Miguel Poblet
Encyclopedia
Miguel Poblet i Orriols, born March 18, 1928 at Montcada i Reixac
in the northern suburbs of Barcelona
, Catalonia
, Spain
, is a Spanish former professional cyclist whose career lasted from 1944 to 1962, during which he had over 200 professional victories. He was the first Spanish rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France
, and in 1956 he became the first of only three riders to win stages in the three Grand Tours
in the same year. (The other two are Pierino Baffi
and Alessandro Petacchi
.)
He won the Milan – San Remo classic race on two occasions and took 26 stage wins in the three Grand Tours. His twenty stage wins in the Giro d'Italia
makes him the third most successful foreign rider in the "Giro" behind Eddy Merckx
(25) and Roger De Vlaeminck
(22). Poblet was of short stature who had great power, he was the first Spanish rider to be a specialist in one day races in an age when Spain only produced climbers. He had a lightning fast sprint, but could also climb well, taking the Spanish Mountain championships on three occasions and the mountainous Volta a Catalunya twice.
Miguel's father Enrique owned a bicycle shop in Barcelona and he encouraged his son to take up racing seriously at a young age and supplied him with all the necessary equipment. Despite turning professional in 1944, at the age of 16, Poblet’s career did not really take off internationally until 1955 when he was invited to be part of the Spanish team at the Tour de France, at that time the Tour invited national squads rather than trade teams. Poblet made an immediate effect at the Tour when won the opening stage between Le Havre
and Dieppe
becoming the first Spaniard to wear the yellow jersey. He held onto the jersey in the afternoon Team time trial
but lost it next day to Dutchman Wout Wagtmans. However Poblet had more glory at that year's Tour when he took the prestigious final stage into Paris
at the Parc des Princes
stadium.
Success at the 1955 Tour ensured an invitation to the 1956 Giro d’Italia where he took four stage, this followed three stage wins in the Vuelta a España
, he took another Tour de France stage win that year between Angers
and La Rochelle
to complete a grand slam of stages in Grand Tours for 1956. Only Pierino Baffi
and Alessandro Petacchi
have been able to repeat this. By this time Poblet was riding for the Faema team led by Rik Van Looy
but he left the team early in 1957 after being told he was not going to ride Milan – San Remo, he signed for the Italian squad Ignis and promptly won Milano–Torino for them, a week later he was victorious at Milan – San Remo. He stayed with the Ignis squad for the rest of his career.
Poblet prepared meticulously for Milan – San Remo, designing a training course in Catalonia similar to the Italian classics parcours with a big climb similar to the Turchino Pass followed by a series of smaller hills. He finished second in 1958 behind Van Looy and then won again in 1959 after breaking away from the bunch with 400 metres to go. He came close to winning Paris–Roubaix in 1958 coming second to Leon Van Daele and third in 1960 when Pino Ceremi won. For 45 years, he was the only Spaniard ever to have got on the podium at the Roubaix velodrome, until Juan Antonio Flecha
took the third step in 2005 and second in 2007.
Poblet still lives in the Barcelona area, in 2001 the local sports arena was named after him and more than 2000 people turned out to pay tribute to him. In 2004 he was a special guest of the Vuelta a España as it passed through Catalonia.
1947
1948
1949
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
Montcada i Reixac
Montcada i Reixac , often referred to as simply Montcada, is a municipality in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental inCatalonia, Spain. It is situated at the confluence of the Ripoll river and the Besós river, and very close to the northernmost neighbourhoods of the city of Barcelona and is...
in the northern suburbs of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, is a Spanish former professional cyclist whose career lasted from 1944 to 1962, during which he had over 200 professional victories. He was the first Spanish rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
, and in 1956 he became the first of only three riders to win stages in the three Grand Tours
Grand Tour (cycling)
In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races:* Tour de France – Tour of France , held in July* Giro d'Italia – Tour of Italy , held in May...
in the same year. (The other two are Pierino Baffi
Pierino Baffi
Pierino Baffi was an Italian road bicycle racer from Vailate. In 1958 he won stages in all three of the Grand Tours, becoming the second cyclist to won stages in all three of the Grand Tours in the same year. As of 2008, this has only been repeated by Alessandro Petacchi in 2003...
and Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...
.)
He won the Milan – San Remo classic race on two occasions and took 26 stage wins in the three Grand Tours. His twenty stage wins in the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
makes him the third most successful foreign rider in the "Giro" behind Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx
Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx , better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional cyclist. The French magazine Vélo called him "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known." The American publication, VeloNews, called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all...
(25) and Roger De Vlaeminck
Roger De Vlaeminck
Roger De Vlaeminck is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as '"The most talented and the only real classics rider of his generation"...
(22). Poblet was of short stature who had great power, he was the first Spanish rider to be a specialist in one day races in an age when Spain only produced climbers. He had a lightning fast sprint, but could also climb well, taking the Spanish Mountain championships on three occasions and the mountainous Volta a Catalunya twice.
Miguel's father Enrique owned a bicycle shop in Barcelona and he encouraged his son to take up racing seriously at a young age and supplied him with all the necessary equipment. Despite turning professional in 1944, at the age of 16, Poblet’s career did not really take off internationally until 1955 when he was invited to be part of the Spanish team at the Tour de France, at that time the Tour invited national squads rather than trade teams. Poblet made an immediate effect at the Tour when won the opening stage between Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
and Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
becoming the first Spaniard to wear the yellow jersey. He held onto the jersey in the afternoon Team time trial
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...
but lost it next day to Dutchman Wout Wagtmans. However Poblet had more glory at that year's Tour when he took the prestigious final stage into Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
stadium.
Success at the 1955 Tour ensured an invitation to the 1956 Giro d’Italia where he took four stage, this followed three stage wins in the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
, he took another Tour de France stage win that year between Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
and La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
to complete a grand slam of stages in Grand Tours for 1956. Only Pierino Baffi
Pierino Baffi
Pierino Baffi was an Italian road bicycle racer from Vailate. In 1958 he won stages in all three of the Grand Tours, becoming the second cyclist to won stages in all three of the Grand Tours in the same year. As of 2008, this has only been repeated by Alessandro Petacchi in 2003...
and Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...
have been able to repeat this. By this time Poblet was riding for the Faema team led by Rik Van Looy
Rik Van Looy
Henri van Looy is a Belgian former professional cyclist of the post-war period, nicknamed the King of the Classics or Emperor of Herentals...
but he left the team early in 1957 after being told he was not going to ride Milan – San Remo, he signed for the Italian squad Ignis and promptly won Milano–Torino for them, a week later he was victorious at Milan – San Remo. He stayed with the Ignis squad for the rest of his career.
Poblet prepared meticulously for Milan – San Remo, designing a training course in Catalonia similar to the Italian classics parcours with a big climb similar to the Turchino Pass followed by a series of smaller hills. He finished second in 1958 behind Van Looy and then won again in 1959 after breaking away from the bunch with 400 metres to go. He came close to winning Paris–Roubaix in 1958 coming second to Leon Van Daele and third in 1960 when Pino Ceremi won. For 45 years, he was the only Spaniard ever to have got on the podium at the Roubaix velodrome, until Juan Antonio Flecha
Juan Antonio Flecha
Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni is an Argentine-born Spanish professional road bicycle racer for the UCI ProTour team .-Career:...
took the third step in 2005 and second in 2007.
Poblet still lives in the Barcelona area, in 2001 the local sports arena was named after him and more than 2000 people turned out to pay tribute to him. In 2004 he was a special guest of the Vuelta a España as it passed through Catalonia.
Career highlights
1946- Two stage wins and 4th overall Vuelta a Burgos
1947
- 1st GP Primavera
- Three stage wins and 5th overall Volta a Catalunya
- Spanish mountain champion
1948
- Two stage wins and 7th overall Volta a Catalunya
- Spanish mountain champion
1949
- Spanish sprint champion
- Four stage wins and 2nd overall Volta a Catalunya
- Spanish mountain champion
1951
- Spanish sprint champion
- Two stage wins Volta a Catalunya
1952
- Spanish Madison champion
- First overall and three stage wins Volta a Catalunya
- Four stage wins Tour of Castille
1953
- Two stage wins Volta a Catalunya
1954
- Five stage wins Vuelta a Aragón
- Three stage wins Volta a Catalunya
1955
- Two stage wins Tour de France
- 1st overall GP Midi Libre
- 11th Tour of Lombardy
1956
- One stage win Tour de France
- Four stage wins Giro d’Italia
- Three stage wins Vuelta a España
1957
- 1st Milan – San Remo
- Spanish RR champion
- 1st Milano–Torino
- 6th overall Giro d’Italia
1958
- 1st Points competition and three stage wins Giro d’Italia
- 2nd Tour of Lombardy
- 2nd Paris–Roubaix
- 2nd Milan – San Remo
1959
- Spanish sprint champion
- Three stage wins Giro d’Italia
- 3rd Tour of Lombardy
- Three stage wins Volta a Catalunya
- 3rd Paris–Brussels
1960
- Two stage wins Giro d’Italia
- Spanish sprint champion
- 1st overall and three stage wins Volta a Catalunya
1961
- Spanish sprint champion
1962
- Spanish sprint champion
External links
- Tour de France database on Miguel Poblet