Cédric Vasseur Cyclist
Cédric Vasseur (born August 18, 1970 in Hazebrouck, Nord) is a French former professional road racing cyclist. He was born in Hazebrouck, France, and currently resides in Lille with his wife and young son. From 2001 until 2005, he was part of the French professional cycling team Cofidis, often as the captain on the road, and then moved to the Belgian team Quick Step-Innergetic.Vasseur turned professional with the team Novemail in 1995, and switched to the GAN team in 1996 which then became Crédit Agricole in 1997. His first professional victory is also his most famous: it was his solo 147-kilometre breakaway by which he won stage 5 of the 1997 Tour de France. He then wore the yellow jersey as the race leader for five days.In the 2000 and 2001 seasons, he rode for the U.S. Postal team and participated in the 2000 Tour de France. However, his exclusion from the 2001 Tour de France team led to his switch to the Cofidis team. He cited personal differences with the USPS team star Lance Armstrong, which was widely quoted in French cycling publications. In the wake of the publication of the USADA memo that proves Lance Armstrong doping practices, he explained that he was excluded because of his refusal to participate in Armstrong's doping program. ("Inutile de rappeler que je n'ai rien à voir dans cette organisation à qui je dois fort probablement ma non-participation au Tour 2001 ainsi que mon éviction de l'équipe.")In 2004, Vasseur was arrested in suspicion of doping offences along with several other Cofidis riders, notably including then individual time trial champion David Millar. A counter-analysis later proved negative and Vasseur's name was then cleared. Vasseur also claimed some of the evidence in his witness statement had been forged. However, Vasseur was barred from riding in the 2004 Tour de France since the investigation had not concluded by the time that the race had started.Vasseur came from a family of cyclists: his father Alain Vasseur competed in the 1970, 71 and 74 editions of the Tour de France. His father also won a stage of the Tour de France after a solo breakaway.Vasseur is considered an all-rounder who can do well in a variety of races. He has raced through all of the spring classics such as Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix, and has won a stage of the Dauphiné Libéré stage race.
