Benoît Cosnefroy (French pronunciation: [bənwa kɔsnəfʁwa];[3] born 17 October 1995 in Cherbourg) is a French cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale.[4]

Benoît Cosnefroy
Benoît Cosnefroy, GP de Québec, Sept 2022
Personal information
Full nameBenoît Cosnefroy
NicknameCherbourg Cheetah
Born (1995-10-17) 17 October 1995 (age 29)
Cherbourg, France
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9+12 in)[1]
Weight64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb)[1]
Team information
Current teamDecathlon–AG2R La Mondiale
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typePuncheur
Amateur teams
2014Bricquebec Cotentin
2015–2017Chambéry CF
Professional team
2017–AG2R La Mondiale[2]
Major wins
One-day races and Classics
Bretagne Classic (2021)
GP de Québec (2022)
Brabantse Pijl (2024)
GP du Morbihan (2024)
Medal record
Representing  France
Men's road bicycle racing
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Bergen Under-23 road race
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 Herning Under-23 road race
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Trento Elite road race

Career

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Junior and amateur years

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Cosnefroy was born into a family passionate about cycling. His grandfather was the organizer of a race in the English Channel, while his father often took him to see bike races during his youth. He first started competing at the age of 8 with the Union Concorde Bricquebetaise.[5] In 2011, he joined the Pôle Espoir de Caen, where he stayed for three years.[6] He took his first victory at the age of 16 in the Prix Louis-Cosnefroy, a race held as a tribute to his great-great-grandfather Louis Cosnefroy.[7] However, during his years in the junior category, Cosnefroy saw little success. In 2014, he moved up to the under-23 category, joining team Bricquebec Cotentin. The following year he joined Chambéry CF [fr], the development team of AG2R La Mondiale after hitchhiking along the nine-hour drive to apply.[8] This year, he achieved modest success in amateur and under-23 races. In 2016, he began to obtain more results, notably placing second by half a wheel length to Valentin Madouas at the national amateur road race championships, and second to Paul Ourselin in the under-23 national championship.[9][10] He joined AG2R La Mondiale as a stagiaire in August, placing 4th in the road race at the UEC European Under-23 Road Championships.[11]

The 2017 season was a major turning point in Cosnefory's career, and was his final year competing as an amateur. He took his first elite category win in May: stage 2 of the Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour, holding off the peloton for almost 160 kilometers.[12] The same month, he placed sixth in the Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan, his first top ten in a 1.1 or higher category race.

Professional career

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Cosnefroy turned professional in August 2017 with UCI WorldTeam AG2R La Mondiale. Five days after joining the team, he won the silver medal in the road race at the UEC European Under-23 Road Championships. His success continued, winning the Grand Prix d'Isbergues in September, followed by the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships five days later.

Cosnefroy completed his first full professional season in 2018, notably placing third in Paris–Tours and ninth in the Bretagne Classic Ouest-France, his first top ten in a UCI World Tour race.[13]

Cosnefroy took five victories in 2019, all in France: the overall classification and third stage of the Tour du Limousin as well as the one-day races Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan, Paris–Camembert and Polynormande. In July 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Tour de France, which was his first Grand Tour. He placed 113th overall.[14]

At the beginning of 2020, he won the Grand Prix La Marseillaise and the Étoile de Bessèges before the season stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic.[15] As soon as racing resumed, he won the fourth and final stage of the Route d'Occitanie ahead of Bauke Mollema, Thibaut Pinot and Egan Bernal.[16] He was selected for the French team for the UEC European Road Championships held in Plouay, where he finished tenth in the road race.[17] In the 2020 Tour de France, he led the mountains classification and wore the polka dot jersey for 15 consecutive stages; he ultimately finished sixth in the final classification standings. He ended the season strongly, placing second to Marc Hirschi in the La Flèche Wallonne, as well as third in De Brabantse Pijl and second in Paris–Tours.

On 22 May 2021, he won the Tour du Finistère and three months later he won his first World Tour race: the Bretagne Classic ahead of Julian Alaphilippe and Mikkel Honoré.[18] On 12 September, he won the bronze medal at the European Championships behind Sonny Colbrelli and Remco Evenepoel.[19]

The following spring, he took second place at the Amstel Gold Race and the Brabantse Pijl.[20] In September, he won his second World Tour race: the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec with a 2 kilometer solo.

He took no wins in 2023, but was awarded the Combativity award for stage four of the Tour de France.

Cosnefroy started 2024 on strong form, winning stage 2 and the overall title of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes in February, followed up with a sixth place finish at Strade Bianche in early March.[21] Three weeks later he won Paris–Camembert, followed by his first win at the Brabantse Pijl after having been on the podium three times before.[22] In early May, he won the Grand Prix du Morbihan.

Major results

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2016
2nd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships
2nd Road race, National Amateur Road Championships
4th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
5th Tour de Berne
6th Overall Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour
10th Piccolo Giro di Lombardia
2017 (1 pro win)
1st   Road race, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships
1st Grand Prix d'Isbergues
1st Stage 2 Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour
2nd   Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
2nd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships
6th Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
6th Tour de Berne
2018
3rd Paris–Tours
9th Bretagne Classic
9th Coppa Sabatini
9th La Roue Tourangelle
10th Cholet-Pays de Loire
2019 (5)
1st   Overall Tour du Limousin
1st   Young rider classification
1st Stage 3
1st Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Polynormande
4th Tour de Vendée
7th Bretagne Classic
10th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
2020 (3)
1st   Overall Étoile de Bessèges
1st Grand Prix La Marseillaise
1st Stage 4 Route d'Occitanie
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
2nd Paris–Tours
3rd Brabantse Pijl
5th La Drôme Classic
10th Road race, UEC European Road Championships
Tour de France
Held   after Stages 2–16
  Combativity award Stage 2
2021 (3)
1st Bretagne Classic
1st Tour du Finistère
1st Tour du Jura
2nd Polynormande
3rd   Road race, UEC European Road Championships
4th Tre Valli Varesine
8th Brabantse Pijl
2022 (1)
1st Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
2nd Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
2nd Overall Boucles de la Mayenne
2nd Amstel Gold Race
2nd Brabantse Pijl
3rd La Drôme Classic
5th Grand Prix La Marseillaise
5th Tre Valli Varesine
6th Overall Tour du Limousin
2023
2nd Overall Tour du Limousin
3rd Brabantse Pijl
7th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
8th Overall Boucles de la Mayenne
8th Trofeo Laigueglia
  Combativity award Stage 4 Tour de France
2024 (7)
1st   Overall Tour des Alpes-Maritimes
1st   Points classification
1st Stage 2
1st Brabantse Pijl
1st Grand Prix du Morbihan
1st Paris–Camembert
1st Tour du Finistère
2nd Overall Boucles de la Mayenne
1st Prologue
4th Overall Région Pays de la Loire Tour
4th La Flèche Wallonne
6th Strade Bianche
9th La Drôme Classic

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

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Grand Tour 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
  Giro d'Italia
  Tour de France 113 116 107 91 101
  Vuelta a España

Classics results timeline

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Monument 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Milan–San Remo 15 22 20
Tour of Flanders 16
Paris–Roubaix Has not contested during his career
Liège–Bastogne–Liège DNF 45 18 48 24 54 16
Giro di Lombardia DNF
Classic 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Strade Bianche 29 6
Brabantse Pijl 3 8 2 3 1
Amstel Gold Race 48 44 NH 2 21 16
La Flèche Wallonne DNF 12 2 18 13 4
Bretagne Classic 9 7 1 20 27 26
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 25 10 NH NH 1 54
Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal 24 17 20 27
Tre Valli Varesine 4 5 60
Paris–Tours 96 155 3 2 83 54
Legend
Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
NH Not held

References

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  1. ^ a b "Benoît Cosnefroy - Equipe cycliste AG2R La Mondiale". Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Official presentation of the AG2R LA MONDIALE professional cycling team 2020". AG2R La Mondiale. Groupe AG2R La Mondiale. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Team Talks: Benoit Cosnefroy – AG2R CITROËN TEAM". YouTube. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  4. ^ "AG2R Citroën Team". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Biographie de Benoît Cosnefroy". benoitcosnefroy.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2023..
  6. ^ Baptiste Galipaud (20 September 2017). "Benoît Cosnefroy, nouveau phénomène normand". ouest-france.fr.
  7. ^ Pierre Carrey (8 September 2016). "La Grande Interview : Benoît Cosnefroy". directvelo.com..
  8. ^ Fletcher, Patrick (3 December 2019). "The next Julian Alaphilippe? Benoit Cosnefroy makes his mark". Cycling News. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  9. ^ Nicolas Mabyle (25 June 2016). "Benoit Cosnefroy : " Incapable d'aller le chercher "". directvelo.com.
  10. ^ Robin Bruno et Nicolas Mabyle (21 August 2016). "Benoît Cosnefroy : " Encore deuxième... "". directvelo.com.
  11. ^ "Championnat d'Europe : Benoit Cosnefroy au pied du podium en espoirs". directvelo.com. 17 September 2016..
  12. ^ "Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour — Benoît Cosnefroy en avance". velo101.com. 5 May 2017. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  13. ^ "2018 Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France". Pro Cycling Stats. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  14. ^ "2019: 106th Tour de France: Start List". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  15. ^ Jean-Luc Gatellier (9 February 2020). "Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) remporte l'Étoile de Bessèges - Cyclisme - Étoile de Bessèges". L'Équipe (in French)..
  16. ^ "La dernière étape pour Cosnefroy, Bernal sacré". Eurosport.fr. 4 August 2020..
  17. ^ "European Continental Championships - Road Race". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  18. ^ Ronald, Issy (29 August 2021). "Cosnefroy beats Alaphilippe to win Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France". CyclingNews. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Results" (PDF). Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ^ Trifunovic, Pete (10 April 2022). "Michał Kwiatkowski narrowly wins Amstel Gold Race 2022 in photo finish". cyclingweekly.com. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  21. ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (10 April 2024). "Brabantse Pijl: Benoît Cosnefroy turns podium performances into victory in Overijse". Cycling News. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  22. ^ Stuart, Peter (18 February 2024). "Benoît Cosnefroy wins Tour de Alpes stage 2". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
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