For half a decade early in his career he was among the strongest GC Contenders and often among the top 10 overall during the Tour de France while riding for the very strong Miko–Mercier squads, who also included riders like Christian Seznec, Raymond Martin and Joop Zoetemelk. In the 1978 Tour de France he finished 11th, in 1979 12th, 1980 7th and in 1981 he finished 8th. He had a stage win and 3rd place overall in the 1982 Vuelta, and a few months later he rode the Tour for the final time in the 1982 Tour de France, and finished 14th.
