Top 25 All Time Tours #3

1964: Anquetil verses Poulidor, an Epic Battle

CR Timeline 1964 [also see Special Notes below]

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, because he had just won the Giro d'Italia for the second time. He hoped to equal the great Fausto Coppi's (1949 and 1952) Tour-Giro double .

Anquetil's effort in 1964 would not be easy. Tour organizers again formulated the race for climbers, and archrival Raymond “Pou Pou” Poulidor came to the Tour with strong climbing legs and great fitness.

When the Tour entered the climbing stages of the Alps , the contenders came to the front of the race. Raymond Poulidor consistently attacked Anquetil's tired legs on the early stages and slowly gained 58 seconds on the defending champion. Stage 8 featured the climbs of the Col du Telegraph and the Col du Galibier and saw Spanish climber Federico Bahamontes ride away from the peloton for the stage win. Poulidor led the remaining pack 1'32” behind the “Eagle of Toledo ”, with Anquetil at 1'49”, not far behind in eighth. Poulidor moved into third place overall, 1'15” seconds ahead of Jacques Anquetil.

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 before the finish. 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 the remaining circuit. Jacques Anquetil took full advantage of the mistake and rode away with the stage win. Poulidor finished in the same time, but the win gave Anquetil a one-minute bonus and closed his time gap to Pou Pou . (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 individual time trial from Hyeres to Toulon . Poulidor held a slim 15-second advantage 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. At the finish Anquetil won the stage, 36 seconds ahead of the ill-fated Pou Pou , and he moved into second place overall.

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 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.

The next day, the race continued in the Pyrenees with stage 14. A groggy Anquetil feeling the effects of the party struggled to keep pace. On the ascent of the Port d'Envalira, Poulidor and Bahamontes put the pressure on 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. As Tour legend tells us, 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 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. By the finish in Toulouse , Maitre Jacques crossed the finish line in the same time as the leaders and saved his second place in the overall classification.

During the stage bad luck grabbed Poulidor again. In the valley leading to Toulouse , the regrouping of 22 riders occurred, when 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 and Poulidor dropped in the overall classification. He now trailed Anquetil by 2'52”.

Needing to create something special, Poulidor used his anger 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 . The final push to Paris was taking place.

After Federico Bahamontes won stage 16 in the “Circle of Death” (the hardest day in Pyrenees Mountains ), the Anquetil/Poulidor match-up took center stage. Stage 17 had scheduled a 42 km individual time trial ( ITT ). Both riders put forth great efforts with Anquetil winning the stage by 37 seconds over Poulidor, who was slowed by another untimely puncture. Maitre Jacques donned the Maillot Jaune for the first time in 1964 and opened a 56 second lead on Poulidor. Paris was still six stages away, with the stage finish at the top of the Puy de Dome and the final stage ITT into Paris remaining.

Raymond Poulidor still had hope for the Maillot Jaune, but he must out distance his archrival on the Puy de Dome to attain the goal. The legendary 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 joined Jiminez 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 . Anquetil hid his pain well but in the final 1.5 km of the climb, Poulidor surged and Jacques cracked. One bike length opened then two, then three and Poulidor hammered toward the finish. Across the line “Pou Pou” was third 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 seconds. All eyes turned to the final ITT into Paris , which was only three stages away.

On the final day of the Tour, 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 contend 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” and the Anquetil was the only rider still on the 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 5th Tour de France victory by a mere 55 seconds (Note: remember the stage 9 description above).

SPECIAL NOTE: Jacques Anquetil had also accomplished a Big 3 Tour double for the second time (1963 Tour/Vuelta, 1964 Tour/Giro). Spaniard Federico Bahamontes won his record setting 6th Best Climber Prize . Jan Janssen (Ned) narrowly defeated Edward Sels (Bel) for the Maillot Vert (Green points Jersey ).

TdF 1964 Recap

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