Paris (AFP)
Raymond Poulidor, deceased Wednesday, in ten dates:
1936: Raymond Poulidor was born on April 15th in Masbaraud-Mérignat (Creuse). Fifth child (and boy) of one of a sharecropper family, he grew up in the countryside.
1952: At the age of 16, between work on the farm and the fields, he plays his first race.
1956: as the best regional rider, he competes with the best professionals (Louison Bobet, Raphaël Géminiani) in the Bol d'Or of the Monédières, before leaving for his military obligations in Germany and Algeria.
1960: he becomes a professional rider in the Mercier team led by Antonin Magne.
1961: first great victories: he wins Milan-Sanremo and becomes champion of France.
1962: At age 26, despite a broken finger, he made his debut in the Tour de France that he finished in third place. He is more applauded than the winner Jacques Anquetil.
1964: he bows to Anquetil for victory in the Tour in a duel undecided to the end. The following year, in the absence of his great rival, he took second place again (behind the Italian Felice Gimondi).
1972: Under the colors of GAN-Mercier, he won Paris-Nice by defeating Belgian champion Eddy Merckx in the time trial of the Col d'Eze.
1976: At age 40, he finished third in the Tour, his eighth place on the podium in fourteen participations. He will then calculate having traveled some 56,000 kilometers in the Great Loop.
1977: he ends his career rich of 189 victories but continues to stay in cycling as a consultant and / or public relations.
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