53rd Tour de France 1966

“Pou Pou” Gets Surprised… Again!

The Italian stars, Felice Gimondi (defending champion), Vittorio Adorni, and Gianni Motta (1966 Giro d'Italia champion), all elected not to participate in the 1966 Tour de France. This fact automatically shifted the focus (again...) to the very popular Frenchman Raymond “Pou Pou” Poulidor for the 1966 Tour. With the return of the 1964 TdF champion, Jacques Anquetil, a great French battle for the General Classification was anticipated.

SPECIAL NOTE: DOPING! The dark side of the Tour reared its ugly head again in 1966. Race official, who started discussions on drug use in the peloton during the 1965 Tour, carried out a surprise drug test after stage 8 in Bordeaux. The time for discussion was over and the French Federation of Cycling needed to do something. The drug tests were just the first step in a long process. Unhappy with the unexpected anti-doping control of the race officials and French Federation, the riders stopped the race just after the start of stage 9. Following the protest and rider negotiations, the race did continue and the stage was completed.

Stage 10 marked the start of the climbing in the Pyrenees Mountains. A small group of riders slipped away from the contenders on the climb of the Col d'Aubisque and gain a 7-minute lead. Anquetil and Poulidor were so focused on watching each other; they both missed the opportunity to join the breakaway. A cagey Anquetil claimed to have been working for his teammate in the breakaway.

The breakaway group included the relatively unknown Italian Tommaso De Pra, overall contender Jan Janssen (Ned) and Anquetil's teammate Lucien Aimar. The best-placed rider in the breakaway was De Pra. He gained the stage win and was rewarded with the Maillot Jaune. The race was still a long distance from Paris and Poulidor felt very confident that the two remaining individual time trials (ITT) and the climbing stages in the Alps would be his springboard to the Tour victory.

When the race reached Val les Bains for the 20 km ITT, Poulidor rode brilliantly and beat Anquetil by 7 seconds. He also gained 47 seconds on Aimar.

The aggressive racing in the Alps continued on stage 17 from Briancon to Torino (Ita). An 8-rider group broke away at the foot of the final climb of the day, the Col de Coletta. Poulidor, chasing hard, managed to slip away in another group of 5 riders in pursuit of the leaders. Overall leader Janssen along with Aimar and Anquetil were the odd men out. Anquetil took over the pace making at the front of the third pack and stubbornly caught the Poulidor group. Once the connection was made, Anquetil signaled to Aimar to counter-attack.

At the finish in Torino Lucien Aimar crossed the line eighth place, but gained 2'02” on Janssen. The time gain gave Aimar the Maillot Jaune for the first time. Only after the stage did Poulidor realize the seriousness of his error. His strategy to steadfastly stay with Anquetil backfired and the Maillot Jaune escaped his grasp again.

SPECIAL NOTE: Anquetil was riding well during the 1966 Tour, but he was clearly off his normal level of fitness. Suffering from a bout with bronchitis in the Alps, grand champion Jacques Anquetil, at the 212 km point of stage 19, rolls slowly to a halt and dismounts his bike. He had stayed in the race long enough to help his teammate Lucien Aimar gain a commanding lead in the race. Once his work was done, Maitre Jacques bid his final farewell to the TdF.

Poulidor continued to attack the race leader through the final 4 stages but could not gain time on Aimar. On Bastille Day a jubilant Frenchman Lucien Aimar rolled across the finish line in Paris for a grand but surprise victory.

TdF 1965

TdF 1967

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