Jacques Gestraud

Jacques Gestraud (1964)

Jacques Gestraud (born September 24, 1939 in Valenciennes , France ) is a former French cyclist .

Gestraud first attracted national attention when he took part in the French amateur road championships in 1958 and finished eighth. In 1959 and 1960 he took part in the Route de France stage race , the small Tour de France for amateurs. In 1960, Gestraud became a member of the Paris cycling club ACBB and did his military service in the Joinville battalion . He was able to continue cycling as a soldier and competed in the Olympic Games in Rome in the individual road race and in the amateur road world championship . At the Olympic race he was ninth, at the World Championship 23rd. Gestraud was also nominated for the 1961 World Championship , where he achieved the greatest success of his career with third place.

He then became a professional driver for the French racing team Mercier-BP-Hutchinson , where he met the French champion Raymond Poulidor , among others . Gestraud achieved the only victory in 1962 in the Mur-de-Bretagne road criterion . In the classic Paris-Tours he finished 25th. In 1963 he was only able to place 47th among 132 drivers in an important race at the 54th Milan-Sanremo . In 1964 Gestraud drove for the French cycling team Margnat-Paloma-Dunlop, which was heavily involved in the Tour de France. So Gestraud was also sent to the 1964 tour, but dropped out prematurely.

In the same year, an accident caused a considerable reduction in his performance. His contract with Margnat was not renewed, and Gestraud initially drove a few smaller races as an independent in 1965. In the road criterion in Guéret he achieved another victory. After a break of three years, he took part in the professional race Grand Prix d'Ouverture Pierre Pinel, where he achieved his last national victory as a professional driver.

Gestraud competed in several age group races in the 2000s. Among other things, he became world champion in the 1935/39 age group in 2009.

Web links

• Profile at www.radsportseiten.net
• Results at www.museociclismo.it
• La Rochefoucauld: Jacques Gestraud, un coup de pédale de champion.