Joël Pelier (born 23 March 1962, in Valentigney) is a French former professional road bicycle racer.

Joël Pelier
Personal information
Full nameJoël Pelier
Born (1962-03-23) 23 March 1962 (age 62)
Valentigney, France
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Professional teams
1985Skil–Sem–Kas–Miko
1986Kas
1987–1988Système U
1987–1988BH
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
1 individual stage (1989)

After the final climb of stage 17 in the 1986 Tour de France, Pelier collapsed from exhaustion and fell into a 7-hour coma.[1]

In the 1989 Tour de France, then 27-year-old domestique had never been watched in his pro career by his parents who were dedicated to caring for Pelier's severely disabled sibling who needed constant attention. His parents made arrangements to watch stage 6 from near the finish line to which he responded with an attempted lone breakaway, and held out to win the stage by 1 minute and 34 seconds. He rode on his own for 4 and a 1/2 hours through wind and rain for 102 of the stage's 161 miles.[2] It was the then second longest breakaway in Tour de France history after Albert Bourlon in 1947 and since surpassed by Thierry Marie.[3] On the podium for the day's presentations a tear drenched Pelier was seen on television saying, "Mon per, mon per".[4] and "This win is so special to me because today is the first time that my mother and father have seen me in the Tour de France".[3]

Major results

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1985
1st Stage 4a Paris–Nice
3rd Overall Tour d'Armorique
10th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
1986
2nd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
10th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
1987
1st Stage 1 Tour de la Communauté Européenne
3rd Overall Tour d'Armorique
4th Overall Nissan Classic
1st Stage 2
5th GP Ouest–France
7th Overall Tour Midi-Pyrénées
1st Stage 4
1988
1st Stage 1a (ITT) Grand Prix du Midi Libre
6th Overall Tour d'Armorique
6th Trophée des Grimpeurs
7th Tour du Haut Var
1989
1st Stage 6 Tour de France
7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
10th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
1990
1st Stage 5 Tour de la Communauté Européenne

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

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Grand Tour 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
  Vuelta a España DNF
  Giro d'Italia
  Tour de France 78 DNF 120 128
Legend
Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References

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  1. ^ "Tour de France 1986 review". YouTube.com/SBS Television. Retrieved 2013-07-28.[dead YouTube link]
  2. ^ "Frenchman Wins Stage; LeMond Leads" Los Angeles Times, 8 Jul 1989
  3. ^ a b "1989 Tour de France stage six: Pelier's long break" Cycling Weekly 13 Jul 2009
  4. ^ "Tour de France" Channel 4 tv, 7 Jul 1989.
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