51st Tour de France 1964

Anquetil verses Poulidor, an Epic Battle

Defending champion Jacques Anquetil came to the 1964 Tour de France in search of an unprecedented fifth championship. Anquetil started the race with tired legs. He had just won the Giro d'Italia for the second time and hoped to equal Fausto Coppi's (1949 and 1952) Tour-Giro double (winning the Tour and Giro in the same year).

Tour organizers again formulated the race for climbers and his main rival Raymond “Pou Pou” Poulidor came to the TdF with great fitness. The Tour climbing started on stages 7 in the Alps and the contenders came to the front of the race. Raymond Poulidor consistently attacked Anquetil's tired leg on the early stages and slowly gained 58 seconds on the defending champion.

The last day in the Alps created a bizarre finish to stage 9. The stage finish was in Monaco and included a short circuit around Monaco. Raymond Poulidor sprinted for the finish line that marked the start of the finishing circuit. Pou Pou thought he had won the stage and raised his hands in victory. He had forgotten about the closing circuit. Jacques Anquetil took full advantage of the mistake and rode away to the stage win. Poulidor did finish the stage in the same time, but the stage win gave Anquetil a one-minute bonus. *

* SPECIAL NOTE: This one-minute bonus would become very important by the finish of the Tour.

Raymond Poulidor's bad luck continued during the next stage, the 20.8 km ITT from Hyeres to Toulon. Poulidor held a slim 15-second advantage in the GC over Anquetil and needed an extraordinary ride in the ITT. The effort was there for Poulidor but midway through the TT a puncture cost him valuable time. Anquetil won the stage 36 seconds ahead of the ill-fated Pou Pou.

After the first of four stages in the Pyrenees Mountains, the Tour took its only rest day in Andorra. Rather than relax, Maitre Jacques, accompanied by his wife Janine, went out to a VIP party. He stuffed himself with barbecued lamb and at one point a photographer captured him with a cigarette and glass of wine.

One day later the race continued in the Pyrenees mountains. A groggy Anquetil feeling the effects of the party struggled to keep up with the pace of the peloton. On the ascent of the Port d'Envalira, Poulidor and Bahamontes put the pressure on Anquetil by upping the tempo. Anquetil was unable to follow the hard pace and faded back.

A panicked team director Raphael Geminiani realized the seriousness of the situation and frantically searched for a solution. In the back seat of the team car Geminiani found a bottle of champagne, which was reserved for the victory celebration in Paris. Desperate for any remedy Geminiani filled a water bottle with the champagne and handed it to the struggling Anquetil. By the top of the Port d'Envalira he trailed the Poulidor/Bahamontes group by 4 minutes. Anquetil let it all hang out on the descent and used his time trialing ability to catch the leading group. In Toulouse Maitre Jacques crossed the finish line in the same time as the leaders and saved his second place in the General Classification.

In the valley leading to Toulouse as the regrouping of 22 riders occurred, Poulidor broke a spoke. Quickly the team car changes the wheel, but an awkward push by the team mechanic sent Poulidor to the ground. The unfortunate “Pou Pou” lost 2 minutes by the finish. He now trailed Anquetil by 2'52”.

Needing to create something special, Poulidor used his anger from within to fuel an attack on the final climb of stage 15. Over the Col du Portillon Poulidor was alone on the road. Into the finish in Luchon “Pou Pou” earned a 1'09” (1'43” on the Anquetil group) stage win. With the 1 minute time bonus, Poulidor jumped back into third place overall and trailed Anquetil by only 9 seconds.

With the Anquetil/Poulidor match-up taking center stage, the race offered a 42 km individual time trial (ITT). Both riders put forth great efforts with Anquetil winning the stage over Poulidor, who slowed by an untimely puncture. Anquetil donned the Maillot Jaune for the first time in 1964 and opened a 56 second lead on Poulidor. Paris was six stages away with two major challenges remaining, the stage finish at the top of the Puy de Dome and the final stage ITT into Paris.

Raymond Poulidor still had hope for the Maillot Jaune, but he must out distance arch rival Anquetil on the Puy de Dome to attain the goal. The 10 km climb had an average grade of 9% with the last 5 km at 13%.

When the climb of the Puy de Dome started, Spanish climber Julio Jimenez broke clear of the peloton and set a brutal pace up the climb. Fellow countryman Federico Bahamontes soon joins him in the breakaway. Anquetil and Poulidor matched each other move for move and dueled steadily up the climb. The battle on Puy de Dome was a classic: the weather was brutally hot, the crowd was large and very vocal, and the two Frenchmen were extended to the maximum. Maitre Jacques hid his pain well but Poulidor's pace cracked Anquetil in the final 1.5 km of the climb. One bike length opened then two, then three and Poulidor hammered toward the finish. Across the line “Pou Pou” was third on the stage and the clock was ticking. A fading Anquetil struggled to the finish line 42 second behind Poulidor. Anquetil had saved his race lead by a scant 14 second. All eye turned to the final ITT into Paris.

Stage 22 was separated into two sections. In the morning section, the race was 119 km from Orleans to Versailles and in the afternoon section the race was the much anticipated 27 km ITT from Versailles to Paris. The atmosphere was electric throughout all of France. Not only was France celebrating Bastille Day, July 14th, but it was the finish of a CLASSIC TdF battle. Huge numbers of Anquetil fans met with equally huge numbers of Poulidor fans along the race route. The Parc des Princes Velodrome in Paris, the official finish line, was filled to capacity!

At the intermediate time check Poulidor had forged a 5 second advantage. Anquetil, a time trial specialist, was losing time. Poulidor hit the finish line with the leading time of 37'31” with Anquetil the only rider still on the race course. With the clock ticking, “Pou Pou” still had hope of overall victory. When Maitre Jacques entered into Parc des Princes Velodrome the crowd roared as he crossed the finish line in 37'10”. Still the master of the time trial, Anquetil had won the stage and gained his record setting 5th Tour de France victory by a mere 55 seconds.

* SPECIAL NOTE: Remember the one-minute time bonus from stage 9 taken by Anquetil after the Poulidor 'closing circuit' mistake. The unfortunate Raymond Poulidor would never wear the Maillot Jaune or win a TdF.

TdF 1963

TdF 1965

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