Photo: Benoît Prieur / CC0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Bernard Thévenet earns a permanent place in cycling lore for two Tour de France wins and, more dramatically, for ending Eddy Merckx's era of dominance. But what genuinely raises my regard is his later, voluntary admission of steroid use during his career. Plenty of champions take their secrets to the grave; he chose honesty knowing it would tarnish the legend. I value that more than spotless mythology. A Legion of Honour and an Order of Merit sit beside an uncomfortable confession, and holding both at once strikes me as the mark of a complicated, ultimately human athlete worth taking seriously.
Overview
Bernard Thévenet (French pronunciation: [bɛʁ.naʁ te.və.nɛ]; born 10 January 1948) is a retired professional cyclist. His sporting career began with ACBB Paris. He is a two-time winner of the Tour de France and known for ending the reign of five-time Tour champion Eddy Merckx, though both feats are tarnished by Thévenet's later admission of steroids use during his career.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Bernard Thévenet
- Name (Japanese)
- ベルナール・テブネ
- Reading
- べるなーる・てぶね
- Born
- January 10, 1948 (age 78)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Rat
- Origin
- Saint-Julien-de-Civry, Saône-et-Loire, France
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- sport cyclist / athlete
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Knight of the Legion of Honour
- 1975 Champion des champions français de L'Équipe
- 1994 Officer of the National Order of Merit
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Sport cyclist — see all → · Athlete — see all → · More people from France →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.