Luc Leblanc

Luc Leblanc (born 4 August 1966 in Limoges, France) is a retired French professional road cyclist. He was World Road Champion in 1994.

Biography
In 1978, a drunk driver hit Luc Leblanc, aged 11, and his younger brother Gilles Leblanc, aged 8. Gilles died after the accident, and Luc was hospitalized for six months. After many operations, Luc was able to walk again, although his left leg was 3 cm shorter and weaker than his right leg.

Initially, Leblanc wanted to become a priest, but after a physiotherapist's advice to take up cycling to solve his leg problems, and subsequently Raymond Poulidor's advice to become a professional cyclist, he did not become a priest.

At the 1991 Tour de France, in the 12th stage Leblanc joined the decisive attack together with Charly Mottet and Pascal Richard. Mottet won the stage, but they finished 7 minutes ahead of the classification leader LeMond, which meant that Leblanc was the new leader. The next day, Leblanc finished 12 minutes behind the winner, and lost the lead to Miguel Induráin, who would remain the leader until the end of the race.

The yellow jersey that he received for leading the general classification, he gave to Poulidor. His accident years earlier did lead to operations on his injuries, and in the 1992 Tour de France the effects caught up with him and he had to stop on the stage to Alpe d'Huez. Again, in 1993, his legs hurt, nothing worked, and Luc Leblanc wanted to end his cycling career. However, the last thing he decided to try was to switch to teams and he joined the Festina team.

The next year, 1994, was his most successful year. At Festina, Leblanc won the 11th stage of the 1994 Tour de France ahead of Pantani and Indurain, and in the 1994 Vuelta a España he won the mountains classification. Later that year he won the 1994 UCI Road World Championships.

As a world champion, Leblanc had many offers from the world's best cycling teams. He joined Le Groupement, but the team's sponsorship ended one week before the 1995 Tour de France. Leblanc moved on to the Italian team Polti. Here, needing operations on his leg again, the results were not as expected, although he won one stage at the 1996 Tour de France.

In 1999, Leblanc was fired by Polti, because Leblanc was injured and could not continue his career. Later, the Italian court decided that the dismissal was unfair, and Polti should pay Leblanc. In 2007, Leblanc sued the French and Italian cycling authorities and the UCI because he still had not gotten the money.

In 2004, Leblanc became team captain for Chocolade Jacques in 2004.

Later, Leblanc became a consultant for a French radio station Radio Monte Carlo during the Tour de France.

Doping
After his retirement, in a trial against Richard Virenque in 2000, Leblanc admitted that he had been using EPO to prepare for the Tour and the Vuelta.

Major results

 * 1986
 * 4th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
 * 1st Stage 2


 * 1987
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 4th Overall Tour du Limousin
 * 6th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 6th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
 * 8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 8th Coppa Sabatini


 * 1988
 * 1st GP Ouest–France
 * 3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
 * 3rd Trophée des Grimpeurs
 * 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 1st Jersey red.svg Sprints classification
 * 4th Tour du Haut Var
 * 5th Overall Tour d'Armorique
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 6th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 9th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre


 * 1989
 * 2nd Grand Prix de Cannes
 * 2nd Bol d'Or des Monédières
 * 3rd Overall Tour du Limousin
 * 4th Paris–Camembert
 * 5th Cholet-Pays de la Loire


 * 1990
 * 1st Tour du Haut Var
 * 1st Grand Prix de Wallonie
 * 1st Stage 5 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 2nd Bol d'Or des Monédières
 * 3rd Overall Paris–Nice
 * 3rd Overall Tour du Vaucluse
 * 7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 10th Overall Critérium International


 * 1991
 * 1st Bol d'Or des Monédières
 * 2nd Grand Prix de Rennes
 * 3rd Classique des Alpes
 * 3rd Trofeo Pantalica
 * 4th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 1st Stage 5
 * 5th Overall Tour de France
 * Held Jersey yellow.svg after Stage 12
 * 5th Overall Tour du Limousin
 * 5th Road race, National Road Championships
 * 8th Wincanton Classic
 * 10th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico


 * 1992
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 1st Prologue & Stage 4
 * 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Picardie
 * 2nd Classique des Alpes
 * 3rd Paris–Camembert
 * 3rd Grand Prix des Amériques
 * 5th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 6th Overall Nissan Classic
 * 8th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 10th Cholet-Pays de la Loire


 * 1993
 * 1st Stage 1 Tour du Vaucluse
 * 6th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 7th Overall Tour du Limousin


 * 1994
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 1st Stage 1 Euskal Bizikleta
 * 1st Stage 4 Tour of Galicia
 * 4th Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 11
 * 6th Overall Vuelta a España
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Mountains classification


 * 1995
 * 9th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre


 * 1996
 * 1st Stage 7 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 2nd Classique des Alpes
 * 2nd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 2nd Coppa Placci
 * 3rd Polynormande
 * 5th Overall Route du Sud
 * 5th Giro del Piemonte
 * 6th Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 7
 * 7th Overall Paris–Nice


 * 1997
 * 1st Jersey violet.svg Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 2nd La Flèche Wallonne
 * 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 7th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 9th Overall Critérium International


 * 1998
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 2nd Boucles de l'Aulne
 * 4th Overall Critérium International
 * 4th Overall Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt
 * 6th La Flèche Wallonne
 * 7th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 8th Trofeo Pantalica
 * 9th GP du Canton d'Argovie