Walter Bénéteau

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Walter Bénéteau
Walter Bénéteau in 2006
Personal information
Born(1972-07-28)28 July 1972[1]
Les Essarts, Vendée, France[2]
Died10 December 2022(2022-12-10) (aged 50)[3]
Bali, Indonesia
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Weight67 kg (148 lb)[2]
Team information
Current team[4]
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeSprinter
Amateur team
1991–1999Vendée U
Professional teams
1995Castorama (stagiaire)
2000–2006Bonjour

Walter Bénéteau (28 July 1972 – 10 December 2022)[5] was a French professional cyclist.[4] He raced in every Tour de France from 2000 until 2006.[6][7]

Career[edit]

Stage 1 of the 2006 Tour de France started with a seven-man break-away with Bénéteau being the last man caught with 7km to go after spending 177km out in front.[8] During Stage 6 Bénéteau was hit in the face by Spaniard David de la Fuente causing his glasses and helmet to go flying.[9] Then in Stage 9 Bénéteau was part of an initial 3-man break-away, caught with only 10km to the finish line.[10] During this stage he won all three intermediate sprint points, moving him to 23rd in the Points classification.[11] Bénéteau's final Grand Tour was the 2006 Vuelta a España; he finished first in the main peloton bunch sprint in stage 11, 15 minutes down on winner Egoi Martínez.[12][13] He finished 83rd overall in his final Grand Tour.[14][15] Bénéteau announced he would retire after his contract ended with Bouygues Télécom.[16][17]

Death[edit]

Bénéteau died on 10 December 2022 in a hotel room in Bali, Indonesia. The circumstances of his death have not yet been released by local authorities.[18][5]

Major results[edit]

Sources:[2]

1996
3rd Tro-Bro Léon
1997
1st Tour du Finistère
1999
7th Tour du Doubs
2000
1st Châteauroux Classic
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
3rd GP Ouest-France
3rd Trophée des Grimpeurs
10th Tour de Berne
2001
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
2002
2nd Tour de Vendée
2nd Tro-Bro Léon
8th Trophée des Grimpeurs
2003
1st Boucles de l'Aulne
3rd La Poly Normande
8th Overall Tour du Limousin
8th Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
9th Tour de Vendée
2004
9th Road race, National Road Championships
2005
3rd Bordeaux-Caudéran
2006
2nd Boucles de l'Aulne
4th Trophée des Grimpeurs

Grand Tour general classification results timeline[edit]

Sources:[7]

Grand Tour 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Giro d'Italia 105
Tour de France 71 42 117 59 102 68 109
Vuelta a España 83
Legend
Did not compete

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Walter Beneteau - Player Profile - Cycling". Eurosport. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Walter Bénéteau". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  3. ^ Les Herbiers. Walter Bénéteau, un cycliste au grand cœur s'en est allé (in French)
  4. ^ a b "Walter BENETEAU". UCI. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b "L'ancien coureur professionnel Walter Beneteau est mort". 11 December 2022.
  6. ^ "L'Ancien coureur professionnel Walter Bénéteau est mort".
  7. ^ a b "Grand tour starts Walter Bénéteau". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Stage 1 wrap-up". cyclingnews.com. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Fisticuffs over mountain points?". cyclingnews.com. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Tour de France 2006: Stage 9 Results". cyclingnews.com. 20 July 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Tour de France 2006 Stage 9 results". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Vuelta a España 2006 Stage 11 results". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  13. ^ "61st Vuelta a España 2006: Stage 11 Results". cyclingnews.com. 6 September 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  14. ^ "61st Vuelta a España 2006: Stage 21 Results". cyclingnews.com. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Vuelta a España 2006 Stage 21 results". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  16. ^ Prell, Monika (8 January 2007). "Bénéteau ends career". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Saturday's EuroFile: Bénéteau calls it quits; Dessel, Gerrans for Tour Down Under". VeloNews.com. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  18. ^ Les Herbiers. Walter Bénéteau, un cycliste au grand cœur s'en est allé (in French)

External links[edit]