Professional_career Raymond_Poulidor

1 professional career

1.1 anquetil years
1.2 anquetil-poulidor: social significance
1.3 poupou, nickname
1.4 merckx years
1.5 poulidor , dr mabuse

professional career

poulidor discovered in 1959 french rider, bernard gauthier, said in belgian publication coups de pédales:

it me brought poulidor mercier where, desbats , me, spent career. in criterium, saw unknown riding around us. saw him again in bol d or , spoke him. said hadn t yet got team in talks. when got home, spoke straight away antonin magne, asked me: re sure rides well? said , contacted him , took him on.

poulidor said happened @ peyrat-le-château, near st léonard-de-noblat. gauthier had won fourth bordeaux–paris, but... ...that day, lapped him, took 4 laps out of him, though difficult circuit. impressed.

magne offered poulidor 25,000 old francs month. poulidor asked 30,000. magne countered that more paid gauthier , louis privat , refused. later, aware had rival anquetil, conceded.

gauthier s confidence justified when in 1961 poulidor won milan–san remo in second season professional. started race stung press criticism of tactical sense; had attacked been caught bunch 5 kilometres finish of grand prix de nice. poulidor got off bad start in milan–san remo when punctured before halfway , lost 2 minutes. magne insisted chase race, did, catching in time ride capo verde hill 20 km go. recovered fast enough counter attack jean-claude annaert, catching him dutchman ab geldermans, had won previous year s liège–bastogne–liège. poulidor attacked , dropped annaert, left geldermans. had lead of 20 seconds @ summit. stayed clear alone win 3 seconds rik van looy of belgium.

the anquetil years

poulidor @ 1966 tour de france

poulidor s rivalry anquetil legend in cycling. while climber, poulidor had hard time matching anquetil in individual time trial, having victory snatched him losing time in time-trial stages of tour de france.

poulidor s riding style aggressive , attacking, whereas anquetil preferred control race in mountains , win time in time-trials. poulidor became darling of french public, ire of anquetil. poulidor s mid-france upbringing , slow limousin speech contrasted anquetil s northern background , sharper accent. poulidor s face tanned , furrowed; anquetil had high cheekbones, smoother face , brushed-up blond hair.

poulidor s best chance of defeating anquetil came in 1964 tour de france, in finish on puy de dôme. anquetil rode beside poulidor both exhausted in last few hundred metres poulidor take enough time threaten anquetil s first place in general classification. tour organiser, jacques goddet, behind pair turned off main road , climbed through police estimated half million spectators.

anquetil rode on inside mountain wall while poulidor took outer edge precipice. feel other s hot gasps on bare arms. @ end, anquetil cracked, after battle of wills , legs intense @ times banged elbows. poulidor says tired has no memory of 2 touching, although photograph shows did. of anquetil, veteran french reporter pierre chany wrote: face, until purple, lost colour; sweat ran down in drops through creases of cheeks. anquetil semiconscious, said. poulidor gained time when reached paris, anquetil still had 55-second lead , won last tour de france time-trial on final day.

anquetil-poulidor: social significance

anquetil unfailingly beat poulidor in tour de france , yet poulidor remained more popular. more unlucky was, more public liked me , more money earned , said. divisions between fans became marked, 2 sociologists studying impact of tour on french society became emblematic of france old , new. research showed more 4,000 newspaper articles appeared him in france in 1974 , no other rider had ever incited many sociological investigations, many university theses, seeking find cause of prodigious popularity.

poupou, nickname

poulidor s original nickname pouli. Émile besson of daily newspaper l humanité first wrote of poupou. name taken throughout france, leading headlines such poupoularité in l Équipe. poupée doll , nickname hints @ , follows french tradition of repeating first syllable of word in childspeak. poulidor has never liked name accepts it.

the merckx years

poulidor @ 1976 tour de france

the end of anquetil era presented opportunities poulidor win tour de france. not due injuries in 1967 , 1968, , arrival of eddy merckx in 1969. poulidor no match merckx, although offered resistance.

in 1973 tour poulidor lost life on descent col de portet d aspet when plunged ravine, taking serious blow head , crawling out of race director, jacques goddet.

poulidor , dr mabuse

antonin magne remained manager of poulidor s mercier team until 1970, when replaced former rider, louis caput. caput brought him deputy directeur sportif man described himself homeopath, bernard sainz. sainz known in cycling dr mabuse, after pulp-fiction character created norbert jacques. mabuse criminal mastermind becomes rich through hypnotic powers. plots take on world foiled police. cell masterminds criminal plots writing endless gibberish. sainz recognises nickname , used in name of autobiography.

he former velodrome rider of national level stopped racing after fall , became involved in horse racing, twice convicted of maltreating horses. in horse-racing, turned unremarkable animals champions, acquired nickname. has been repeatedly investigated police , has been convicted of illegally practising medicine , incitement doping. claims engages in homeopathic treatment, though whatever methods engages in effective, casting doubt on claim.

louis caput approached edmond mercier, bicycle-maker behind poulidor s team, , asked bring sainz team management. mercier agreed, said sainz, because treating mercier own health problems. mercier had brought in insurance company, gan, main sponsor. gan, said sainz, demanded poulidor in team photo if did train team @ start of season. in 1971 poulidor had decided against riding more. tactic, sainz said, bluff, increase motivation. in paris–nice, first important stage race of season, poulidor 22 seconds behind eddy merckx on morning of last day. poulidor attacked start, setting speed record on col de la turbie stood more 10 years , won paris–nice 2 seconds. next year won paris–nice again , critérium du dauphiné libéré.