Raymond Poulidor
Encyclopedia
Raymond Poulidor is a former professional bicycle racer
. He was known as the eternal second, because he finished the Tour de France
in second place three times, and in third place five times, including his final Tour at the age of 40. Despite his consistency, he never wore the Yellow Jersey in 14 Tours, of which he completed 12.
His career was distinguished, despite coinciding with two great riders - Jacques Anquetil
and Eddy Merckx
. This underdog position may have been the reason Poulidor was a favourite of the public.
, where the Creuse
region east of Limoges
meets the département of Haute-Vienne
. He was born in the same year that his eventual directeur sportif
, Antonin Magne
, became world road race champion. Poulidor began working on the farm where, he remembered, "the soil was poor and we had to work hard; farming incomes were poor." The need for working hands on the farm meant he left school at 14 even though he wanted to continue his studies. Local entertainment went little further than village fairs, with coconut shies, sack-races, competitions for bottles of home-made jam... and inter-village cycle races.
Poulidor rode on a bike given to him by André Marquet, who ran a cycle shop in nearby Sauviat-sur-Vige
. Marquet took Poulidor to his first races by motorcycle.
Success on a local level came quickly and Poulidor added the money he won - which he said could be considerable at the time because the crowd put up prizes all through the race - to the family's income. He acquired his first racing licence when joined La Pédale Marchoise at La Forêt-Montboucher when he was 17. He came seventh in his first race, at St-Mareil. He wanted to ride the local round of a national youth competition called the Premier Pas [First Step] Dunlop. It fell in the middle of harvest, however, and Poulidor could train only at night after 15 hours in the fields. He raced for three years as an amateur, once beating Louison Bobet
.
It was only when Poulidor was taken into the army for compulsory national service
in 1955 that he first travelled in a train. Pierre Chany
, a French reporter who followed 49 Tours de France, drew the comparison with Poulidor's eventual rival, Jacques Anquetil
: by the time Poulidor first stepped into a train, Anquetil had already been to Helsinki
, ridden the Olympic Games
, won a medal for France, turned professional and won the Grand Prix des Nations
. Yet there was less than two years between them.
The army sent Poulidor to the war then going on in Algeria
, where he worked as a driver and put on 12 kg through lack of exercise. In 1960 he dedicated himself to cycling again and lost the weight in a month. He won his first race after army service by six minutes. When he then came second in the GP de Peyrat-le-Château and won 80,000 old francs, he calculated that he had won more in one race than he would have earned in six years on the farm.
His farming background went before him and whenever he won a prize, other riders would laugh: "Hey, Pouli [his original nickname] can buy himself another cow!" Poulidor referred to his background throughout his career, once remarking: "No race, however difficult, goes on as long as a harvest."
, who said in the Belgian publication Coups de Pédales:
Poulidor said it happened at Peyrat-le-Château, near St Léonard-de-Noblat. Gauthier had just won his fourth Bordeaux–Paris, but...
Magne offered Poulidor 25,000 old francs a month. Poulidor asked for 30,000. Magne countered that that was more than he paid Gauthier and Louis Privat and refused. Later, aware that he had a rival for Anquetil, he conceded.
Gauthier's confidence was justified when in 1961 Poulidor won Milan – San Remo in his second season as a professional. He started the race stung by Press criticism of his tactical sense; he had attacked but been caught by the bunch five kilometres from the finish of the Grand Prix de Nice. Poulidor got off to a bad start in Milan – San Remo when he punctured before halfway and lost two minutes. Magne insisted that he chase back to the race, which he did, catching up in time to ride the Capo Verde hill with 20 km to go. He recovered fast enough to counter an attack by Jean-Claude Annaert, catching him with the Dutchman Ab Geldermans, who had won the previous year's Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Poulidor attacked and dropped Annaert, then left Geldermans. He had a lead of 20 seconds at the summit. He stayed clear alone to win by three seconds from Rik van Looy
of Belgium.
, often having victory snatched from him by losing time in time-trial stages of the Tour de France.
Poulidor's riding style was aggressive and attacking, whereas Anquetil preferred to control the race in the mountains and win time in the time-trials. Poulidor became the darling of the French public, to the ire of Anquetil. Poulidor's mid-France upbringing and his slow Limousin speech also contrasted with Anquetil's northern background and sharper accent. Poulidor's face was deeply tanned and furrowed; Anquetil had high cheekbones, a smoother face and brushed-up blond hair.
Poulidor's best chance of defeating Anquetil in the 1964 Tour de France
, in the finish on the Puy de Dôme. Anquetil rode beside Poulidor but both were so exhausted that only in the last few hundred metres could Poulidor take nearly enough time to threaten Anquetil's yellow jersey. The Tour organiser, Jacques Goddet
, was behind the pair as they turned off the main road and climbed through what police estimated as half a million spectators. Goddet recalled:
Anquetil rode on the inside by the mountain wall while Poulidor took the outer edge by the precipice. They could sometimes feel the other's hot gasps on their bare arms. At the end, Anquetil cracked, after a battle of wills and legs so intense that at times they banged elbows. Poulidor says he was so tired that he has no memory of the two touching, although a photograph shows that they did. Of Anquetil, the veteran French reporter Pierre Chany wrote: "His face, until then purple, lost all its colour; the sweat ran down in drops through the creases of his cheeks." Anquetil was only semiconscious, he said. Anquetil's manager, Raphaël Géminiani
, said:
Poulidor recalled, 40 years later:
Poulidor gained time but when they reached Paris, Anquetil still had a 55-second lead and won his last Tour de France thanks to the time-trial on the final day. The writer Chris Sidwells said:
It was often said that Anquetil preferred to see Poulidor lose than to win a race himself. The two were paired for a two-man time-trial in 1965; instead of riding for victory, Anquetil feigned exhaustion and cost both the victory, which he admitted later. Poulidor said the two had to bear each other's presence in the round-the-houses races that then made up most of riders' incomes after the Tour. He said:
He said he thought of Anquetil "not every day but almost."
Poulidor recalls Anquetil's last words to him on his deathbed:
Divisions between fans became marked, which two sociologists studying the impact of the Tour on French society say became emblematic of France old and new.
The extent of those divisions is shown in a story told by Pierre Chany:
While Chany's story may be apocryphal, Poulidor himself says he knows of couples who divorced and of fights that started in bars when fans debated whether he or Anquetil was the better.
Jean-Luc Boeuf and Yves Léonard, in their study, wrote:
Poulidor himself says that people would no longer talk of him had he won the Tour. As it is,
Research showed that more than 4,000 newspaper articles appeared about him in France in just 1974 and that no other rider "had ever incited so many sociological investigations, so many university theses, seeking to find the cause of his prodigious popularity.
who first wrote of Poupou. The name was taken up throughout France, leading to headlines such as "Poupoularité" in L'Équipe
. A poupée is a doll and the nickname hints at that and follows the French tradition of repeating the first syllable of a word in childspeak. Poulidor has never liked the name but accepts it.
, although only after word had spread and many riders had left their hotels. The first competitor they found was Poulidor. He said:
A few other riders were found, including Rik van Looy
, and some obliged and others refused. Next morning, the race left the city on the way to the Pyrenees and stopped in the suburb of Gradignan, in the university area of La House. The riders climbed off and began walking, shouting protests in general and in particular abuse at the race doctor, Pierre Dumas
, whom some demanded should also take a test to see if he'd been drinking wine or taking aspirin to make his own job easier. Riders also criticised Poulidor for accepting to be tested. He dismissed their protests and stayed at the back of the strike. Other prominent riders, including Jacques Anquetil, were at the front. Poulidor said his indifference to the controls and the strike harmed his relations with fellow riders. "After that, they did me no favours in the peloton", he said.
in 1969. Poulidor was no match for Merckx, although he offered much resistance.
In the 1973 Tour
Poulidor almost lost his life on the descent from the Col de Portet d'Aspet
when he plunged into a ravine, taking a serious blow to the head and crawling out with the help of the race director, Jacques Goddet
.
a man who described himself as a homeopath, Bernard Sainz.
Sainz is known in cycling as Dr Mabuse, after a pulp-fiction character created by Norbert Jacques. Mabuse is a criminal mastermind who becomes rich through hypnotic powers. He plots to take over the world but is foiled by the police. From his cell he masterminds criminal plots by writing endless gibberish. Sainz recognises the nickname and used it in the name of his autobiography.
He is a former velodrome
rider of national level who stopped racing after a fall and became involved in horse racing, where he was twice convicted of maltreating horses. It was in horse-racing, where he turned unremarkable animals into champions, that he acquired his nickname. He has been repeatedly investigated by police and has been convicted of illegally practising medicine and incitement to doping. He claims that he only engages in homeopathic treatment, though whatever methods he engages in are effective, casting doubt on this claim.
Louis Caput approached Edmond Mercier, the bicycle-maker behind Poulidor's team, and asked to bring Sainz into the team management. Mercier agreed, said Sainz, because he was already treating Mercier for his own health problems. Mercier had also brought in the insurance company, GAN, as main sponsor. GAN, said Sainz, demanded that Poulidor be in the team photo even if all he did was train with the team at the start of the season. In 1971 Poulidor had decided against riding any more.
Sainz said:
Sainz continued:
The tactic, Sainz said, was bluff, to increase his motivation. In Paris–Nice, the first important stage race of the season, Poulidor was 22 seconds behind Eddy Merckx
on the morning of the last day. Poulidor attacked from the start, setting a speed record on the col de la Turbie that stood for more than 10 years and won Paris–Nice by two seconds. Next year he won Paris–Nice again and also the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.
On 25 January 1973 Poulidor was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. In 2003 the President, Jacques Chirac
increased the award. Poulidor also has a rose named after him, reflecting his love of gardening in general and roses in particular.
He lives with his wife Gisèle in St-Léonard-de-Noblat, east of Limoges, where he makes short trips on his mountain bike. Their daughter, Corinne, is married to the former world cyclo-cross champion, Adri van der Poel
. Poulidor works in public relations for one of the subsidiary sponsors during the Tour, has bicycles made under his name by the France-Loire company, and has appeared in television commercials aimed at older people.
When asked about his longevity compared to fellow cyclists, Poulidor said he took things in moderation and did not overstretch himself.
Poulidor has written several biographies, the first of which was Gloire sans le Maillot Jaune, written in 1964. Poulidor Intime was published in May 2007 by Éditions Jacob-Duvernet in France. In 2004 he helped write Poulidor par Raymond Poulidor with the radio reporter Jean-Paul Brouchon. The preface is by Eddy Merckx
. Several other books have appeared about him.
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
. He was known as the eternal second, because he finished 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...
in second place three times, and in third place five times, including his final Tour at the age of 40. Despite his consistency, he never wore the Yellow Jersey in 14 Tours, of which he completed 12.
His career was distinguished, despite coinciding with two great riders - Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...
and 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...
. This underdog position may have been the reason Poulidor was a favourite of the public.
Early life
Raymond Poulidor was the son of Martial and Maria Poulidor, small farmers outside the hamlet of Masbaraud-MérignatMasbaraud-Mérignat
Masbaraud-Mérignat is a commune in the Creuse department in the Limousin region in central France.-Geography:A farming area comprising the village and several hamlets situated in the valley of the river Taurion, some south of Guéret at the junction of the D61 and the D912...
, where the Creuse
Creuse
Creuse is a department in central France named after the Creuse River.-History:Creuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of La Marche....
region east of Limoges
Limoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
meets the département of Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...
. He was born in the same year that his eventual directeur sportif
Directeur sportif
A directeur sportif is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event...
, Antonin Magne
Antonin Magne
Antonin Magne was a French cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1931 and 1934. He raced as a professional from 1927 to 1939 and then became a team manager...
, became world road race champion. Poulidor began working on the farm where, he remembered, "the soil was poor and we had to work hard; farming incomes were poor." The need for working hands on the farm meant he left school at 14 even though he wanted to continue his studies. Local entertainment went little further than village fairs, with coconut shies, sack-races, competitions for bottles of home-made jam... and inter-village cycle races.
Poulidor rode on a bike given to him by André Marquet, who ran a cycle shop in nearby Sauviat-sur-Vige
Sauviat-sur-Vige
Sauviat-sur-Vige is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.Inhabitants are known as Sauvigeois.-References:*...
. Marquet took Poulidor to his first races by motorcycle.
Success on a local level came quickly and Poulidor added the money he won - which he said could be considerable at the time because the crowd put up prizes all through the race - to the family's income. He acquired his first racing licence when joined La Pédale Marchoise at La Forêt-Montboucher when he was 17. He came seventh in his first race, at St-Mareil. He wanted to ride the local round of a national youth competition called the Premier Pas [First Step] Dunlop. It fell in the middle of harvest, however, and Poulidor could train only at night after 15 hours in the fields. He raced for three years as an amateur, once beating Louison Bobet
Louison Bobet
Louis 'Louison' Bobet was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 to 1955...
.
It was only when Poulidor was taken into the army for compulsory national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in 1955 that he first travelled in a train. Pierre Chany
Pierre Chany
Pierre Chany was a French cycling journalist. He covered the Tour de France 49 times and was for a long time the main cycling writer for the daily newspaper, L'Équipe.- Biography :...
, a French reporter who followed 49 Tours de France, drew the comparison with Poulidor's eventual rival, Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...
: by the time Poulidor first stepped into a train, Anquetil had already been to Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, ridden the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, won a medal for France, turned professional and won the Grand Prix des Nations
Grand Prix des Nations
The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial for professional racing cyclists. Held annually in France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship of the world and as a Classic cycle race. The race was the idea of a Parisian newspaper editor...
. Yet there was less than two years between them.
The army sent Poulidor to the war then going on in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, where he worked as a driver and put on 12 kg through lack of exercise. In 1960 he dedicated himself to cycling again and lost the weight in a month. He won his first race after army service by six minutes. When he then came second in the GP de Peyrat-le-Château and won 80,000 old francs, he calculated that he had won more in one race than he would have earned in six years on the farm.
His farming background went before him and whenever he won a prize, other riders would laugh: "Hey, Pouli [his original nickname] can buy himself another cow!" Poulidor referred to his background throughout his career, once remarking: "No race, however difficult, goes on as long as a harvest."
Early career
Poulidor was discovered in 1959 by another French rider, Bernard GauthierBernard Gauthier
Bernard Gauthier is a retired French road racing cyclist, who was professional from 1947 to 1961. He won Bordeaux–Paris four times.-Major victories:1947...
, who said in the Belgian publication Coups de Pédales:
It was me who brought Poulidor to MercierMercierMercier is a common family name in France, in French-speaking regions of Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, and is found elsewhere where French-speaking people have settled.-List of persons with the surname:...
where, like Desbats and me, he spent all his career. In a criterium, I saw this unknown who was riding all around us. I saw him again in the Bol d'OrBol d'orThe Bol d'or is a motorcycle endurance race, held annually in France. Originally, it was an automobile as well as motorcycle race. The automobiles were limited to 1100cc engine capacity until the 1950s when the limit was raised to 1500cc, and later to 2000cc...
and I spoke to him. He said he hadn't yet got a team but that he was in talks. When I got home, I spoke straight away to Antonin MagneAntonin MagneAntonin Magne was a French cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1931 and 1934. He raced as a professional from 1927 to 1939 and then became a team manager...
, who asked me: "You're sure that he rides well?" I said I was and he contacted him and took him on.
Poulidor said it happened at Peyrat-le-Château, near St Léonard-de-Noblat. Gauthier had just won his fourth Bordeaux–Paris, but...
Magne offered Poulidor 25,000 old francs a month. Poulidor asked for 30,000. Magne countered that that was more than he paid Gauthier and Louis Privat and refused. Later, aware that he had a rival for Anquetil, he conceded.
Gauthier's confidence was justified when in 1961 Poulidor won Milan – San Remo in his second season as a professional. He started the race stung by Press criticism of his tactical sense; he had attacked but been caught by the bunch five kilometres from the finish of the Grand Prix de Nice. Poulidor got off to a bad start in Milan – San Remo when he punctured before halfway and lost two minutes. Magne insisted that he chase back to the race, which he did, catching up in time to ride the Capo Verde hill with 20 km to go. He recovered fast enough to counter an attack by Jean-Claude Annaert, catching him with the Dutchman Ab Geldermans, who had won the previous year's Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Poulidor attacked and dropped Annaert, then left Geldermans. He had a lead of 20 seconds at the summit. He stayed clear alone to win by three seconds from 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...
of Belgium.
The Anquetil years
Poulidor's rivalry with Anquetil is a legend in cycling. While a good climber, Poulidor had a hard time matching Anquetil in the individual time trialIndividual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
, often having victory snatched from him by losing time in time-trial stages of the Tour de France.
Poulidor's riding style was aggressive and attacking, whereas Anquetil preferred to control the race in the mountains and win time in the time-trials. Poulidor became the darling of the French public, to the ire of Anquetil. Poulidor's mid-France upbringing and his slow Limousin speech also contrasted with Anquetil's northern background and sharper accent. Poulidor's face was deeply tanned and furrowed; Anquetil had high cheekbones, a smoother face and brushed-up blond hair.
Poulidor's best chance of defeating Anquetil in the 1964 Tour de France
1964 Tour de France
The 1964 Tour de France was the 51st Tour de France, taking place June 22 to July 14, 1964. The total race distance was 22 stages over 4504 km, with riders averaging 35.419 km/h. Stages 3, 10 and 22 were all two part stages with one the first half being a regular stage and the second half...
, in the finish on the Puy de Dôme. Anquetil rode beside Poulidor but both were so exhausted that only in the last few hundred metres could Poulidor take nearly enough time to threaten Anquetil's yellow jersey. The Tour organiser, Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France from 1936 to 1986....
, was behind the pair as they turned off the main road and climbed through what police estimated as half a million spectators. Goddet recalled:
The two, at the extreme of their rivalry, climbing the road wrapped like a ribbon round the majestic volcano, terribly steep, in parallel action... I've always been convinced that in these moments that supreme player of poker, the Norman [Anquetil], used his craftiness and his fearless bluffing to win his fifth Tour. Because, to me, it was clear that Anquetil was at the very limit of his strength and that had Poulidor attacked him repeatedly and suddenly then he would have cracked... Although his advisers claim that his error in maintaining steady pressure rather than attacking was the result of using slightly too big a gear, which stopped his jumping away, I still think that it was in his head that Pou-Pou should have changed gears.
Anquetil rode on the inside by the mountain wall while Poulidor took the outer edge by the precipice. They could sometimes feel the other's hot gasps on their bare arms. At the end, Anquetil cracked, after a battle of wills and legs so intense that at times they banged elbows. Poulidor says he was so tired that he has no memory of the two touching, although a photograph shows that they did. Of Anquetil, the veteran French reporter Pierre Chany wrote: "His face, until then purple, lost all its colour; the sweat ran down in drops through the creases of his cheeks." Anquetil was only semiconscious, he said. Anquetil's manager, Raphaël Géminiani
Raphael Geminiani
Raphaël Géminiani is a French former road bicycle racer. He had six podium finishes in the Grand Tours. He is one of four children of Italian immigrants who moved to Clermont-Ferrand. He worked in a cycle shop and started racing as a boy...
, said:
Anquetil's head was a computer. It started working: in 500 metres, Poulidor wouldn't get his 56 seconds. I'll never forget what happened when Jacques crossed the line. Close to fainting, he collapsed on the front of my car. With barely any breath left, exhausted, but 200 per cent lucid, he asked me: 'How much?' I told him 14 seconds. 'That's one more than I need. I've got 13 in hand', he said.
In my opinion Poulidor was demoralised by Anquetil's resistance, his mental strength. There were three times when he could have dropped Anquetil. First, at the bottom of the climb. Then when Julio Jimenez attacked [and left the two Frenchmen, accompanied by the rival climber Federico Bahamontes]. Finally in the last kilometre. The nearer the summit came, the more Jacques was suffering. In the last few hundred metres, he was losing time. At the top of the Puy it's 13 per cent. Poulidor should have attacked: he didn't. Poulidor didn't attack in the last 500 metres - it was Jacques who got dropped, and that's not the same thing.
Poulidor recalled, 40 years later:
Poulidor gained time but when they reached Paris, Anquetil still had a 55-second lead and won his last Tour de France thanks to the time-trial on the final day. The writer Chris Sidwells said:
The race also ended the Anquetil era in Tour history. He could not face riding it the following year, and in 1966 he retired from the Tour with bad health - once he'd made sure that Poulidor could not win either. Poulidor may not have managed to slay his dragon, in fact so bloodied was he by his battle that he never did win the Tour, but he did manage to wound his rival, and in so doing brought down the curtain on the rule of the first five-times winner - the first great super-champion of the Tour de France.
It was often said that Anquetil preferred to see Poulidor lose than to win a race himself. The two were paired for a two-man time-trial in 1965; instead of riding for victory, Anquetil feigned exhaustion and cost both the victory, which he admitted later. Poulidor said the two had to bear each other's presence in the round-the-houses races that then made up most of riders' incomes after the Tour. He said:
He said he thought of Anquetil "not every day but almost."
Poulidor recalls Anquetil's last words to him on his deathbed:
Anquetil-Poulidor: the social significance
Anquetil unfailingly beat Poulidor in the Tour de France and yet Poulidor remained the more popular. "The more unlucky I was, the more the public liked me and the more money I earned", he said.Divisions between fans became marked, which two sociologists studying the impact of the Tour on French society say became emblematic of France old and new.
The extent of those divisions is shown in a story told by Pierre Chany:
The Tour de France has the major fault of dividing the country, right down to the smallest hamlet, even families, into two rival camps. I know a man who grabbed his wife and held her on the grill of a heated stove, seated and with her skirts held up, for favouring Jacques Anquetil when he preferred Raymond Poulidor. The following year, the woman became a Poulidor-iste. But it was too late. The husband had switched his allegiance to Gimondi. The last I heard they were digging in their heels and the neighbours were complaining.
While Chany's story may be apocryphal, Poulidor himself says he knows of couples who divorced and of fights that started in bars when fans debated whether he or Anquetil was the better.
Jean-Luc Boeuf and Yves Léonard, in their study, wrote:
Those who recognised themselves in Jacques Anquetil liked his priority of style and elegance in the way he rode. Behind this fluidity and the appearance of ease was the image of France winning and those who took risks identified with him. Humble people saw themselves in Raymond Poulidor, whose face - lined with effort - represented the life they led on land they worked without rest or respite. His declarations, full of good sense, delighted the crowds: a race, even a difficult one, lasts less time than a day bringing in the harvest. A big part of the public therefore finished by identifying with the one who symbolised bad luck and the eternal position of runner-up, an image that was far from true for Poulidor, whose record was particularly rich. Even today, the expression of the eternal second and of a Poulidor Complex is associated with a hard life, as an article by Jacques Marseille showed in Le Figaro when it was headlined "This country is suffering from a Poulidor Complex".
Poulidor himself says that people would no longer talk of him had he won the Tour. As it is,
Research showed that more than 4,000 newspaper articles appeared about him in France in just 1974 and that no other rider "had ever incited so many sociological investigations, so many university theses, seeking to find the cause of his prodigious popularity.
Poupou, the nickname
Poulidor's original nickname was Pouli. It was Émile Besson of the daily newspaper L'HumanitéL'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
who first wrote of Poupou. The name was taken up throughout France, leading to headlines such as "Poupoularité" in L'Équipe
L'Équipe
L'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of football , rugby, motorsports and cycling...
. A poupée is a doll and the nickname hints at that and follows the French tradition of repeating the first syllable of a word in childspeak. Poulidor has never liked the name but accepts it.
Poulidor: the first drugs test
Raymond Poulidor was the first rider to be tested for drugs in the Tour de France. Testers arrived at the Tour for the first time in 1966, in BordeauxBordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, although only after word had spread and many riders had left their hotels. The first competitor they found was Poulidor. He said:
A few other riders were found, including 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...
, and some obliged and others refused. Next morning, the race left the city on the way to the Pyrenees and stopped in the suburb of Gradignan, in the university area of La House. The riders climbed off and began walking, shouting protests in general and in particular abuse at the race doctor, Pierre Dumas
Pierre Dumas
Pierre Dumas was a French doctor who pioneered drug tests in the Olympic Games and cycling. He was doctor of the Tour de France from 1952 to 1969 and head of drug-testing at the race until 1977.-Background:...
, whom some demanded should also take a test to see if he'd been drinking wine or taking aspirin to make his own job easier. Riders also criticised Poulidor for accepting to be tested. He dismissed their protests and stayed at the back of the strike. Other prominent riders, including Jacques Anquetil, were at the front. Poulidor said his indifference to the controls and the strike harmed his relations with fellow riders. "After that, they did me no favours in the peloton", he said.
The Merckx years
The end of the Anquetil era presented opportunities for Poulidor to finally win the Tour de France. This was not to be due to injuries in 1967 and 1968, and the arrival of Eddy MerckxEddy 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...
in 1969. Poulidor was no match for Merckx, although he offered much resistance.
In the 1973 Tour
1973 Tour de France
The 1973 Tour de France was the 60th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 22, 1973. It consisted of 20 stages over 4140.4 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.918 km/h. After winning the 1973 Vuelta a España and the 1973 Giro d'Italia, Eddy Merckx did not participate in the Tour...
Poulidor almost lost his life on the descent from the Col de Portet d'Aspet
Col de Portet d'Aspet
The Col de Portet d'Aspet is a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees in the department of Haute-Garonne in France. It is situated on the D618 road between Aspet and St. Girons. At , it connects the Ger and Bouigane valleys, on the slopes of the Pic de Paloumère .-Details of climb:Starting from...
when he plunged into a ravine, taking a serious blow to the head and crawling out with the help of the race director, Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France from 1936 to 1986....
.
Poulidor and Dr Mabuse
Antonin Magne remained manager of Poulidor's Mercier team until 1970, when he was replaced by another former rider, Louis Caput. Caput brought with him as deputy directeur sportifDirecteur sportif
A directeur sportif is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event...
a man who described himself as a homeopath, Bernard Sainz.
Sainz is known in cycling as Dr Mabuse, after a pulp-fiction character created by Norbert Jacques. Mabuse is a criminal mastermind who becomes rich through hypnotic powers. He plots to take over the world but is foiled by the police. From his cell he masterminds criminal plots by writing endless gibberish. Sainz recognises the nickname and used it in the name of his autobiography.
He is a former velodrome
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
rider of national level who stopped racing after a fall and became involved in horse racing, where he was twice convicted of maltreating horses. It was in horse-racing, where he turned unremarkable animals into champions, that he acquired his nickname. He has been repeatedly investigated by police and has been convicted of illegally practising medicine and incitement to doping. He claims that he only engages in homeopathic treatment, though whatever methods he engages in are effective, casting doubt on this claim.
Louis Caput approached Edmond Mercier, the bicycle-maker behind Poulidor's team, and asked to bring Sainz into the team management. Mercier agreed, said Sainz, because he was already treating Mercier for his own health problems. Mercier had also brought in the insurance company, GAN, as main sponsor. GAN, said Sainz, demanded that Poulidor be in the team photo even if all he did was train with the team at the start of the season. In 1971 Poulidor had decided against riding any more.
Sainz said:
Roger Piel, his business manager, asked him to ride a last season, a farewell tour. He declined the proposition, gently as was his habit, but firmly, believing that he had already ridden one season too many. The season was over. That was when Louis Caput asked me to intervene. He couldn't stand the idea that such a monument of cycling could leave the sport by the back door. Poulidor agreed to meet me, although insisting that his decision to stop was irrevocable. In the style of a true Limousin, Poupou was reserved and careful, even defiant, but very quickly I sensed that he was attentive to what I was suggesting. I took his pulse for a long time as is the tradition in acupuncture, I examined the iris of his eyes according to the principles of iridology, and the soles of his feet according to the principles of reflexology.
Sainz continued:
From the moment he started training again at home, in the Limousin, he rediscovered lost sensations... He called me three times a week. When he got to the traditional training camp on the Côte d'Azur, far from still believing as he had three months earlier that his career was over, he insisted on riding the races that opened the new season. I was obliged to intervene, to dissuade him, and then in face of his determination, to persuade him not to finish them.
The tactic, Sainz said, was bluff, to increase his motivation. In Paris–Nice, the first important stage race of the season, Poulidor was 22 seconds 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...
on the morning of the last day. Poulidor attacked from the start, setting a speed record on the col de la Turbie that stood for more than 10 years and won Paris–Nice by two seconds. Next year he won Paris–Nice again and also the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.
Teams
Poulidor stayed with the same sponsor, Cycles Mercier, throughout his career. With changes of secondary and primary sponsor, he raced in the colours of Mercier-BP (1960–1967), Fagor-Mercier (1970–1971), Gan-Mercier (1972–1976) and Miko-Mercier (1977). BP was a petroleum company, Fagor made kitchen equipment, Gan was an insurance company and Miko made ice cream.Retirement
Poulidor has several times accepted that his career was handicapped by a lack of ambition and by the psychological domination of Jacques Anquetil. Poulidor said in an interview in 1992:On 25 January 1973 Poulidor was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. In 2003 the President, Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
increased the award. Poulidor also has a rose named after him, reflecting his love of gardening in general and roses in particular.
He lives with his wife Gisèle in St-Léonard-de-Noblat, east of Limoges, where he makes short trips on his mountain bike. Their daughter, Corinne, is married to the former world cyclo-cross champion, Adri van der Poel
Adri van der Poel
Adrie van der Poel is a retired Dutch cyclist. The Grand Prix Adri van der Poel is named after him. Van der Poel was a professional from 1981 to 2000. His biggest wins included 6 classics, two stages of the Tour de France and the World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 1996...
. Poulidor works in public relations for one of the subsidiary sponsors during the Tour, has bicycles made under his name by the France-Loire company, and has appeared in television commercials aimed at older people.
When asked about his longevity compared to fellow cyclists, Poulidor said he took things in moderation and did not overstretch himself.
Poulidor has written several biographies, the first of which was Gloire sans le Maillot Jaune, written in 1964. Poulidor Intime was published in May 2007 by Éditions Jacob-Duvernet in France. In 2004 he helped write Poulidor par Raymond Poulidor with the radio reporter Jean-Paul Brouchon. The preface is by 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...
. Several other books have appeared about him.
Palmarès
1960- Bordeaux - Saintes
- Bonnat
- Arcachon
1961
- Bourganeuf
- Guéret
- Mont-Faron
- Mur-de-Bretagne
- National road championship
- Plancoët
- Plévin
- Pontivy
- Saint-Brieuc
- Saint-Vallier
- Ussel
- Milan – San Remo
1962
- Brignoles
- Limoges
- Limoges
- Tour de France1962 Tour de FranceThe 1962 Tour de France was the 49th Tour de France, taking place June 24 to July 15, 1962. It was composed of 22 stages over 4274 km, ridden at an average speed of 37.306 km/h. After more than 30 years, the Tour was again contested by trade teams...
:- Winner stage 19
- 3rd overall
1963
- Bol d'Or des Monédières Chaumeil
- Chiroubles
- GP Lugano, Chrono
- Saint-Claud
- Saint-Vallier
- Weekend Ardennais
- La Flèche WallonneLa Flèche WallonneLa Flèche Wallonne is a major men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Belgium.The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week between the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège...
- Limoges
- Ussel
- Grand Prix des NationsGrand Prix des NationsThe Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial for professional racing cyclists. Held annually in France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship of the world and as a Classic cycle race. The race was the idea of a Parisian newspaper editor...
- Tour de France1963 Tour de FranceThe 1963 Tour de France was the 50th Tour de France, taking place June 23 to July 14, 1963. The total race distance was 21 stages over 4137 km, with riders averaging 37.092 km/h...
:- 8th overall
1964
- Super Prestige Pernod InternationalSuper Prestige Pernod InternationalThe Super Prestige Pernod International was a season-long competition in road bicycle racing between 1958 and 1988.Disagreements between the organisers of the similar Challenge Desgrange-Colombo led to its demise and a gap in season-long competitions. In 1958, the publicity division of Pernod...
- Auch
- Critérium InternationalCritérium InternationalThe Critérium International is a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932....
- Felletin
- GP de Cannes
- GP de Soissons
- Guéret
- Limoges
- Miramont-de-Guyenne
- Ronde de Seignelay
- Vailly-sur-Sauldre
- Vuelta a España1964 Vuelta a EspañaThe 19th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 30 to May 16, 1964. It consisted of 17 stages covering a total of 2,860 km, and was won by Raymond Poulidor of the Mercier cycling team...
:- Winner stage 15
Winner overall
- Tour de France1964 Tour de FranceThe 1964 Tour de France was the 51st Tour de France, taking place June 22 to July 14, 1964. The total race distance was 22 stages over 4504 km, with riders averaging 35.419 km/h. Stages 3, 10 and 22 were all two part stages with one the first half being a regular stage and the second half...
:- Winner stage 15
- 2nd overall
1965
- Bain-de-Bretagne
- Callac
- Cenon
- Commentry
- Oradour-sur-Glane
- Saint-Hilaire
- Escalada a MontjuïcEscalada a MontjuïcThe Escalada a Montjuïc is a one-day, two-stage road bicycle racing race held in Barcelona, Spain since 1965. It is held in the middle of October, as one of the final races in the European season. Since 2005, it is organised as a 1.2 category race as a part of the UCI Europe Tour...
- Villeneuve sur Lot
- Tour de France1965 Tour de FranceThe 1965 Tour de France was memorable for a number of reasons. In his first year as a professional, Felice Gimondi, a substitute replacement on the Salvarani team, captures the overall title ahead of Raymond Poulidor, last year's second place finisher...
:- Winner stages 5B and 14
- 2nd overall
- Vuelta a España1965 Vuelta a EspañaThe 20th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 29 to May 16, 1965. It consisted of 18 stages covering a total of 3,410 km, and was won by Rolf Wolfshohl of the Mercier cycling team...
:- Winner stages 4A and 16
- 2nd overall
- Mont-de-Marsan
1966
- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- Critérium InternationalCritérium InternationalThe Critérium International is a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932....
- Miniac-Morvan
- Oradour-sur-Glane
- Quilan
- Sanary
- Bussières
- Tour de France1966 Tour de FranceThe 1966 Tour de France was the 53rd Tour de France, taking place June 21 to July 14, 1966. It consisted of 22 stages over 4303 km, ridden at an average speed of 36.760 km/h....
:- Winner stage 14B
- 3rd overall
1967
- Bol d'Or des Monédières Chaumeil
- Boulogne-sur-Mer
- Chateaubriant
- Châteaulin
- Chaumeil
- Circuit de l'AulneBoucles de l'AulneBoucles de l'Aulne is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in May or June around Châteaulin, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2006, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour....
- La Limouzinière
- Puteaux
- Saint-Thomas de Conac
- Vergt
- Vuelta a España1967 Vuelta a EspañaThe 22nd Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 27 to May 14, 1967. It consisted of 18 stages covering a total of 2,940.5 km, and was won by Jan Janssen of the Pelforth cycling team...
:- Winner stage 15B
- 8th overall
- Tour de France1967 Tour de FranceThe 1967 Tour de France was the 54th Tour de France, taking place June 29 to July 23, 1967. It consisted of 22 stages over 4780 km, ridden at 35.018 km/h...
:- Winner stage 22B
- 9th overall
- Ussel
- A Travers Lausanne
- Escalada a MontjuïcEscalada a MontjuïcThe Escalada a Montjuïc is a one-day, two-stage road bicycle racing race held in Barcelona, Spain since 1965. It is held in the middle of October, as one of the final races in the European season. Since 2005, it is organised as a 1.2 category race as a part of the UCI Europe Tour...
1968
- Chateaubriant
- Commentry
- Critérium InternationalCritérium InternationalThe Critérium International is a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932....
- Plumeliau
- Châteauneuf
- Guéret
- Reims
- Bethon
- Escalada a MontjuïcEscalada a MontjuïcThe Escalada a Montjuïc is a one-day, two-stage road bicycle racing race held in Barcelona, Spain since 1965. It is held in the middle of October, as one of the final races in the European season. Since 2005, it is organised as a 1.2 category race as a part of the UCI Europe Tour...
1969
- Ambert
- Biot
- Boulogne-sur-Mer
- Brette-les-Pins
- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- Garancières-en-Beauce
- La Rochelle
- La Souterraine
- Nexon
- Noyal
- Oradour-sur-Glane
- Saint-Claud
- Tour du Haut VarTour du Haut VarThe Tour du Haut Var is an early-season two-day road bicycle race in the Provence region of France. From 2005 to 2008, it was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, the race was changed to a two-day 2.1 event.-Palmarès:...
- Nice - Seillans
- Tour de France1969 Tour de FranceThe 1969 Tour de France was the 56th Tour de France, taking place June 28 to July 20, 1969. It consisted of 22 stages over 4110 km , ridden at an average speed of 35.409 km/h...
:- 3rd overall
1970
- Chasseneuil
- Périers
- Poiré-sur-Vie
- Ussel
- Saint-Thomas de Conac
- Tour de France1970 Tour de FranceThe 1970 Tour de France was the 57th Tour de France, taking place June 27 to July 19, 1970. It consisted of 23 stages over 4366 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.589 km/h....
:- 7th overall
1971
- Critérium InternationalCritérium InternationalThe Critérium International is a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932....
- Pléaux
- Setmana Catalana de CiclismeSetmana Catalana de CiclismeThe Catalan Cycling Week was an important multi-stage road bicycle race held in Catalonia, Spain. It was last organised in 2005 as a 2.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour...
- Vuelta a España1971 Vuelta a EspañaThe 26th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 29 to May 16, 1971. It consisted of 17 stages covering a total of 2,892 km, and was won by Ferdinand Bracke of the Peugeot cycling team...
:- 9th overall
1972
- Callac
- Critérium des AsCritérium des AsThe Critérium des As was a cycle race that was generally held at the end of the season, with entry by invitation only, for the leading riders of the season. Competitors rode behind pacers on tandems or motorcycles. It was held from 1921 until 1990, mostly in Paris, France but also in Switzerland...
- Critérium InternationalCritérium InternationalThe Critérium International is a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932....
- Egletons
- Felletin
- Garancières-en-Beauce
- Limoges
- Oradour-sur-Glane
- Saintes
- Ussel
- Villamblard
- Paris–Nice
- Pleurtuit
- Tour de France1972 Tour de FranceThe 1972 Tour de France was the 59th Tour de France, taking place July 1 to July 22, 1972. It consisted of 20 stages over 3846.6 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.371 km/h. The long awaited clash between Eddy Merckx and Luis Ocaña after Ocaña crashed on Col de Menté in the 1971 Tour de...
:- 3rd overall
1973
- Bussières
- Concarneau
- Egletons
- GP de Soissons
- Grand Prix du Midi LibreGrand Prix du Midi LibreThe Grand Prix du Midi Libre was a multiple-stage cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation courses for the Tour de France...
- La Souterraine
- Lescouet-Jugon
- Trégueux
- Paris–Nice
- Saint-Macaire en Mauges
- Rieux
1974
- Beaulac-Bernos
- Camors
- Ergué-Gabéric
- Vailly-sur-Sauldre
- Chateau-Chinon
- Ambarès
- Vendôme
- Tour de France1974 Tour de FranceThe 1974 Tour de France was the 61st Tour de France, taking place June 27 to July 21, 1974. It consisted of 22 stages over 4098 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.241 km/h...
:- Winner stage 16
- 2nd overall
1975
- Auzances
- Dunières
- Garancières-en-Beauce
- Lanne
- Mensignac
1976
- Concarneau
- Pléaux
- Pontoise
- Rodez
- Tour de France1976 Tour de FranceThe 1976 Tour de France was the 63rd Tour de France, taking place June 24 to July 18, 1976. The total race distance was 22 stages over 4017 km, with riders averaging 34.518 km/h.It was won by mountain specialist Lucien Van Impe...
:- 3rd overall
1977
- Vailly-sur-Sauldre
- Pogny