Franck Bouyer

Franck Bouyer (born 17 March 1974, in Beaupréau) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1995 and 2013.[1] Bouyer competed for the Castorama, Agrigel–La Creuse–Fenioux, Française des Jeux, Bouygues Télécom and Team Europcar squads during his career.[2] Bouyer suffers from narcolepsy, resulting in sudden sleep attacks and cataplexy, and was unable to compete or train without Modafinil.[3]

Franck Bouyer

Personal information
Full name	Franck Bouyer
Born	(1974-03-17) 17 March 1974 Beaupréau, France
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional teams
1995	Castorama
1996	Agrigel–La Creuse–Fenioux
1997–1999	Française des Jeux
2000–2006	Bonjour
2009–2013	Bbox Bouygues Telecom
Major wins
Tour du Limousin (2001) Tour de Vendée (2002) Paris–Camembert (2004)

However, the UCI ruled in June 2004 that Bouyer could not be given a therapeutic use exemption to allow him to compete having taken the drug, so Bouyer was unable to race. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the decision of the UCI citing that it could not be determined that Modafinil did not provide an extra increase in performance and that the dosage was hard to measure.[4] Despite the rulings by both the UCI and CAS, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) gave Bouyer permission to return to racing in August 2005.[5] Yet, following an appeal to CAS by the UCI, Bouyer was once again banned.[6] In January 2007, Bouyer's contract with Bouygues Télécom expired and the team released him.[7] Bouyer filed a civil lawsuit against the UCI and WADA in July 2007, arguing they were preventing him from working.[8] After confirmation from the UCI that a new drug for treating narcolepsy (Xyrem) was not on the banned list, he signed again for the Bbox Bouygues Telecom team for the 2009 season.[9]

Bouyer retired at the end of the 2013 season.[1]