Geoffrey Soupe

French road racing cyclist
Amateur teams2004EC Bourg-en-Bresse (junior)2005–2006VC Bressan (junior)2007–2008VC Vaulx-en-Velin (junior)2009–2010CC Étupes le Doubs Professional teams2011–2014FDJ2015–2019Cofidis[1][2]2020–Total Direct Énergie[3] Major winsGrand Tours
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2023)

Geoffrey Soupe (born 22 March 1988) is a French professional road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI ProTeam Team TotalEnergies.[4] Primarily a lead out man and baroudeur, Soupe has taken four victories during his professional career, including a stage win at the 2023 Vuelta a España with his remaining wins coming at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo – stage victories in 2011 and 2023, along with the general classification in 2023.

Career

Born in Viriat, Ain, Soupe competed for the EC Bourg-en-Bresse, VC Bressan and VC Vaulx-en-Velin setups as a junior, and the CC Étupes le Doubs squad as an amateur; in 2010, Soupe won the under-23 French National Road Race Championships,[5] and finished second to Great Britain's Alex Dowsett in the under-23 time trial at the European Road Championships.[6]

FDJ (2011–2014)

Soupe then joined the FDJ professional team for the 2011 season as a neo-pro.[7] In his first race for the team, Soupe won the opening stage of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon – beating Team Europcar's Anthony Charteau in a two-man sprint[8] – before finishing the race in eighth place overall.[9] Soupe later added a stage victory in the Tour Alsace,[10] before quitting the race the next day.[11]

Soupe made his Grand Tour début at the 2012 Giro d'Italia, taking a third-place finish during the race's first mass-start stage in Herning, Denmark; a result that Soupe stated that he was "sorry" for, after he was supposed to be leading out the team's main sprinter Arnaud Démare, until he was caught up in a final-corner crash.[12]

Cofidis (2015–2019)

In August 2014 Cofidis announced that they had signed Soupe, alongside FDJ teammate Nacer Bouhanni, for 2015.[13] He made his first start at the Tour de France in the 2015 edition,[14] sharing sprint duties with Christophe Laporte, following Bouhanni's withdrawal in the opening week.[15] Over his five years with the team, Soupe recorded two top-ten individual finishes – sixth at the 2017 La Roue Tourangelle,[16] and eighth at the 2019 Elfstedenronde.

Total Direct Énergie (2020–present)

Soupe joined Total Direct Énergie for the 2020 season,[17] and finished ninth overall in his first race with the team at the Saudi Tour.[18] He took his first victory since 2011 at the 2023 La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, when he won the opening stage of the race in Gabon.[19] Having lost the overall lead to teammate Jason Tesson,[20] Soupe regained the lead when Tesson lost time on the penultimate day,[21] and Soupe ultimately won by approximately half a minute from his next closest challenger.[22] Later in the 2023 season, Soupe secured his first Grand Tour stage victory at the Vuelta a España, where he won the seventh stage in a bunch sprint.[23][24]

Major results

Source: [25]

2008
1st Overall Tour du Béarn
2009
National Under-23 Road Championships
2nd Road race
3rd Time trial
2nd Overall Boucles de la Marne
3rd Souvenir Michel Roques
5th Chrono des Herbiers
8th Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
2010
1st Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships
2nd Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
10th Time trial, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships
2011
1st Stage 1 Tour Alsace
5th Ronde Pévéloise
8th Overall La Tropicale Amissa Bongo
1st Stage 1
2012
5th Tour du Doubs
2013
10th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
2017
6th La Roue Tourangelle
2019
8th Elfstedenronde
2020
9th Overall Saudi Tour
2023
1st Overall La Tropicale Amissa Bongo
1st Points classification
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 7 Vuelta a España

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia 76 — — — — — — — — — — —
A yellow jersey Tour de France — — — 123 142 — — — 123 — — —
A red jersey Vuelta a España — DNF 94 DNF — — — — — — — 101
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References

  1. ^ Retsin, Frédéric (8 December 2017). "Les premières photos du stage de l'équipe Cofidis en Espagne" [The first photos of the Cofidis team in Spain]. La Voix du Nord (in French). Groupe Rossel. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  2. ^ Bonnefoy, François (29 November 2018). "Route - L'effectif de l'équipe Cofidis pour la saison 2019" [Road - The Cofidis squad for the 2019 season]. Cyclism'Actu (in French). Swar Agency. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Total Direct Énergie". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Total Direct Energie". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  5. ^ Gilson, Michael (22 August 2010). "France – Espoirs : Les réactions" [France – Prospects: The reactions]. Directvelo (in French). Association Le Peloton. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  6. ^ Richardson, Simon (16 July 2010). "Dowsett wins gold at U23 European championships". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Limited. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  7. ^ Gilson, Michael (18 August 2010). "Geoffrey Soupe néo-pro à la FDJ" [Geoffrey Soupe neo-pro at FDJ]. Directvelo (in French). Association Le Peloton. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Soupe claims opening stage". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Charteau wins overall in Gabon". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  10. ^ Gachet, Nicolas (27 July 2011). "Tour Alsace – Et. 1 : Classements" [Tour Alsace – Stage 1: Rankings]. DirectVélo (in French). Association Le Peloton. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Double success for Albert in Alsace". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  12. ^ "Soupe "sorry" to have finished third in Giro d'Italia stage". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  13. ^ Farrand, Stephen (1 August 2014). "Transfers: Cofidis confirms the arrival of Nacer Bouhanni". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  14. ^ "2015 Tour de France start list". Velo News. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  15. ^ "Cofidis and Europcar: 2015 Report Cards". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 15 November 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2024. A bandaged Bouhanni was able to take to the start of the Tour, only to crash out on stage 5 [...]
  16. ^ "Flavien Dassonville wins 2017 La Roue Tourangelle". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Total Direct Energie re-sign Niccolò Bonifazio, add Geoffrey Soupe and Leonardo Bonifazio for 2020". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  18. ^ Long, Jonny (8 February 2020). "Phil Bauhaus claims Bahrain-McLaren's first overall victory at Saudi Tour". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Geoffrey Soupe Wins Stage One of the Tropicale!". Team TotalEnergies. SA Vendée Cyclisme. 24 January 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Tesson Shines Again and Takes the Yellow Jersey". Team TotalEnergies. SA Vendée Cyclisme. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Geoffrey Soupe reprend les commandes à la Tropicale Amissa Bongo" [Geoffrey Soupe takes over at Tropicale Amissa Bongo]. L'Équipe (in French). Éditions Philippe Amaury. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  22. ^ Kamasa, Peter (29 January 2023). "Soupe clinches La Tropicale Amissa Bongo 2023". The New Times. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  23. ^ Tyson, Jackie (1 September 2023). "Vuelta a España: Geoffrey Soupe breaks Groves' sprint streak on stage 7". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  24. ^ "'He's found his calling' - Dan Lloyd celebrates Geoff Soupe's shock Vuelta a Espana Stage 7 victory". Eurosport. Warner Bros. Discovery. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Geoffrey Soupe". FirstCycling.com. FirstCycling AS. Retrieved 13 July 2024.

Media related to Geoffrey Soupe at Wikimedia Commons

  • Geoffrey Soupe at UCIEdit on Wikidata
  • Geoffrey Soupe at Cycling ArchivesEdit on Wikidata
  • Geoffrey Soupe at ProCyclingStatsEdit on Wikidata
  • Geoffrey Soupe at Cycling QuotientEdit on Wikidata
  • FDJ-BigMat profile Archived 2014-12-24 at the Wayback Machine