Pierre Rolland (cyclist)

Pierre Rolland
Personal information
Rolland at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné
Full name	Pierre Rolland
Born	(1986-10-10) 10 October 1986 Gien, France
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)^[1]
Weight	67 kg (148 lb; 10.6 st)^[1]
Team information
Current team	Team Europcar
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber
Amateur team(s)
2005	Super Sport 35
2006	Crédit Agricole (stagiaire)
Professional team(s)
2007–2008	Crédit Agricole
2009–	Bbox Bouygues Telecom
Major wins
Tour de France Young rider classification (2011) 2 individual stages (2011, 2012)
Infobox last updated on 3 January 2015

Pierre Rolland (born 10 October 1986) is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Team Europcar.^[2]

Cycling career

Born in Gien, Rolland turned professional in 2007 for Crédit Agricole after riding for the team as a stagiaire in late 2006. In his first season as a professional he won stages at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and the Tour du Limousin. In 2008 he won the Mountains classification at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.^[3] At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Rolland competed in the road race but he did not finish. In 2010 he won a stage at the Circuit de Lorraine and finished eighth at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

During the 2011 Tour de France, Rolland gained acclaim for his strong work in defense of Thomas Voeckler's yellow jersey. Following the 14th stage of the Tour, Lance Armstrong referred to Rolland as a "rockstar."^[4] Rolland won the 19th stage at the top of Alpe d'Huez, beating Olympic gold medalist Samuel Sánchez and two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador.^[5] The victory also won him the white jersey, which he successfully defended in the 20th stage. He finished the Tour 10th in the general classification.

At the 2012 Tour de France, Rolland made a late attack which led to him winning stage 11, a mountain top finish up in La Toussuire/Les Sybelles.^[6] He finished the Tour in eighth place in the general classification, his best career performance, and the highest position of any Frenchman that year.

At the 2014 Giro d'Italia, Rolland finished fourth in the general classification, his best finish in a Grand Tour.^[7] He also finished 11th of the Tour de France.

In 2015, Rolland's first success was the Overall of the Vuelta a Castilla y León, made possible by winning the third and last stage in solo fashion.^[8]