Description
Jean Jourden
Born in 1942 in Saint-Brieuc and raised in a very modest environment, Jourden multiplied promising victories at the very beginning of a dazzling career, including the Amateur World Championship in 1961 in Bern (Switzerland) at just 19 years old. This title had immense value at the time (Eddy Merckx won it three years after him), and the young rider was then presented as the future Jacques Anquetil.
Later, suffering from pleurisy (inflammation of the membranes surrounding the lung) that forced him to be treated for several months in a specialist establishment, Jourden never regained the level he had before. He nevertheless turned pro in 1965, rubbed shoulders with Anquetil and then Poulidor, took part in two Tours de France, and won the Grand Prix de Plouay twice (1968 and 1969) before ending his career in 1972.
He then opened a bicycle shop in Normandy before settling on the Côte d’Azur. Jourden passed away on November 23, 2024.
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