The column: A paean to Poulidor

The column: A paean to Poulidor

So much more than “the eternal second”, a tribute to the great Raymond Poulidor, who passed away last week

Racing Raymond Poulidor

My closest encounter with Raymond Poulidor came at this year’s Grand Départ in Brussels. I saw him several times at the back of the press room. I couldn’t quite believe it was him but I checked with other journalists who confirmed the sighting. 


While everyone else was either rushing around or beavering away at their keyboards, whether busy or keen to give the impression of busyness, the 83 year-old simply sat at one of the desks, arms folded, often with a patient smile on his face. He seemed content. Happy to wait to be called into action. A model for being, I thought.


That he was required to wear a yellow polo shirt in his role as an ambassador for Crédit Lyonnais, despite the fact that he never got to wear the actual maillot jaune, seemed cruel to some. Yet those who thought that Poulidor was somehow the victim of a joke missed the fact that he was very much in on it.

Besides, Raymond Poulidor won plenty of big bike races. The list included seven Tour stages, the Dauphiné Libéré (twice), Paris-Nice (twice) and La Vuelta. That the grand boucle’s general classification did not adorn his palmares does not alter the fact that he was an immense athlete.


A five-time Tour de France winner is an aberration. Poulidor’s bad luck was that his career crossed over with two of them in Anquetil and Merckx. If you choose to look at it as bad luck, though he certainly didn’t.


Because, what more would one Tour win (or even two) have brought him?


We romanticise – perhaps overly so, because there are so few of them about these days – the idea of the rider who is born on the lowest rungs of life’s economic ladder for whom the sport provides a way up. Vin (“Vic”) Denson, who rode for Anquetil for a time in the 60s, described Poulidor as “a farm worker who found an old bike in the hedge, jumped on it and tried to beat the big champion.” What would Poulidor’s life have been if he hadn’t discovered a talent for cycling? We can’t know but he probably had some idea himself.

Raymond Poulidor

Two weeks ago Bradley Wiggins told the Rouleur Classic audience that “I don’t feel entitled to earn a living out of the sport but I love it. It’s given me everything,” and Poulidor seemed to see it the same way. There’s only so much room for retirees on the circuit and he seemed grateful that he was one the sport would always find a place for.


And it wasn’t because of what he did on the bike. Or not only what he did on the bike, though the rivalry with Jacques Anquetil was the stuff of legend.


Read: Anquetil v Poulidor


And the fallacious notion that you have to be a bastard to win the best bike races was arguably born out of the contrast between the respective characters of those two. Those who buy into it need lessons not only in correlation and causation, but also to be reminded that who a rider is off the bike is not necessarily who he is on it. Anquetil and Merckx were two of the greatest riders of all time. Being the best of the rest was no modest accomplishment.


It’s untrue that Poulidor was wheeled out each summer to make fun of his sporting “failures”. France wanted him there for the opportunity to show him its love, not to laugh. To them the eternal second was not an “almost”. There’s more than one way to be great.

 

The post The column: A paean to Poulidor appeared first on The world's finest cycling magazine.

Racing Raymond Poulidor

READ MORE

Carlos Verona winning stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia

From Loss to Triumph: Lidl-Trek is built on loyalty, not just talent

A day after losing their GC leader Giulio Ciccone to a crash, Lidl-Trek win their sixth Giro stage thanks to Carlos Verona

Read more
The contenders at the 2025 Giro d'Italia

Roglič is wounded but UAE must contend with other sharks circling the pink jersey

Isaac del Toro stands up well against attacks from Egan Bernal, Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz on stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia

Read more
Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 16 preview: The hardest test yet

Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 16 preview: The hardest test yet

A summit finish to San Valentino is almost certain to cause big changes to the GC standings

Read more
Giulio Ciccone

The crash that caused chaos: The Giro d'Italia has had an unexpected GC shake-up

On what was supposed to be a simple sprint finish, neither the fastmen nor many of the GC riders will be pleased with how the...

Read more
Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 15 preview: Up and over Monte Grappa

A stage stacked full of climbing may not be enough to draw out the GC contenders, thanks to the long plateau to the finish

Read more
Isaac del Toro

Victory by a thousand paper cuts: Can Isaac del Toro's bonus seconds strategy lead to a Giro d'Italia win?

The Mexican has been the most impressive GC rider so far in this Giro, but will face his toughest test in the high mountains next...

Read more

READ RIDE REPEAT

JOIN ROULEUR TODAY

Get closer to the sport than ever before.

Enjoy a digital subscription to Rouleur for just £4 per month and get access to our award-winning magazines.

SUBSCRIBE