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Bernard Piguet

cc 99 Bernard Piguet

Bernard Piguet, a leading figure in the Clermont-Ferrand cycling world, died on 14 February 2025 at the age of 83 after a long illness.

I met Bernard when I arrived in Clermont-Ferrand in 1978, and I knew him both as an organiser and as a participant in the Clermont-Aurillac-Clermont event. I've always admired the ease with which he could switch from cyclosportif to president in the same day, with as much class in front of the microphone as on the bike. At Aurillac town hall and at the sports centre in Clermont, he gave us well-constructed speeches, using simple but meaningful words. He delivered them evenly, without emphasis, with that special accent and slightly slow rhythm that came from his Jura roots.
As a cyclosportif, Bernard was characterised by his ability to ride with power and style, and by his uncommon endurance, which enabled him to distinguish himself in long-distance events such as Paris-Brest-Paris, of which he was the double winner. But he also had above-average climbing skills, and despite his large stature, he was able to tackle mountains very well, and excelled in major raids such as Lyon-Mont-Blanc-Lyon and Lyon-Ventoux-Lyon. He crossed 887 different passes. The harder the routes, the more difficult the weather conditions, the better he was. His morale was stainless steel.
On a human level, Bernard was an outstanding leader and organiser. From 1974 to 2013 he organised 30 editions of the Clermont-Aurillac-Clermont raid, undoubtedly the finest cycling event in the Auvergne. In between, he organised a dozen Saint-Etienne-puy de Dôme events, and as many Tour du Sancy events. I should add a few editions of Versailles-puydeDôme and a Paris-Bercy-puydeDôme in which I was lucky enough to take part: climbing the puy de Dôme after 400 km of cycling in one go provides unique and unforgettable sensations: I owe them to you, Bernard.
For what you were, for everything you did, I have only two words, Bernard: thank you and respect.

He was well known in the Puy-de-Dôme, the Auvergne region and far beyond, such was his aura. He was known both for his intrinsic qualities as a cyclist and for his role as a leader and organiser. A true cycling athlete, he shone in long-distance events such as Paris-Brest-Paris (double winner in 1979 and 1983), and most cyclosportives in mountainous terrain. As a connoisseur of the history of cycling, he created or recreated major events that raised the profile of the Auvergne: Clermont-Aurillac-Clermont, which was his masterpiece, and Paris-Clermont-Puy de Dôme, for example.
He was a man of character with convictions, principles and a great loyalty to his commitments. Like the strong man that he was, he didn't pull his punches and knew how to make himself accessible to the humble cyclist that I was when we chatted after getting off the bike.
He moved to the Clermont-Ferrand region in 1967, initially joining UC Montferrand, before setting up CT Montferrand in 1978, a club he presided over for 39 years. He didn't like advertising on shirts, his principle being that you don't sell a club shirt for a mouthful of bread, or even for a plate of lentils, and that it's the club and its town that should be in the limelight. But he added with a touch of humour: "If I've been riding in the rain all day and someone presents me with a dry jersey, I'll take it, even if it's an advertising jersey! That didn't stop him from forging partnerships for his organisations, and CT Montferrand did rather well in this respect.
He was president of the Auvergne Cycle Touring League in the 1970s, before turning his club more towards cyclosportive activities, which fell outside the scope of the FFCT after 1976. But he was still a loyal participant in the Easter concentration in Provence, where CT Montferrand was always represented, and he personally took part in 11 Flèches Vélocio (source AlainTardivat). Responding positively to Jean-Yves Cluzel's invitation, Bernard took part in the extraordinary general meeting that saw the merger of the Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes Leagues in autumn 2016. Loyalty, as I said!
In 1973, in response to a request from Jean Perdoux, whom he had met on the Lyon-Cham routes and at Federation meetings, Bernard joined the Club des Cent Cols. With membership number 99, he was one of the top 100 pioneers of this mountain brotherhood. Without being an inveterate pass hunter, because he had other objectives, he climbed 887 different passes along the way: we can put absolute trust in this number, because he was a meticulous man who noted down a lot of details on his outings, and who had a phenomenal memory of the routes completed or proposed in his organisations. In 1984, with the help of his club, several of whose members were also members of Les Cent Cols, he organised the national concentration on the Gergovie plateau. In 2014, he took part in the Passage des Vés rally, which closed the Bussang stay in the Vosges. He also took part in the general meetings in Haute-Savoie marking the Club's 40th and 50th anniversaries. Loyalty again.
In terms of organisation, under the presidency of Bernard Piguet, CT Montferrand proposed a number of important events that structured the calendar of the Auvergne League. I'll mention five of them: Clermont-Aurillac-Clermont, Saint-Etienne-puy de Dôme, the Tour du Sancy, Paris-Nevers-Clermont and the Billom Chrono.
The most prestigious was Clermont-Aurillac-Clermont, which had existed in the 1950s but then disappeared. Bernard, who was a regular participant in CT Lyon's major raids (Lyon-Mont-Blanc-Lyon and Lyon-Ventoux-Lyon), conceived the idea of reviving Clermont-Aurillac Clermont on the same model, where hikers and cyclosportifs (cyclists) cohabit. The route consisted of two stages of at least 180km, with more than 3,000m of ascent. The route changed every year, and apart from the start and finish towns, there was one thing in common: the inevitable Pas de Peyrol, on the slopes of Puy Mary, which was crossed either on the 1st day before arriving in Aurillac, or the following morning via the Mandailles valley. All the access routes to the Pas de Peyrol were visited by Clermont-Aurillac.
The cyclosportive formula had a special feature: the start was neutralised for around sixty km up to a checkpoint where the cyclosportifs could refuel, change and make their final adjustments before giving free rein to their energy over the remaining 120 km. The randonneurs, who usually set off a good hour before the cyclosportifs, had time to get through this 1st checkpoint, so they could watch the battle between the cyclosportifs live when they were caught up. And Bernard, both organiser and participant, was never far behind the frontrunners! To understand the spirit of Clermont-Aurillac, you had to attend Bernard's briefing of the cyclosportifs: "Be careful guys, you're on open roads, don't cut the bends, there may be gravel, don't take unnecessary risks on the descents, you're going to overtake hikers, respect them" was the gist of what he had to say. Out of a total of between 4 and 500 participants, only around a hundred were cyclosportifs, and the presence of the randonneurs was a key factor in the success of the event.
There were 30 editions of the Clermont-Aurillac-Clermont raid between 1974 and 2013: it was organised every year for the first 20 editions, then every two years thereafter. Since 2013, hikers in the Auvergne have been nostalgic for this event at the end of June. Now, in 2025, the cyclos from FR Blanzat are proposing a round trip between the Puy-de-Dôme Cantal circuit at Charade and the resort of Le Lioran under the name "Cycl'Auvergne". The memory of Bernard will hover over the roads of this new mountain meeting.

The Saint-Etienne-puy de Dôme raid was another of Bernard Piguet's creations, linking the prefecture of the Loire with that of the Puy-de-Dôme and finishing at the summit of the volcano. At the time, the ascent to the Puy de Dôme was a toll road reserved for cars, and the use of the road had to be reserved for cyclists for part of the afternoon for this organisation. After leaving Saint-Etienne, the route crossed the Forez and Livradois mountains before reaching the foot of the puy de Dôme. And that's where it's best to keep your pedal power up for the 4km at 12% at the end of 200km! It was also a mixed cyclosportives/randonneurs formula. A coach was chartered at 3am in Montferrand to take you to the start in Saint-Etienne. But many regulars preferred to cycle the night before to spend a good night on the spot: Clermont-Ferranders, Vichyssois and others met up on Saturday evening in the centre of Saint-Etienne in a friendly atmosphere.
Saint-Etienne-puy de Dôme was organised in odd-numbered years and alternated with a Tour du Sancy in even-numbered years. The Tour du Sancy started at the Maison des Sports in Clermont, which was logistically simpler, and also finished at the summit of the Puy de Dôme at the end of a tough route, almost 200km long, through the Chaîne des Puys and the classic passes of the Sancy massif. In the 2000s, the Puy-de-Dôme département undertook a major project to re-establish a rack railway serving the summit of the Puy de Dôme. As a result, only one track remains, reserved for emergency vehicles and those operating the summit facilities. The Tour du Sancy was therefore deprived of its finish at the puy de Dôme during the construction phase and even after the "Panoramique des Dômes" was brought into service, it lost some of its prestige. It was last held in 2014.
Paris-Clermont (400 km) was a cycling race organised from 1947 to 1953, open to professionals and amateurs alike, with some top regional riders making their mark. In the 1980s, Bernard Piguet had the idea of relaunching this challenge for cyclosportifs and randonneurs, following the formula that worked with Clermont-Aurillac, with the icing on the cake a finish at the summit of the Puy de Dôme. He needed to find a co-organiser in the Paris region to provide the logistics for the start of the ride. Initially, a club in Versailles offered to help, and the walk naturally took the name Versailles-puy de Dôme. Then this collaboration ceased, and in 1986 the raid set off from Paris-Bercy, with a stopover in Nevers for those who wanted it, or a continuous 400 km route at a controlled pace to Ennezat where a 400 km Audax brevet was approved, and then free pace to the Puy de Dôme. The cumbersome nature of these delayed departures, both for the organisers and for the participants, meant that the event was never organised again. But those who experienced it at least once will remember it fondly!

The "chrono de Billom": this was a change of scale, a hilly 37km circuit around Billom, which everyone tried to cover as quickly as possible, with the fastest doing it in less than an hour. Bernard Pigueta delegated the organisation first to Georges Wasselin and then to Denis Fournet. The event took place in September, so the cyclists who had ridden all summer were very sharp and could compare their times from one year to the next. There were all types of bike at the start: from light, high-performance racing bikes to touring bikes with their panniers removed, there were a few tandems and even a trio that hardly ever left the garage except for the Billom circuit and its reconnaissance! The circuit was organised all day on Saturday and was so successful that the timekeepers worked non-stop from early morning to late afternoon. On the Sunday, a team time trial was organised, which was a great source of motivation for the clubs: in the good years, over 1,000 people took part in both time trials. Then came technical developments such as handlebar extensions, lenticular wheels and plunging frames, so much so that the Billom time trial lost its popular appeal and became a specialist affair. The event moved to Maringues and then to Chappes. Today, CT Montferrand no longer organises it.

There are memories that never fade: Bernard, the yellow stripes on the blue background of your CTM jersey will remain like "my rays of sunshine", as Louis Nucéra sang, forever inseparable from your image.

Claude Bénistrand cc 284
Amicale Cyclo Clermontoise
Former President of the Auvergne Cycling League and the Club des Cent Cols