Benoît Cosnefroy

Benoît Cosnefroy (born 17 October 1995 in Cherbourg) is a French cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam.

Junior and amateur years
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. In 2011, he joined the Pôle Espoir de Caen, where he stayed for three years. 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. 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, the development team of after hitchhiking along the nine-hour drive to apply. 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. He joined as a stagiaire in August, placing 4th in the road race at the UEC European Under-23 Road Championships.

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. 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
Cosnefroy turned professional in August 2017 with UCI WorldTeam. 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.

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.

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. 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. He was selected for the French team for the UEC European Road Championships held in Plouay, where he finished tenth in the road race. 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. On 12 September, he won the bronze medal at the European Championships behind Sonny Colbrelli and Remco Evenepoel.

The following spring, he took second place at the Amstel Gold Race and the Brabantse Pijl. 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. 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. In early May, he won the Grand Prix du Morbihan.

Major results

 * 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 Jersey rainbow.svg Road race, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships
 * 1st Grand Prix d'Isbergues
 * 1st Stage 2 Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour
 * 2nd Silver medal europe.svg 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 Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour du Limousin
 * 1st Jersey white.svg 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 Jersey orange.svg 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 Jersey polkadot.svg after Stages 2–16
 * Jersey red number.svg Combativity award Stage 2


 * 2021 (3)
 * 1st Bretagne Classic
 * 1st Tour du Finistère
 * 1st Tour du Jura
 * 2nd Polynormande
 * 3rd Bronze medal europe.svg 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
 * Jersey beige number.svg Combativity award Stage 4 Tour de France


 * 2024 (7)
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour des Alpes-Maritimes
 * 1st Jersey green.svg 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