Arthur Vichot

Arthur Vichot (born 26 November 1988 in Colombier-Fontaine) is a French professional cyclist and member of UCI ProTeam FDJ. He is the nephew of Frédéric Vichot, who won stages in the Tour de France in 1984 and 1985.

One tradition of the Tour Down Under is that the fans choose an unknown rider and treat him the way they would a star, by mobbing him at hotels and painting his name on the road. The rider must be a non-English speaking domestique who most likely will not get a start at a major race and will simply act as a bottle carrier. For 2010, in his first professional race, Arthur Vichot was chosen.

Vichot at the 2010 Tour de Romandie.

He started the 2011 season by taking fifth position at the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise. The next month, he went on to win the Boucles du Sud Ardèche, and he was selected to ride in Paris-Nice. Bad luck struck in the race as he crashed hard and cracked his clavicle, preventing him from racing the Ardennes classics. He was selected to race the 2011 Tour de France. He finished the event in 104th position after playing a role of domestique. In September, he achieved a solo victory near his home in the Tour du Doubs. He also cracked the top ten in the Grand Prix cycliste de Montréal, finishing eighth.

In 2012, Vichot conquered the biggest victory of his career up to that point in the fifth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, a mountainous affair that led the riders across the Col de la Colombière. He was part of the breakaway that formed at the beginning of the race and resisted to the bunch. With 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to go, Vichot distanced the remnants of the leading group, earning a solo victory.

In 2013, Vichot won the French National Road Race Championships and the right to wear the coveted tricolor jersey in the Tour de France.

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Giro	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tour	-	103	94	66	WD	-	78
Vuelta	WD	-	-	-	-	-	-

WD = Withdrew; IP = In Progress