Damien Girard

Damien Girard was born on 14 December 2001 in Tours, in central France. He took up racing with UC Vendome in the Loire Valley, then as a junior joined Peltrax-CS Dammarie-les-Lys near Paris on the advice of coach Samuel Plouhinec. A strong regional rider, he recorded dozens of cadet wins and, as a junior, stage one of La Cantonale plus, in 2019, the Ronde du Printemps and a stage at Jugon-les-Lacs. That year he also rode for VC Pays de Loudeac and later CM Aubervilliers 93, earned a French junior selection for the Tour du Pays de Vaud, and was signed for 2020 by CC Nogent-sur-Oise in Nationale 1. In 2022 he won the Tour Nivernais Morvan overall and finished second in the Hauts-de-France time-trial championship.

Girard turned professional in 2023 with UCI Continental team Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur. He opened at Etoile de Bessèges and spent his first seasons learning WorldTour-adjacent French races, often in breakaways at Tro Bro Leon, the Four Days of Dunkirk and the Tour of the Apennines. In 2024 he won stage four of the Tour du Maroc, his first professional victory. Domestically he took the mountains jersey at Tour de la Provence, placed tenth at Grand Prix de Marseille-La Marseillaise and seventeenth at Etoile de Bessèges, results he told DirectVelo showed unexpected winter progress. After the 2025 season Nice did not renew him; he left the professional ranks that winter and later raced with Team Esterel Cote d'Azur.

Public profiles describe Girard as a puncheur-grimpeur who spoke warmly about the thrill of turning professional. Ahead of his first pro start he told DirectVelo that a childhood dream was coming true and that he expected a shiver of nerves on the start line. Detailed accounts of his private family life were not the focus of the obituaries published after his death.

Damien Girard died at the end of September 2026 at the age of 24. Team Esterel Cote d'Azur announced the news on the evening of Monday 28 September 2026; DirectVelo confirmed it with multiple sources and L'Equipe, 20 Minutes and RMC Sport reported it on 29 September. The precise place and cause of death were not made public in the first wave of reputable coverage. French cycling media offered condolences to his family, friends and former teammates.

Girard's legacy rests in a short but complete arc from Loire Valley junior racing to a Continental pro contract, a Tour du Maroc stage win, and memorable early-season rides for Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur. DirectVelo and other outlets remembered a rider who had progressed steadily from UC Vendome through Nogent-sur-Oise into the professional peloton, and whose death at 24 cut short a career still taking shape.