The world of road cycling sometimes loves the second placed riders more than the winners. It’s especially the case of French cyclist, “The Eternal Second”, Raymond Poulidor (1936-2019), who rode Tour de France 14 times, he completed 12 of them, finished second of the general classification 3 times, and third 5 times. But he never wore the yellow jersey. (Which made the moment, when his grandson Mathieu van der Poel claimed the famous jersey in 2021 even more unique).
Raymond Poulidor’s best years collided with Jacques Anquetil’s best years, their duel reached its peak at the Tour de France in 1964.1
Poulidor was more agressive, attack-friendly rider, who was good in the mountains, while Anquetil dominated the time trials and was considered a more calculating, cold-headed racer.
Their clash on the 20th stage, which finished on Puy de Dôme, of Tour de France 1964 became one of the most iconic moments in the history of road racing.
Before the stage, Jacques Anquetil led the general classification with 56″ ahead of Raymond Poulidor, meanwhile third placed Federico Bahamontes was aready more than 3 minutes behind the race leader. The 20th stage was 237,5 km long, and besides the Puy de Dôme, the route also included St Privat.
But of course, everybody focused on the final ascent of the day.
After the first km of the climb, only Anquetil, Poulidor, Bahamontes, Julio Jimenez and Vittorio Adorni stayed at the front of the race. Soon, Adorni dropped after an attack of Bahamontes and Jimenez. From strategic point of view, this was an advantageous situation for Anquetil, because the two riders at the front earned the time bonuses, but they were far from the yellow jersey, so Anquetil had to focus on the real racing time of Poulidor only.
They rode literally shoulder by shoulder together, as the famous image shows it. Anquetil decided not to put his wheel behind Poulidor, which would be reasonable, but he wanted to wear also a psychological battle. Newerteless, Poulidor attacked a few times, but he could not drop his rival until they reached the Flammes Rouge.
Inside the final kilometre Poulidor was finaly able to ride away from Anquetil and finished third behind Jiménez and Bahamontes. After the stage he was only 14″ behind Anquetil, but could never turn the race. It was definitely the closest moment Poulidor ever had the possibility of winning the Tour de France
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- Their rivalry went beyond the world of sport, their characters and lifestyles embodied two different archetypes of the French society in the 1960s. Read more: John Gaffney – Diana Holmes: Stardom in postwar France. Berghahn Books. 2007 [↩]