Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Valentigney, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
About Joël Pelier
- Joël Pelier (born 23 March 1962, in Valentigney) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. After the final climb of stage 17 in the 1986 Tour de France, Pelier collapsed from exhaustion and fell into a 7-hour coma.In the 1989 Tour de France, then 27-year-old French domestique Joel Pelier had never been watched in his pro career by his parents who were dedicated to caring for Pelier's severely disabled sibling who needed constant attention.
- Pelier's parents made arrangements to watch stage 6 from near the finish line to which Pelier responded with an attempted lone breakaway.
- Pelier held out to win the stage by 1 minute and 34 seconds.
- He rode on his own for 4 and a 1/2 hours through wind and rain for 102 of the stage's 161 miles.
- It was the then second longest breakaway in Tour de France history after Albert Bourlon in 1947 and since surpassed by Thierry Marie.
- On the podium for the day's presentations a tear drenched Pelier was seen on television saying, "Mon per, mon per".
- "This win is so special to me because today is the first time that my mother and father have seen me in the Tour de France,’ said Pelier.
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