Raymond Poulidor (; 15 April 1936 – 13 November 2019), nicknamed "Pou-Pou" (), was a French professional

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

, who rode for his entire career. His distinguished career coincided with two other outstanding riders –

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) 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. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ye ...

and

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an ...

. This underdog position may have been the reason Poulidor was a favourite of the public. He was known as "The Eternal Second", because he never won the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

despite finishing 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 as leader of the general classification in 14 Tours (of which he completed 12). He did win one Grand Tour, the

1964 Vuelta a España The 19th ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 30 April to 16 May 1964. It consisted of 17 stages covering a total of , and was won by Raymond Poulidor of the Me ...

. Of the eighteen Grand Tours that he entered in his career, he finished in the top 10 fifteen times.

Early life and amateur career

Raymond Poulidor was the son of Martial and Maria Poulidor, small farmers outside the hamlet of Masbaraud-Mérignat, where the

Creuse Creuse (; or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the east, Cor ...

region east of

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

meets the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; , ; Upper Vienne) is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture an ...

. Poulidor began working on the farm where, he remembered, "the soil was poor and we had to work hard; farming incomes were poor."Colin, Jacques (2001): ''Paroles de Peloton'', Éditions Solar, France 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 continued to help out on his parents' farm even after he turned professional. Poulidor was given his first bike by a local shop owner at the age of 14. He started racing bicycles at the age of 16, picking up the interest from the magazine ''Miroir-Sprint'' given to him by one of his school teachers. He initially hid his passion from his mother, who was afraid of the dangers the sport entailed. It was only when Poulidor was taken into the army for compulsory

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in 1955 that he first travelled in a train.

Pierre Chany Pierre Chany (; 16 December 1922 – 18 June 1996) 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 Chany was born ...

, a French reporter who followed 49 Tours de France, drew the comparison with Poulidor's eventual rival,

: by the time Poulidor first stepped into a train, Anquetil had already been to

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, ridden the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, 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 Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, 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.

Professional career

Poulidor turned professional in 1960 with the Mercier team, directed by former Tour winner

Antonin Magne Antonin Magne (; 15 February 1904 – 8 September 1983) 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. The French rider and then journalist, Jean Bo ...

. 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.''L'indemodable'', L'Équipe, France, 27 June 2003 In just his second season, Poulidor won

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

, one of cycling's " monument classics". from the finish, he was about to abandon after he suffered a puncture and was two minutes behind the leading riders. Magne convinced him to continue and Poulidor bridged the gap. On the climb of the Capo Berta, he attacked, joined by

Albertus Geldermans Albertus "Ab" Geldermans (17 March 1935 – 20 April 2025) was a Dutch professional road bicycle racer and directeur sportif. He was professional from 1959 to 1966 and rode seven editions of the Tour de France. In 1962 he finished fifth overall ...

and teammate Jean-Claude Annaert, who set the tempo until they reached the foot of the final climb, the Poggio. Here, Poulidor attacked again and opened a gap. Despite being guided in the wrong direction by a police man in the final corner, he was able to hold off the chasing field by three seconds to take the victory. Also in 1961, he became French road race champion.

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 trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

, 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 came in the

1964 Tour de France The 1964 Tour de France was the 51st edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between 22 June and 14 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of . Stages 3, 10 and 22 were all two-part stage ...

, in the finish on the

Puy de Dôme Puy de Dôme (, ) is a lava dome and one of the youngest volcanoes in the region of Massif Central in central France. This chain of volcanoes including numerous cinder cones, lava domes and maars is far from the edge of any tectonic plate. ...

. 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 first place in the general classification.Le Tour m'a tout donné, ''L'Équipe'', France, 13 July 2004 The Tour organiser,

Jacques Goddet Jacques Goddet (; 21 June 1905 – 15 December 2000) was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France road cycling race from 1936 to 1986. Goddet was born and died in Paris. His father, Victor Goddet, was co-founder and finance ...

, was behind the pair as they turned off the main road and climbed through what police estimated as half a million spectators. 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. 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.

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. 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'Humanité (; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist." History ...

'' who first wrote of Poupou. The name was taken up throughout France, leading to headlines such as "Poupoularité" in ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...

''. 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 never liked the name but accepted it.

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

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,

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 sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

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. Sainz is a former

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. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

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. Sainz 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. The tactic, Sainz said, was bluff, to increase his motivation. In

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

, the first important stage race of the season, Poulidor was 22 seconds behind

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.

Drug testing

Raymond Poulidor was the first rider to be tested for drugs in the Tour de France.Poulidor, Raymond: "J'appartiens à la légende", ''L'Équipe'', France, 12 July 1999 Testers arrived at the Tour for the first time in 1966, in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, although only after word had spread and many riders had left their hotels. The first competitor they found was Poulidor. A few other riders were found, including

Rik Van Looy Henri "Rik" Van Looy (20 December 1933 – 17 December 2024) was a Belgian professional Cycle sport, cyclist of the post-World War II, war period. Nicknamed the ''King of the Classics'' or ''Emperor of Herentals'' (after the small Belgian city ...

, and some obliged and others refused. Next morning, the race left the city on the way to the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

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.

Retirement and death

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: I knew straight away that I was getting places everywhere. I got all the leaders' jerseys but I used to lose them. Tonin agnesaid to me "Raymond, you're always in a daydream!" ''And was that true? Were you distracted?'' It was true. I thought what was happening to me was already marvellous enough. I never thought of winning. Never, ever, did I get up in the morning with the idea of winning! On 25 January 1973 Poulidor was made a

Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. In 2003 the President,

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

increased the award. Poulidor also has a rose named after him, reflecting his love of gardening in general and roses in particular. He lived with his wife Gisèle in

Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat (; , , alternatively ''Sent Liunard de Noblac''), often simply referred to as Saint-Léonard, is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France, on a hill above the river ...

, east of Limoges, where he made short trips on his mountain bike. Their daughter, Corinne, is married to the former world

cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

champion and

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

winner

Adri van der Poel Adri van der Poel (born 17 June 1959) is a retired Dutch cyclist. Van der Poel was a professional from 1981 to 2000. His biggest wins included six classics, two stages of the Tour de France and the World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 1996. He als ...

. His grandsons

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

and

Mathieu van der Poel Mathieu van der Poel (born 19 January 1995) is a Belgian-born Dutch professional Cycle sport, cyclist who rides for the UCI WorldTeam . He competes in the cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, mountain biking, Gravel cycling, gravel and road bicyc ...

are also cyclists: Mathieu became cyclo-cross world champion six times, road champion once and won three of the five

Monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

and a stage in the 2021 Tour de France at which he dedicated his win and yellow jersey to his grandfather. Poulidor worked in public relations for

Crédit Lyonnais The Crédit Lyonnais (, "Lyon Credit ompany) was a major French bank, created in 1863 and absorbed by former rival Crédit Agricole in 2003. Its head office was initially in Lyon but moved to Paris in 1882. In the early years of the 20th cen ...

, sponsor of the yellow jersey, during the Tour. He had 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

. On 13 November 2019, Raymond Poulidor died in

. He had been in a hospital for two months prior, having suffered from heart problems.

Career achievements

Major results

Source: ;1959 : 3rd Grand Prix d'Oradour-sur-Vayres ;1960 : 1st Bordeaux–Saintes : 2nd Circuit des Boucles de la Seine : 3rd Overall

Grand Prix de Fourmies The Grand Prix de Fourmies is a bicycle race held in the Fourmies commune of France. From 2005 to 2019 it was organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2021, it joined the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's ...

: 4th Overall

Grand Prix du Midi Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road 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 co ...

: 5th Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

: 6th Overall Tour du Sud-Est ::1st Stage 2 : 7th

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m ...

: 7th Circuit de l'Aulne : 8th

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand Prix d'Isbergues is a professional cycle road race held in Isbergues, Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which ...

: 10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ;1961 : 1st MaillotFra

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st

: 1st Mont Faron Hill Climb : 2nd Overall

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk () is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been held over a 5 or 6 day period for ...

::1st

Mountains classification : 3rd Bronze medal uci

Road race,

: 3rd Overall

: 3rd

Genoa–Nice Genoa–Nice was a professional cycle race held as a single-day race between Genoa, Italy and Nice, France. It was first held in 1910 and held for the final time in 1975. In 1961 and 1962 it was part of the Super Prestige Pernod The Super Prest ...

: 3rd Grand Prix de Cannes : 4th Manx Trophy : 7th

Bordeaux–Paris The Bordeaux–Paris professional road bicycle racing, cycle race was one of Europe's classic cycle races, and one of the longest in the professional calendar, covering approximately – more than twice most single-day races. It started in north ...

: 9th Overall

: 9th

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

: 10th

Gran Premio di Lugano The Gran Premio di Lugano () is a road bicycle race held annually in Lugano, Switzerland. Prior to 1981 it was held as an individual time trial but in recent years it has been organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe T ...

;1962 : 2nd Mont Faron Hill Climb : 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 19 : 3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 5th

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

: 6th Overall Tour du Sud-Est : 7th Overall

: 8th Overall

: 10th Overall Tour du Var ;1963 : 1st

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

: 1st Grand Prix des Nations : 1st

: 2nd Overall Critérium National de la Route ::1st Stage 1 : 2nd Overall Tour du Sud-Est : 2nd

: 2nd Grand Prix de Cannes : 2nd

Trofeo Baracchi The Trofeo Baracchi was a major Italian cycling race that ran for 50 years. It was created by Giacomo Baracchi, in memory of his father Angelo who was a great cycle racing fan. Originally (from 1941) an amateur individual time trial An indiv ...

(with

) : 3rd Overall Paris–Luxembourg ::1st Stage 2 : 3rd

: 5th Road race,

: 5th

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

: 5th Grand Prix du Parisien ( TTT) : 6th

: 8th Overall

: 8th Circuit de l'Aulne : 9th

: 10th

Critérium des As The ''Critérium des As'' (''Race of the Aces'') 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 w ...

;1964 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

::1st Stage 15 ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Critérium National de la Route ::1st Stage 3 ( ITT) : 1st Grand Prix de Cannes : 1st Stage 7

: 1st Stage 2a Circuit du Provençal : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 15 : 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Stages 2 & 4a ( ITT) : 2nd

: 3rd

Road race,

: 4th Overall Paris–Luxembourg : 6th

(with

Henry Anglade Henry Anglade (6 July 1933 – 10 November 2022) was a French cycle sport, cyclist. In 1959 Tour de France, 1959 he was closest to winning the Tour de France, when he won a stage and finished second, 4:01 behind Federico Bahamontes. In 1960 he wo ...

) ;1965 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Escalada a Montjuïc ::1st Stages 1a & 1b ( ITT) : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall

::1st Stages 5b ( ITT) & 14 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stages 4a ( ITT) & 16 ( ITT) ::Held Jersey yellow

after Stages 4a–7 : 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 2nd Overall Critérium National de la Route ::1st Stage 2 : 3rd Grand Prix des Nations : 4th Overall

: 4th

(with Georges Chappe) : 6th Overall Circuit du Provençal ::1st Stage 3a : 6th

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

: 10th Circuit de l'Aulne : 10th

;1966 : 1st Jersey yellow-bluebar

Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Stage 7b ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Critérium National de la Route ::1st Stage 3 ( ITT) : 1st Subida a Arrate : 1st Mont Faron Hill Climb : 2nd Overall

::1st Stages 6b ( ITT) : 2nd

(with Georges Chappe) : 3rd Bronze medal uci

Road race,

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 14b ( ITT) : 3rd

: 3rd Grand Prix d'Aix-en-Provence : 3rd

: 5th

: 5th Grand Prix des Nations : 6th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 7th

: 9th

: 9th Circuit des Boucles de la Seine ;1967 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Escalada a Montjuïc ::1st Stage 1b ( ITT) : 1st Circuit de l'Aulne : 1st Bol d'Or des Monédières Chaumeil : 1st A Travers Lausanne : 2nd Critérium National de la Route : 3rd Overall

: 3rd

: 3rd Polymultipliée : 5th Circuit des Boucles de la Seine : 5th

(with Roger Pingeon) : 6th GP du canton d'Argovie : 7th

: 7th

Coppa Agostoni The Coppa Ugo Agostoni is a classic cycle races, semi classic European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Lissone, Italy. The race is held in memory of Italian cyclist Ugo Agostoni, winner of prestigious classic Milan–San Remo, killed du ...

: 7th

: 8th Overall

::1st Stage 15b ( ITT) : 9th Overall

::1st Stage 22b ( ITT) ;1968 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Escalada a Montjuïc ::1st Stages 1a & 1b ( ITT) : 1st Critérium National de la Route : 1st Subida a Arrate : 2nd Circuit de l'Aulne : 2nd

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 3b ( ITT) : 3rd Overall A Travers Lausanne : 3rd

: 4th Overall

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium (; ) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Between 1982 and 1990 several races were not org ...

::1st Stage 3 : 5th

: 6th

: 7th Road race,

: 8th Overall

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

: 8th Overall Polymultipliée ::1st Stage 2 ( ITT) : 9th Overall Paris–Luxembourg ;1969 : 1st Jersey yellow-bluebar

Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Stages 1a ( ITT) & 5a ( ITT) : 1st Tour du Haut Var : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 1a ( ITT) : 2nd Grand Prix d'Aix-en-Provence : 2nd Grand Prix des Nations : 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 4th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 5th

: 5th

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a ...

: 7th Overall

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'') is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar. As the Basque Country is ...

::1st Stage 4b ( ITT) : 7th Overall

: 7th Polymultipliée : 8th

: 9th Critérium National de la Route ;1970 : 2nd Overall

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme The Catalan Cycling Week (''Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme'' in Catalan language, Catalan) was a stage race, multi-stage road bicycle race held in Catalonia, Spain. Held annually from 1963 until 2005, it was run as a 2.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour ...

: 2nd Overall A Travers Lausanne : 4th Overall

: 4th Polymultipliée : 6th

: 7th Overall

: 8th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 8th

: 8th

: 8th Grand Prix des Nations : 10th

;1971 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Étoile des Espoirs The Étoile des Espoirs was an end of the season French cycling stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-d ...

::1st Stage 5 ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 1st Critérium National de la Route : 2nd Overall

: 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 5th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 5th GP Union Dortmund : 6th Grand Prix des Nations : 9th Overall

;1972 : 1st Jersey white

Overall

::1st Stage 7b ( ITT) : 1st Critérium National de la Route : 1st

: 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 1b ( ITT) : 2nd

: 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 4th Grand Prix des Nations : 5th

Bruxelles–Meulebeke Brussels-Meulebeke () was a men's road cycling road race held in Belgium annually in May from 1964 to 1975. The competition's roll of honor includes two victories by Rik Van Looy and Eddy Merckx. The record of victories, however, belongs to Fred ...

: 7th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 10th

;1973 : 1st Jersey white

Overall

: 1st

Overall

: 3rd Overall A Travers Lausanne : 4th Overall

: 4th

: 5th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 6th Grand Prix de Wallonie : 7th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 7th Circuit de l'Aulne : 9th Grand Prix des Nations : 10th

;1974 : 2nd Silver medal uci

Road race,

: 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 16 : 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Jersey white dots on red

Mountains classification ::1st Stage 6b ( ITT) : 4th Critérium National de la Route : 5th Overall

: 5th Overall

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

::1st Prologue : 5th

: 6th

;1975 : 2nd Overall

Tour du Limousin Tour du Limousin is a 4-day road bicycle race held annually in Limousin, France. It was first held in 1968 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle raci ...

::1st Stage 3 : 3rd

Paris–Bourges Paris–Bourges is a French road bicycle race. The race originally started in Paris and ran to the town of Bourges in the Région Centre. However, in recent year with the length of races shortened it has become impossible to link the two cities a ...

: 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 7th Overall

: 7th Overall

Tour de l'Oise The Tour de Picardie was a professional multi-stage cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

: 8th

Grand Prix de Monaco The Monaco Grand Prix () is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the wo ...

: 10th

;1976 : 2nd

: 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 5th

: 7th Overall

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

: 7th Grand Prix des Nations : 8th

;1977 : 4th Overall

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

: 6th Overall

: 7th Overall Tour de l'Aude : 7th

: 9th Overall Tour Cycliste du Tarn

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Monuments results timeline

Major championships results timeline

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poulidor, Raymond 1936 births 2019 deaths French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners French Vuelta a España stage winners Vuelta a España winners Super Prestige Pernod winners Cyclists from Nouvelle-Aquitaine 20th-century French sportsmen Occitan sportspeople Cyclists awarded knighthoods Sportspeople from Creuse Occitan-speaking people

Early life and amateur career

Professional career

The Anquetil years

Anquetil-Poulidor: the social significance

Poupou, the nickname

The Merckx years

Poulidor and Dr Mabuse

Drug testing

Retirement and death

Career achievements

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Monuments results timeline

Major championships results timeline

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links