Jean-François Bernard

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**Jean-François Bernard**
Personal information
Full name	Jean-François Bernard
Date of birth	May 2, 1962 (1962-05-02) (age 46)
Country	France
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All Rounder
Professional team(s)
1984-1986 1987-1990 1991-1994 1995 1996	La Vie Claire Toshiba Banesto Chazal Agrigel-La Creuse
Major wins
Paris-Nice 1992 Criterium International 1992
Infobox last updated on:
October 13, 2007

Jean-François Bernard (born May 2, 1962 at Luzy, Bourgogne, France) is a former French professional road bicycle racer. He became professional in 1984 in the French professional cycling team La Vie Claire of Bernard Hinault. Bernard was seen as Hinault’s successor as a winner of stage races from 1986 onward. In the 1987 Tour de France, Bernard wore the maillot jaune and won two stages (both individual time trials) and finished the race third overall behind Stephen Roche of Ireland and Pedro Delgado of Spain. The following year in the 1988 Giro d'Italia he won three stages. He was wearing the maglia rosa when he crashed in a poorly lit tunnel and had to abandon the race. In that crash, Bernard injured his back. The next year he developed fibrosis in his left knee and needed an operation and months of recuperation. In 1990, a saddle sore and another operation forced him out of the 1990 Tour de France.^[1] He would never again perform as a challenger in the Grand Tours and in 1991 he joined the strong Spanish professional cycling team Banesto which had at that time two leaders for stage races in Miguel Indurain and Pedro Delgado. Bernard became a chief lieutenant of Miguel Indurain during Indurain’s dominance of the Tour de France. Bernard did win the 1992 edition of Paris-Nice. Bernard retired at the end of 1996 with 52 professional victories. Bernard is now a consultant for L'Équipe, L'Équipe TV and Eurosport. In 2005 an amateur and open race was first organised called the la Jean-François Bernard in the Nièvre region of Bourgogne and part of the Trophy of Bourgogne, an Amateur French competition.^[2]