyclist, who rode with the French team , for his entire professional career. He was a climber, and won his first professional race in a mountain stage of Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. He won the 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. 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. 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."

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. 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.

He is known as a clean cyclist who relies on homeopathy.

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.

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." His directeur sportif, Éric 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. 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." He finished 43rd 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.

Career achievements Major results

1999 1st Stage 6 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 2000 2nd Overall 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 Overall Clasica de Alcobendas 1st Stage 2 3rd Overall Critérium International 1st Stage 2 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) 2005 1st Stage 12 Tour de France (in Digne-les-Bains) 1st Stage 2 Tour of the Basque Country

3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya 6th Clásica de San Sebastián 6th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 2006

2008 8th Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stage 8 2009 Vuelta a España

1st Stage 13 1st Stage 7 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 1st Stage 6 Tour Méditerranéen 2010

1st Stage 2b Vuelta a España

1st Stage 8 2011

1st Stage 5

Vuelta a España

1st Stage 11 6th Overall Tour du Haut Var 2012 6th Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Comunidad de Madrid 7th Overall Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish