Former French professional Damien Girard dies at 24

The cycling community is mourning the death of Damien Girard, who died suddenly at the age of 24. The news was announced late Monday evening by Team Estérel Côte d’Azur, the Var-based amateur club with which Girard was racing this season

Born in Tours, Girard began racing with UC Vendôme before making a name for himself in the junior ranks with Team Peltrax-CS Dammarie-lès-Lys in 2018. He won the opening stage of La Cantonale that year, before adding a French Cup victory at Vallée Verte, Jugon-les-Lacs, the following season.

After three seasons with CC Nogent-sur-Oise in the under-23 ranks, Girard won the Tour Nivernais Morvan in 2022. His performances earned him a professional contract with Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur for the 2023 season.

“It’s a dream come true. It’s going to feel strange. I’ll get that little shiver at the start,” Girard said when he joined the French Continental team, beginning a three-year professional career.

Girard's first professional victory came in June 2024, when he won the fourth stage of the Tour du Maroc from Essaouira to Marrakech. The circumstances of that victory remained particularly memorable for Jérôme Pulidori, his manager at Nice Métropole throughout Girard’s three professional seasons.

“Two days earlier, he had crashed and he could have abandoned. But he had a temperament that always pushed him forward and made him generous in his effort. He had recovered and went off alone for 80 kilometers. Impressive,” Pulidori recalled.

In February 2025, he won the best climber classification at the Tour de la Provence and also finished 17th overall at the Etoile de Bessèges. Those performances came during his final season at Nice, as he looked to take another step in his career.

“During his three professional seasons at Nice Métropole, he was always performing well, he deserved everything he achieved on the bike. He was a passionate rider and very popular with his teammates,” Pulidori said.

Nice ultimately did not retain Girard for 2026, and he stopped racing at the highest level during the winter after being unable to find a project that suited him.

Girard nevertheless remained closely connected to cycling. He settled in Port-Fréjus and continued riding with friends from Team Estérel Côte d’Azur, for whom he was licensed as an amateur this year.

“He still had that hunger and wanted to enjoy himself. He had real qualities and deserved to have a great career,” said Brice Feillu, the former professional climber and 2009 Tour de France stage winner.

Feillu, who is from Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher region like Girard, was 16 years older and had known him since he was a child. The two later became regular riding companions in the Var. “I used to ride the ‘Gentlemen’ first with his father and then I rode them with him,” Feillu recalled. He was also the person who introduced Girard to the management of Nice Métropole three years earlier.

The two men remained in regular contact after Girard left professional cycling. Girard had begun a new professional path, obtaining a qualification to work as a tourism boat captain, while continuing to ride his bike.