52nd Milan-San Remo 1961 (Italy)

“Pou Pou” Wins a Monument!

In 1961 talented Frenchman Raymond “Pou Pou” Poulidor won Milan-San Remo in his second season as a professional. Poulidor’s race didn’t go smoothly. He punctured at the 140 km mark of the race and quickly lost two minutes.

Poulidor wanted to abandon the race but his team manager Antonin Magne insisted that he continue. He did keep riding and caught the peloton on the Capo Verde with 20 km to go. Inspired by the chase Poulidor counter-attacked and caught a solo Jean-Claude Annaert in the lead. Poulidor immediately attacked and dropped Annaert. He held a lead of 20 seconds at the summit.

Into the closing kilometers Poulidor rode brilliantly and stayed away to win by three seconds over a hard charging Rik Van Looy (Bel).

M-SR 1960

M-SR 1962

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