Walter Bénéteau

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

Career
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. During Stage 6 Bénéteau was hit in the face by Spaniard David de la Fuente causing his glasses and helmet to go flying. Then in Stage 9 Bénéteau was part of an initial 3-man break-away, caught with only 10km to the finish line. During this stage he won all three intermediate sprint points, moving him to 23rd in the Points classification. 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. He finished 83rd overall in his final Grand Tour. Bénéteau announced he would retire after his contract ended with.

Death
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.

Major results
Sources:


 * 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
Sources: