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By Barry Boyce CyclingRevealed Historian
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Anquetil Blossoms
French superstar Jacques Anquetil came back to the 1961 Tour de France with grand ambitions. This year his great talent had matured to a point that his strength and attitude made Maitre Jacques a complete rider.
The “Tricolour” Jersey of the French National team controlled the race from the beginning. Jacques Anquetil won the opening individual time trial (ITT) and took the Maillot Jaune (race leader's Yellow Jersey) at the end of stage 1b.
When the Alpine climbing stages began the first of the contenders stepped forward. Former TdF champion Charly Gaul rode aggressively, but could not escape the strangle hold of the French. A defensive Anquetil answered every Gaul effort. The impatient press started to question the passiveness of the French race plan. Anquetil and his teammates were strongly criticized for riding defensively to maintain the race lead. The brutal Pyrenees Mountain stages were next on the schedule, and hopes were high for more aggressive racing.
The second stage in the Pyrenees Mountains features the journey into the “Circle of Death” (the hardest day in the Pyrenees Mountains). Anquetil continued to mark only his closest rivals, again allowing only lower classified riders to climb away from the peloton. An angry Tour director Jacques Goddet wrote in his daily newspaper report, “Dreadful, impotent, resigned and satisfied dwarves of their mediocrity!” The plan was passive, however after the two stages in the Pyrenees, Anquetil still held a solid race lead
Two stages before the finish in Paris, stage 19 the 74 km individual time trial (ITT) provided one last challenge. Charly Gaul, trailing by 7'03”, needed a great effort to challenge Anquetil's lead. Midway through the stage, he was beginning to cut into Anquetil's lead when disaster struck. Gaul crashed heavily. He remounted and continued, but fell off his previous pace. Anquetil easily won the ITT stage with Gaul losing another 2'59”.
Jacques Anquetil rode comfortably into Paris for his second Tour de France victory.
SPECIAL NOTE: The bad press reports throughout the passive Tour soured the French people's opinion of the victory. The reports set off a long “love / hate” relationship between Anquetil and his French fans. The rejection and jeers by the public hurt Maitre Jacques deeply, BUT the writing of talented Jacques Anquetil's TdF legacy was far from done.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Stage 1a ROUEN-VERSAILLES, 137 km |
Andre Darrigade (Fra) |
Andre Darrigade (Fra) |
Stage 1b VERSAILLES , 28.5 km ITT |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 2 PONTOISE-ROUBAIX, 231 km |
Andre Darrigade (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 3 ROUBAIX-CHARLEROI, 197 km |
Emile Daems (Bel) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 4 CHARLEROI-METZ, 238 km |
Anatole Novak (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 5 METZ-STRASBOURG, 221 km |
Louis Bergaud (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 6 STRASBOURG-BELFORT, 180 km |
Joseph Planckaert (Bel) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 7 BELFORT-CHALONS SUR SAONE , 215 km |
Jean Stablinski (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 8 CHALON SUR SAONE-ST ETIENNE, 240 km |
Jean Forestier (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 9 ST ETIENNE-GRENOBLE, 230 km |
Charly Gaul (Lux) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 10 GRENOBLE-TORINO (Ita), 250 km |
Guy Ignolin (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 11 TORINO (Ita)-JUAN LES PINS, 225 km |
Guido Carlesi (Ita) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 12 JUAN LES PINS-AIX EN PROVENCE , 199 km |
Michel Van Aerde (Bel) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 13 AIX EN PROVENCE-MONTPELLIER, 178 km |
Andre Darrigade (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 14 MONTPELLIER-PERPIGNAN, 174 km |
Eddy Pauwels (Bel) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 15 PERPIGNAN-TOULOUSE, 206 km |
Carlesi Guido (Ita) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 16 TOULOUSE-LUCHON/Superbagneres, 208 km |
Massignan Imerio (Ita) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 17 LUCHON-PAU, 197 km |
Eddy Pauwels (Bel) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 18 PAU-BORDEAUX, 207 km |
Martin Van Geneugden (Bel) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 19 BERGERAC-PERIGUEUX, 74.5 km ITT |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 20 PERIGUEUX-TOURS, 310 km |
Andre Darrigade (Fra) |
Jacques Anquetil (Fra) |
Stage 21 TOURS-PARIS, 252 km |
Robert Cazala (Fra) |
 Jacques Anquetil (Fra)
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BEST CLIMBER PRIZE |
Imerio Massignan (Ita) |
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POINTS CLASSIFICATION |
 Andre Darrigade (Fra)
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| TdF June 25 - July 16, 1961 |
| 4,391 Km |
1.
Jacques ANQUETIL (Fra) 122h01'33" |
2.
Guido Carlesi (Ita) +12'14" |
3.
Charly Gaul (Lux) +12'16" |
Starters: 132 |
Finishers: 72 |
Average Speed: 36.033 km/h |
TdF 1960
TdF 1962
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48th Tour de France 1961
