Picnic PostNL has signed Henri-François Haquin-Renard, reports WielerFlits. The 22-year-old Frenchman is transferring from the Walloon ProTeam Wagner-Bazin-WB, where he still had a valid contract. However, that team will cease to exist next year, although there are rumors it might restart as a French Continental team.
Renard-Haquin himself started cycling relatively late. In his youth, he primarily participated in cyclocross and mountain biking. It was only when, as a second-year junior, he moved to Dijon with his parents that road cycling came into focus. However, he was not a standout talent. In 2020, a tenth place at the French National Time Trial Championship was his best result. His first year as an under-23 rider in 2021 was entirely overshadowed. One morning he left for work at 6:00 AM, after which he was hit by a car and flew about twenty meters through the air.
Broken neck
“I landed on the sidewalk with my neck,” he said in November of that same year to DirectVelo. Renard-Haquin faced death. “I lost consciousness, had three skull fractures, broke two cervical vertebrae, and my middle finger was broken in three places. That was in the worst condition after my vertebrae and I almost lost it. I then underwent surgery for seven hours and had to stay in the hospital for another eight days. […] After that, I was bedridden for two months and could only start intensive rehabilitation in the summer, where I relearned to walk.”
At the end of 2021 he was able to ride a bike again, but soon he suffered from back and neck pain. The rotation of his neck was not optimal. Nevertheless, in 2022 he joined the prestigious French club team CC Étupes. In the past ten years, riders such as Hugo Hofstetter, Guillaume Martin, Damien Touzé, Alexys Brunel, Junior Lecerf, Axel Zingle, Baptiste Huyet, and Bjorn Koerdt have ridden for that team. In 2023, Renard-Haquin impressed by winning several races at the national French level. He continued that form into 2024.
On the attack during the Tour de Wallonie - photo: photo press agency Cor Vos
Former teammates
The young Frenchman also won a stage in the Tour Alsace (UCI 2.2) and finished fourth at the French U23 championship, after which he was selected by the French national coach for the European Championships in Hasselt. The merged team Wagner-Bazin-WB took a chance on him, as he was allowed to sign a two-year professional contract as a neo-pro. His best results this year are a fourteenth place in La Route Adélie de Vitré (UCI 1.1) and twelfth in the Tour de la Mirabelle (UCI 1.2). He also won the mountains classification in the Tour de Wallonie and was in the early breakaway of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
What kind of rider Picnic PostNL is bringing in with Renard-Haquin is not entirely clear yet. Next year, he will at least have the opportunity to further discover his specific strengths. In his years as a junior, he was considered a puncheur / climber, but the Frenchman is also not too slow in a sprint. At his new team, he will encounter former teammates Dillon Corkery and Bjorn Koerdt. In 2023, the Frenchman raced alongside the Irish and British riders at CC Étupes. His younger brother Pierre-Louis still rides there as well.
