Walter Bénéteau

Walter Bénéteau (28 July 1972 – 10 December 2022)^[5] was a French professional cyclist.^[4] He raced in every Tour de France from 2000 until 2006.^[6][7]

Walter Bénéteau

Walter Bénéteau in 2006
Personal information
Born	(1972-07-28)28 July 1972[1] Les Essarts, Vendée, France[2]
Died	10 December 2022(2022-12-10) (aged 50)[3] Bali, Indonesia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)[2]
Team information
Current team	[4]
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Amateur team
1991–1999	Vendée U
Professional teams
1995	Castorama (stagiaire)
2000–2006	Bonjour

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.^[8] During Stage 6 Bénéteau was hit in the face by Spaniard David de la Fuente causing his glasses and helmet to go flying.^[9] Then in Stage 9 Bénéteau was part of an initial 3-man break-away, caught with only 10km to the finish line.^[10] During this stage he won all three intermediate sprint points, moving him to 23rd in the Points classification.^[11] 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.^[12][13] He finished 83rd overall in his final Grand Tour.^[14][15] Bénéteau announced he would retire after his contract ended with Bouygues Télécom.^[16][17]

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.^[18][5]

Major results

Sources:^[2]

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:^[7]

Grand Tour	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	—	—	105	—
Tour de France	71	42	117	59	102	68	109
Vuelta a España	—	—	—	—	—	—	83

Legend

—	Did not compete