L’éternel second devenu légende : la vraie histoire de Raymond Poulidor – Documentaire Histoire AMP

Il n’a jamais porté le maillot jaune… mais il est entré dans le cœur des Français. 👋 + de documentaires histoire 👉 http://bit.ly/3lqyFpY 🙏 Abonnez vous !

00:00 – Introduction : Qui est Raymond Poulidor ?
02:20 – Une enfance paysanne et la naissance d’un champion
05:00 – Carrière, victoires et défaites marquantes
08:40 – Le duel avec Jacques Anquetil
12:00 – Popularité, image publique et valeurs humaines
16:30 – Après la gloire : retraite et héritage
20:00 – Réflexions sur le dopage et l’évolution du cyclisme
24:00 – Conclusion : Une icône française

Surnommé l’éternel second, Raymond Poulidor a toujours été le préféré des Français face au grand champion Jacques Anquetil. D’abord rivaux, ils sont devenus les plus grands amis par la suite.

Avec sa sagesse et sa patience légendaires, Poulidor revient sur ses années de carrière. Il se confie sur la gloire, le dopage, l’argent, les femmes et son duel mémorable avec Anquetil qui a tant passionné les amoureux du cyclisme.

À découvrir sur Notre Histoire :
Chocolat Poulain : L’incroyable histoire de celui qui a révolutionné le chocolat https://youtu.be/xh6LCcv8GL8
La Berlinette et Le Mans : l’histoire d’une légende Alpine Renault https://youtu.be/gb9WLnxLrq8

“RAYMOND POULIDOR, NOTRE CHAMPION”
Réalisé par Jean Luret
©AMP

#RaymondPoulidor #Cyclisme #TourDeFrance #HistoireDuSport #JacquesAnquetil #Documentaire #NotreHistoire #CyclismeFrançais #PoulidorAnquetil #documentairehistoire

He is a character
who stands the test of time. I think that when he was a runner,
he made his mark. He was very strong. He sometimes came up against those who were stronger
than him with Merck and Anquetil. And then he had a
competitive duration that was exceptional. Now I think
pretty much everything has been said about me. Perhaps some viewers
still don’t know everything. Maybe they’ll find out
during this show? Pou Pou Pou Poulidor, a sung version, crazy,
offbeat, illustrating Raymond’s still great notoriety. These young Picardy rockers even
named their group: Les Poulidores. If I say Raymond Poulidor, what does
that mean to you, please? A character, a healthy image,
a pretty image of childhood. For a cyclist.
There you go, that’s it. Yeah, it’s Poupou. Because Raymond Poulidor
was a nice little guy. We had to get into his skin. Something that we don’t see
today, something quite balanced, something… There you have it, an endearing character. Raymond Poulidor developed this good nature and kindness throughout his childhood in the countryside. His parents, people of the land,
accustomed him to working in difficult conditions. They gave him the strength to resist
the cold, the bad weather, the heatwave. An endurance that he will maintain
throughout his career. I spent my entire childhood
in Creuse. Tender childhood, but it’s
Creuse and it’s where you come from. I’ve always been there. So, we tend to say,
it’s the most beautiful country. Raymond Polyde Their intimate
is a character who is simple at heart,
who has never been very complicated, who takes life as it is. You know, he comes from a
very humble family, very, very humble. And he had a lot of difficulty,
I would almost say, in asserting himself, not only because
Raymond was not lacking in class, but he arrived a little later
in professionalism because there was the Algerian war. He spent almost thirty
months in Algeria. So he comes back, he’s
a little broken, he’s thickened. We have to do everything again. And he does it again. He takes everything with humility. It was the countryside, it was the birds,
it was the braged rotons. It was wonderful.
You can’t get any better than this. If only the altitude. We were evolving roughly when I was. The highest I climbed
was 400, 500, 600 meters. And there, Saint-Léonard is
about 200 meters away. On the slopes of the Limousin mountains,
young Raymond is recognized as the best amateur cyclist in the region. But when he turned professional
and moved away from his country, the future champion felt a sense of despair. It was mostly my early
years as a cyclist. I was a little homesick. So I was a dreamer when I arrived
at a three or four-day stage race , I always let myself get trapped
because I thought I had left my home, my countryside and other things,
that I was somewhere else. So I was a dreamer. I remember, I do
n’t know if it was luck, I had a life,
I wasn’t unhappy in my youth, but a very hard life,
a country life. And when I became a cyclist,
for me, it was easy. It was easy, I had the masseur,
I ate well, I showered and everything. My bike was being taken care of.
It was wonderful. It’s a meow and everything. He’s someone from our area. A meow and everything. This is what we call
the inhabitants of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblin. He won the Spanish jump. At noon by a Dauphine team,
the French championship, the Volonne arrow, Binance-Rémy,
the door, Mr. Raymond Poulidor. I retired when
I was over 70. The day you decided to quit,
there was a moment when you said: I’m quitting competition. When I stopped,
it felt really strange. In January, end of January, 78. I was practically before 42 years old. I had a superb Paris-Roubaix,
but the mountain, it’s against the clock, was becoming very difficult. This is where we realize
that a page is turning. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? He wanted to be athletic. He wanted to be a boxer. Afterwards, he was a cyclist. He had that drive and I think he
also achieved his dream. I don’t know if he says it,
but he made his dream come true. I was lucky
to be good at cycling. I was lucky
to be in very good health. I come from a background,
I wouldn’t say an unhappy background, but from a peasant background where we did
n’t know what comfort was. Then, overnight,
I was surrounded by the great sphere. I let myself live. For me, I was happy. Victory mattered little to me. Victories were of little importance to him,
but he still won 189 of them. 189 victories with which he built
one of the finest records in French cycling. A record that has
not turned his head. He still enjoys contact with
his old admirers who invariably talk to him about the past. Paul Olivier,
who has always followed him, tells how Poulidor met
Antonin Magne, his future manager. Everything comes by itself. One day, he was in Péralchateau,
in a criterium, he took a turn at everyone. And there, he was unknown,
totally unknown, except to those of Creuse,
those of Haute-Vienne, those of the Creuset, of his Creuset. And Bernard Gautier, who was a
tenor at the time, he was a French champion,
four times winner of Bordeaux-Paris, immediately called Antonin Maille
and said to him: Antonin, I just saw a guy there, we
have to take him on immediately. Don’t hesitate at this moment. People are always talking about me.
Why are people talking about me? Because I’m presented as the runner
who has never won a race. Luckily for me, I won
some, very important ones and many of them. So this yellow jersey, this
yellow color, doesn’t it annoy you a little? No, it doesn’t bother me because if you
are here today, it’s perhaps thanks to that, since you should know that I came
second behind three different generations. In 1964, we always remember the duel
with Anquetil and 10 years later, I had practically the same duel with Merckx. I almost beat it. They were little champions. They are certainly the greatest
champions that cycling has ever known. And I finished second behind
these two exceptional runners. Bourbet’s position is there
to congratulate him and also to congratulate Plancard and Poulidor, second and third,
who also have two to convince. When you were second and Anquetil
was on the podium, how did you feel? I felt it. I say: Well, one day
I will certainly be in his place. My greatest pride
is having beaten Anquetil against Lamont. Anquetil, who was considered one of the
greatest riders in this exercise. He was a calculating man, he
won by a second, that was enough for him. And then, what a champion!
What a champion, what an extraordinary man! Anquetil was practically unclassifiable
from every point of view. I was often
asked: So, are you still beaten? I said: Yes, but by whom? So,
that’s my first Tour de France, 1962. Besides, not far from here,
I was doing a little outing, then I broke a crank. And I broke my little finger,
by the way, it’s still deformed. And I started the tour
in a huge plate. Besides, look at the conditions in which
I started the tour. There, you see,
I have trouble holding my hand. There, it is the arrival of the Puy de Dôme. So, when we asked people who
won the Puy de Dôme, 80% would say: It was Poulidor. While I did third in the state. The Poulidor legend was born from this
rivalry in the Poulidor queue, on the slopes of the Puy de Dôme,
where for kilometers, they looked each other up and down wheel to wheel. Power struggle,
fratricidal struggle that destabilizes. Today, teams use
psychologists who observe and analyze the behavior
and potential of each rider. Poulidor, who was already becoming the
public’s favorite, made Anquetil crack. I don’t know if there isn’t
also a sort of class behind it, a truly middle,
working-class class, which symbolises the Puy d’Or. And then a slightly more affluent class,
a gentleman who was perhaps a little pedantic, even if I think that he was
n’t pedantic, Anquetil. But his way of looking at others,
which could sometimes border on arrogance, the public has chosen. Sometimes there was the
public’s attitude which was not very cavalier towards Jacques,
who was often booed. You know, the public
likes the one who loses, the one who has bad luck.
That is to say, we were both, we were both. Jacques, in crucial moments,
Jacques never had problems, never had flat tires.
It was panache, sometimes. But what interested him
was winning. There was a very close
friendship between Raymond and Jacques. But of course, when you’re racing,
friendship disappears for two or three hours. And then the fight begins. Is
this fight better with you? Yes, he liked it, it amused him. We were mostly
divided by the press. And I didn’t mean to say that
Poulidor and I didn’t speak, but there were times,
especially after a stage of Paris-Nice, where I still resent him
a little for that stage. I think this may have been the only
time he was a sore loser. There have been some
pretty blatant statements. Yes, so there we were divided. We didn’t shake
hands for two months. So now, on the other hand,
our relationship is excellent. Do you hold a grudge?
No not at all. No way.
No way. I think, moreover,
that perhaps it is a fault on my part. There was really something between the two
. A competition, perhaps a brotherhood,
a friendship that was created. I couldn’t tell you much
more because I didn’t really live through that time. Everyone identified
with one or the other. Well, there were the Poulidorists,
there were the Anquetilists. This is what makes cycling the beauty
and glory of the sport. As much as we were dealing with two
very particular characters, both were very shy in some way. Jacques Anquetil, in a different way,
Jacques Anquetil did not like crowds very much. He liked to be in a small
circle, but he did n’t like crowds, he avoided them. And besides, his victories
were also that. His victories had
the coldness of perfection. And the audience felt it,
the audience turned away from him a little. The public did not like Jacques Anquetil. The public loved Jacques Anquetil
in the end, completely in the end. And we loved Poulidor because he was the
one who came from the countryside. He was the one who fought,
who seemed weaker than the other, but who did not
always hesitate to engage in combat. And I think that the
heartland of France recognized itself in him. THANKS. This is definitely one of my
worst memories. After the hills, the descents. Here,
all the dangers of the Tour are clearly visible. Speeding along the bends at 80 km/h
is certainly not easy. This is my worst memory.
For what ? Because it’s the Tour de France, 68. Tour de France, I think
eight days from the finish. I think I was three or four minutes
ahead of the winner, Yann Yantzen. There remained the stage against the world. I think that year
I would have won the Tour de France. Hush, hush. Poulidor’s hush.
Bad luck. What is bad luck? You know, when you miss a turn,
go into the ravine, and have only
superficial injuries, I think that’s a lot of luck.
That’s a lot of luck. A motorcycle across, a motorcycle across. At the time, I didn’t even
feel any pain. That day, Poulidor was there,
they shot me down, they attacked, obviously, and they didn’t give me any presents. The peloton left Raymond
on the side of the road. He then lost any chance
of winning his first Tour de France. Besides, Raymond,
you’ve had other falls. You should know that there is a stele
on the road 20 kilometers from Albi. Here, Poulidor lost all chance
of winning the Tour de France. And the day I inaugurated it,
the mayor who was there, he said to me: It was me who put you back
on the bike, who got you back on the bike, who must have been 13, 14 years old. THANKS. I’ve had two near deaths. Two falls, I almost died. And when someone says to me: I have no
field, I say: No, I was born under a lucky star. When I do mountain stages,
I say: It’s not possible, I did n’t go through that as a rider. We couldn’t see the precipices. But in the car, you’re higher. They are true acrobats
who risk their lives in dizzying descents and the risks increase
as the pressure of the performances intensifies. Along the roads of France,
Raymond Poulidor has gathered a capital of sympathy which has entered
the public’s vocabulary. Whoever comes second today
becomes a Poulidor, a pou pou. This term has crossed generations. We often compared the French
when they lost… Well, they were more like Poulidors
and more than anything else, but we couldn’t imagine all the work that would have gone into
creating my Poulidor. The moment someone is
in trouble, we say: Look, it’s Poulidor, it’s the Poulidor from here. Just recently, there was a lady,
it was the third time she had been told that she was the oldest,
the oldest in France. And on three occasions, we found a lady
who was 15 days older than her. And we named it Poulidor. Poulidor of centenarians. At one point, we even used
the term popularity. It comes from the fact that he was
actually very, very popular. But he lent himself to everything. He went to people
and people came to him. Jacques Anquetil didn’t do that. Jacques-antille was rather fleeing from him. And that’s why the people
recognized themselves in Raymond. There is even talk of Poulidor syndrome. As if being second, as if failing,
meant being Poulidor. On the other hand, it’s true that people
forget that Raymond Poulidor also won. Raymond, what
have you missed in life? I don’t know if I missed something.
I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder,
especially about my track record. I say: But how come I did
n’t win this or that race? And then afterwards, when I look back, when I look back, I said: But was it really useful? Was it really useful? Since I would have a huge record,
I would have Tours de France and everything, would anyone talk to me about Poulidor Raymond Poulidor definitively left the peloton in December 1977. He could live a radiant retirement
in Limousin in the quiet medieval town of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. But the call of the roads of France is
stronger, so he crisscrosses the country to meet his admirers. Autograph signing,
shopping center entertainment. Dear customers,
we inform you of the exceptional presence of Mr. Raymond Bouly
in our store today and tomorrow. We invite you to come and
meet him to sign his books. You were my favorite runner. It’s good to find
a supporter, it’s finally. That, really. I was lucky, I say yes,
very lucky, to have Anthony Magne as my sporting director. He said: You know, Mr. Poulidor,
you are going to have a career as a cyclist, but do
n’t try to win at all costs. When you stop cycling,
that’s when life begins. Good morning.
Hello Mrs. Tell me everything.
He remained a young man. Yes, you speak.
A young man, yes. A 75-year-old young man. I remember
the famous climb with Jacques. You should have I came
for you to give me the tour. I wasn’t good enough that… No, I was attacking myself like that. What I say is true too. Do n’t you know that I didn’t like
Jacques en queutille? Yes, sir.
It’s good. It’s sport.
What do you want? Is that how it is?
He blew you away. No, he didn’t put that on me.
Yes, yes. We were both cooked.
Well, okay. I was for a tool,
my brother was for Poulidor. Each to their own.
Of course. Patience, indulgence, resignation. Raymond Poulidor’s precariousness corresponds
to the image of the character with this vital need for recognition. Always available and in a good mood,
he spends entire days in front of a table covered with his exploits where he
demonstrates, as on the slopes of a great pass, resistance,
endurance and a certain detachment. It seems like people
need to confide in me… Some people tell me about their lives. There were some that made me laugh. It brings them comfort. I have been very lucky
to have good health. Good health which was certainly due
to life in the countryside. I often got up at 4am
and already had a love for cycling. I would go to train at night and when I
turned professional, for me it was a very, very easy life. I signed 2,450
meters of signatures during the Tour de France, since my signature,
I think, is 5 or 6 centimeters. And we had multiplied by the thousand
photos that I had distributed over the past twenty-some days. That’s it for Jean-Claude.
Thank you so much. Thank you, madam. Raymond and money, he was made to
look like someone who was
very tight-fisted with his money, etc. I knew, he told me:
When I went to school, I had a sarro, I call it sarro, the blouse. I had a sarro all mended. I had a completely worn-out schoolbag and I
saw others who had new clothes,
who had new schoolbags. And I was there with nothing and I
said to myself: When I earn my living, I will keep my money. La Bordade On culture, post 25, 22. La Bordade On culture, post 25, 22.
Thank you. Anyway,
it’s all about the money and everything. It’s money now.
Thank you so much. Thank you, madam. The little bar. Yes, I make small bars. Since my editor
calls me: Is it working? Does it work?
So, I keep the accounts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 20, 90. And Raymond, is it a successful business? We are currently restocking. Yes, we put a little reserve. But that’s a separate issue. If I was bored, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t have to either. It brings me a little money,
but it’s not a need, as if that’s all I have, that I have to. Because we must not hide our faces. Nowadays, athletes,
especially top athletes, are very well paid. Someone who is intelligent,
who knows how to manage a bit and everything, seven, eight years of career at the
highest level, he can see it coming. Now, these are huge budgets. Just look at
a team’s staff. Now
I don’t know how many cars there are, there’s a super pullman, the coach and everything. There are showers inside. There is practically a movie theater. Now people are paid
practically per minute of television. They don’t need to win. The boss who watches them,
you’re going to spend 30 minutes on TV, they’re paid so much. Money can be a driving force at times,
but it is not enough. Because simply having
extrinsic motivation doesn’t allow you to last over time. You really have to love cycling, you
really have to love the effort. I was going to say, to have a career
like Poulidor, because we were talking about Poulidor. Because with the investment that there is,
all the sacrifices that there are to cross a line,
because ultimately, that’s it, to raise your arms, to
have a pleasure that is very fleeting. There was a million dollar bounty. I won the bonus as an
Auvergnat, that’s normal. That’s not what won me
the criterium, but I won both. It’s a shame, it costs one euro. Besides, since the Euros
arrived, it seems that Poulidor is going to start running again. You know, it’s wonderful
to do something you love. When you do something you love,
that you chose, and you also earn a little money, it’s a dream. A loyal friend,
Raymond shares his passion for water with his partner Jean-Paul Olivier. I don’t know anything about science, Paulo. He was the man who signed my first
contracts, but he wasn’t generous. He didn’t give me a large sum. He was not generous. I didn’t sign his first contract,
his first contracts. Roger Piëlle did it, but I
typed several of his first contracts. Not at all embarrassed with his friends. It is in sandals and socks
that Raymond Poulidor welcomes his former traveling companion,
Jean Jean-Pierre Denguillaume. This man will make a stop on the
French committee, Jean-Pierre Denguillaume. Pierre, this is Jean-Pierre Denguillaume. All these former champions devote
part of their time to good causes. Today, the
Montlouis-sur-Loire Handisport Trophy, where, as every year,
the greatest athletes push the limits of their disability
to achieve true performances. Is that the leading man? Yes, it’s him.
Yes, it’s him. Come on, here we go. I’m not going to crash. Yes, you shouldn’t crush it. Yes, it was an accident. I think it was a motorcycle accident. Watch out, Madio, let us
pass, we’re the leaders. Look at the guy, it’s terrible. He has this courage,
there are some who have no charm. There are some who don’t have legs. There are some who don’t have legs,
it’s impressive. He is doing a mountain stage. It’s a mountain stage
that makes the guy. He has no pelvis, nothing. What surprised me,
I say again, I repeat it and everything. Earlier, I said it and everything. I heard an athlete say: He was
almost happy to have this disability. He said: Otherwise,
I would never have like this. Traveling abroad,
Olympics and everything. It’s huge.
He’s 56. Look how he comes back at the guys. There it is, he takes it out. It’s not sure. And the other one, the same. You are always faithful. Yes, that’s huge. You deserve it. It’s okay to encourage you. Please,
please, here’s the panader. He has been disabled since he was almost
20 years old, having fought in the Algerian War. We are about the same age and he
had been shot in the spine and was crippled. I assure you he is
a fabulous man. What memories do you have
of your military service, precisely, at that time? I was lucky
to come back in good health. I did the Djebel. My luck was… I was a driver in the Legion. In the truck, I had 22
people and sometimes I looked over. I said to him: Look, so-and-so isn’t here
, isn’t so-and-so here? Since we are still reading about friendships. And there were one or two people missing.
They said no. They were killed because they were going to
dislodge what were called the felagas. Another value of its
own: transmission. Raymond Poulidor has
not ridden a bicycle for several years. Its energy is not
eternally renewable. So he transmits. He passes on to younger generations this
determination which has allowed him to reach such heights. He then rediscovers his reflexes as a former
champion to advise, support and try to guide the young people. But the old one is not always listened to. I was with Raymond Poulidor, there,
just now, who was praising the young riders of your generation. What do you think
of the character of Raymond Poulidor? Yes, it’s not my generation. I don’t know. Poulidor was someone. It’s really something, I don’t know
why, it reminds me of a racecourse. I don’t know why. Poulidor is the horse,
but otherwise, that’s it. There’s no Poulidor horse, or
anything like that, right? This is gastronomy, right?
Yes, I pedal. But Raymond Poulidor,
yes, it’s a bike, right? If you’re talking about a boxer,
yes, but a cyclist, no. It’s true that
I don’t pay much attention to anything that’s in the past. He wrote some powerful pages about cycling. He was one of the great
runners of his generation. Now I respect the character without
having any particular adulation. The runners come to
see him from time to time, the young runners. They ask him for advice,
but now it’s a little less common, because Raymond was born
in 1936 and he’s experienced several layers of cycling, several periods,
several evolutions and revolutions, so much so that now, you know,
he’s considered the leader. So, this is the statue of the Commander. You know, they have merit. A young person, with the ease of life
today, making enormous sacrifices on themselves, I think they have a lot,
a lot of merit. For many, they become power
cyclists because cycling already existed in their family. They got results. And then they went off
in this spiraling fashion. So, they have stars
in their eyes because they can’t even imagine the life that a professional cyclist can have
who has to be careful about what he eats, who has to have an
almost impeccable lifestyle. The job itself is difficult. That’s a lot of days gone
and a lot of sacrifices. But as I just said, for me,
at the beginning, it was a passion and the sacrifices were well worth
it. In the Poulidor family,
there is a young man who is making waves today: Mathieu Van der Pol,
Raymond’s grandson, who is only 18 years old and has accumulated impressive titles.
It’s a small phenomenon. I don’t know where he’s going to go. European Cup, World Cup,
cyclo-cross world champion, and then he wins all the road races. Unlike his grandfather, Matthew
is already nicknamed the Eternal First. At the time of Poulidor,
anti-doping legislation was in its infancy. Besides, it was badly
experienced by some runners. Poulidor wasn’t worried about that. I think it was I
remember, it was in Bordeaux. We
said: There are police officers walking around there, they might want to
search suitcases and everything. We didn’t see any runners. All the runners, I do
n’t know if it was hidden or what. And then I was walking around
the hotel corridors in my tracksuit and I was approached by two police officers who showed me
their police ID cards: Are you doing the Tour de France? They didn’t know where he sleeps? They say to me: Are you a runner?
I said: Yes. I said: Can we follow you to your
room to see your suitcase? They checked me. They checked me,
they checked the suitcase. They did urine tests on me
and everything. And then I took
it a bit as a joke. They were the first,
they were the first, but it was n’t the federation, it was the police. Recently, I read, or at least reread,
a book written by Jean Bobet about his brother, who won the Tour
de France in 1953, 1954, and 1955. But it was clear that he
lacked the bite. Jean Bobet considers the problem of doping. He reads first: It is
cheating, it is a disaster among amateurs
because they take anything. Among professionals,
he wrote in 1958: It is difficult to prohibit because it
depends on the free will of each individual. Which suggests
that in professional cycling, that is to say that in the past,
the practice existed. He has always been wary of doping. He was always wary of it. He had some temptations
at one point. I remember when I was
at Roger Piëlle’s, he said: Yes, but finally,
I see the others who take this, who take that, etc. He said to me: No,
that’s all nonsense. I don’t think he touched it much. He didn’t touch it. Le Monde, he was a fabulous guy. The World, it is fabulous. So kind and everything,
close to the public and everything. Unlike Armstrong. Armstrong is something else. I mean, Armstrong is
the only star there has ever been on a bike. I say star. He was invited all over the world,
President of the Republic and everything. He was a star. So, he didn’t belong to himself. In Armstrong’s case,
what I personally take away is that an athlete,
regardless of his or her notoriety, is not immune from
subsequent repression in the event of a breach of sporting ethics. What can we say about
Sur Armstrong? It’s true that when we see the file that comes out today, we
can say that he was a real crook. I may have some
ideas about Armstrong. What is Armstrong? What is Armstrong? Armstrong, he was
a young world champion. Then he got his cancer and he was
tested when he got his cancer. He was already positive. We closed our eyes. At that point, we should have
revoked his license, and we continued to turn a blind eye. And now we cut off his head. I still have the means to take 10,000
samples and analyses each year. And if they are well targeted,
it is sufficient deterrent. What shocked me about Armstrong
was that, following these statements, everything was organized,
he was the one in charge and everything. But it was still covered. So after I saw his statements,
it shocked me a little. I’ve changed my mind a little. Armstrong who said: You can’t win
the Tour de France without doping, without anything. I would say yes,
but on the condition that everyone is on an equal footing. The Tour de France may be run at an
average speed of 36 instead of 40, but what difference will that make? The strongest will always be at the front. Often, a lot has been
said about Anquetil. He was a bit of a hamstrung,
he was a professional. The training,
when he was training, it was serious, it was severe. Besides, a runner
like Anquetil, he said it. He said: I have thighs
like sieves. He admitted it. The tragedy was when he died of
cancer, and it is not impossible that this cancer was linked to
doping practices, unfortunately. There’s one thing that hurt me a lot
, it was when we lost Jacques and Raymond came here
with all the other athletes. And I went upstairs
and at one point I looked out the window and it was very moving. Because Raymond, he was crying. He was outside, crying. And there, that… You see, that still does
something to me because it was… He lost his brother. And that was moving. Yes, it’s quite moving. I was almost crying secretly and
I thought no one saw me. I was a little withdrawn and then a month
or so later, we almost cried together. Athletes are very, very,
very sensitive. You have to live on their scale, on their
scale, to realize the… When they have joys,
they are great, permanent joys, well, right away,
but when they suffer, they suffer, and they have
bonds of friendship that are very precious. And if we hurt them, we break them. And it’s terrible for them. It’s terrible because often
they don’t recover. The dream, the glory, the money,
but also the women. Women who occupy a
prominent place in the lives and entourage of cyclists. The place of women among
cyclists, they are always very surrounded, these men.
For what ? Like any actor,
like any personality. As soon as you are a star,
as soon as you are bright, you are always very surrounded,
even if you are ugly, even if you are surrounded,
because it is the law of nature. Do n’t be jealous. Do
n’t be jealous. When you’re lucky enough to be
surrounded by such a friendly team of 18- and
20-year-old girls, you feel like you’re 20. It’s wonderful. He is a wise man and I think he
needs to have someone by his side, someone by his side
to make them feel good. But I think that Raymond, like Jacques,
needed to have a companion close to them. Co-setters
are people first and foremost. They like beautiful women,
they like to look at them. They
really put very pretty women on the catwalks. They like to give their
winner’s flower to the woman. Women are also a form
of trophy for these athletes. But then there is also a lot
of respect from the runners who also appreciate the woman who is a bit of a mother. Does n’t it bother you to see him being adored
like that by other ladies? No, no, no, no, no, It’s a little angry.
Believe me, you shouldn’t be near it. He’s very, very, very, very,
very nervous at that moment. My glasses, I didn’t
leave them in the car? Both pairs? We didn’t mess up. There he is probably in the process
of-Yes, but ours, since I can’t find them. I think I left them there. Raymond Puldor’s physical abilities
allowed him to accomplish extraordinary feats, but he certainly
lacked vice and malice thanks to his competitors. He also considered himself
a gentle dreamer, a contemplative. Today, he
readily claims this character trait. I’ve never had too much pressure. I wasn’t made like the others. I was… I was one of the favorites
in the race, but I never really thought about it. I felt good in my clothes. Victory, if it was there,
if it reached out to me, I accepted it with real pleasure, but
I never made it a major concern. And then, all these supporters of mine,
have you seen that they are there around me? They didn’t do me any
favors, you know. They always forgave me everything. They should have excited me a little,
whistled at me, whatever. I won, they were happy,
I lost, I was the strongest, I let myself live. His career lasted. He was a professional for a long time. It’s because he also had this
perspective on events. Never unhappy, even if we were
unhappy for him. He considers himself to have been
very lucky in his life. Do you often see each other,
Mr. Poulidor, in the streets? Yes, he comes often. We see that he is walking around,
he comes to do his little shopping and everything. Does he talk to you a little?
Is he nice to you? Yes, absolutely.
Very, very kind. Very kind. It’s still,
it’s the heritage here. It’s Raymond Poulidor,
it’s Saint-Launard, it’s the region. Poulidor is a happy patriarch. Today he enjoys the pleasures
of provincial life. His luck: to have been born in a peaceful setting, to
have received an education based on values ​​of courage and tenacity, to have
carried normal values. But be careful, beneath his calm
smile, Raymond is a cunning man. One cannot accomplish such a
journey without a hidden strength. And the arm stretched towards the sky of his
effigy, erected in the town centre of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat,
symbolises all this resistance. It’s a sign of victory,
I don’t know. Victory, brotherhood. Then the bike, a little abandoned,
is retirement. A Poulidor carved from solid wood. Raymond Poulidor acquired this strength, this energy,
this power one winter evening when a man
arrived at his parents’ farm. A visit full of mystery. And for the first time,
Raymond mentions this anecdote. The gentleman came to see me in Creuse. I was 8, 9 years old. Nothing predisposed me to one day making people
talk about me. And this gentleman, who must have been
about forty years old, said: Madame and Monsieur Poulidor, one day,
there will be someone in your family who will make people talk about you. Raymond Poulidor’s greatest regret:
never having been able to find this man with his premonitory predictions. What is remarkable for me is that
this year, I hope that health will be there. I’m going to do my 51st Tour de France
and I’m rubbing shoulders with, rather, I’m rubbing shoulders with, 25-year-olds. So I put myself in their shoes. I’m 25 too. The Tour de France, when it was created
in 1903, people said: It will never work. General de Gaulle said: The only way to stop the Tour
de France is through war. Indeed, it was
stopped by two wars. Come on Francis. The TV game. You weren’t keeping me. There is no longer a camera at our house. There it is, under the glass.
Thank you so much. How are you ?
How are you? Bye.
It’s okay, goodbye. Show him, Raymond. You haven’t changed. A great man. I see Raymond in the Tour de France
and in all the major events. He’s the one who does the most
auditions, perhaps. That is to say, he will have more people
around him than the Yellow Jersey will have and who will be applauded on the podium. That’s it, it’s a real
longevity phenomenon. Every year, despite having stopped competing in
the Tour for about thirty years , he is still the one who signs
the most autographs 30 years later. And it’s also the only one that puts the first name. Within the Tour de France,
Raymond Poulidor has become a must-see. Always alert,
he continues to live his passion. And it is wearing the yellow jersey,
which he has never worn in a race, that he assesses with his specialist eye the breakaways on the Champs-Élysées. But very quickly, the infernal pace
of autograph signings caught up with him. Tell me everything, what name? The other runners,
we’re not going to name any names, but no, no, no, no, no No,
I’m not using their first names. Error, he speaks the time to put
for Christian, for Gregory, etc. That proves everything. This means that he has remained as he
is in his roots, in his terroir. He is a humanist. And he is a man,
contrary to what one might think, he is a generous man. We’re going to end a legend because we
sometimes treat him a little… No, not at all. He is a very generous man. And then, I’m going to
reveal one of his passions to you. I hope you know it
too, it’s poker. You know he’s into poker and he
makes a magnificent tandem with the former Red Lantern of the Tour de France. I’m bothering the tender one. Besides, I have been criticized a lot for it. I was told: If you were as
aggressive and mean as you are when you play cards,
you would have won many more races. Well, but we can’t change our ways. Raymond Poulidor is popular, but not at all celebrity and even less glamorous. Glitter is
not part of his world. He prefers the company of his real
friends, like Bernard Hinault, who helps organize the Tour. Did you think about him when
you were behind him? I said behind him,
next generation. No, I leaned more
towards Antille and Merckx. The first ones.
The first ones. But that doesn’t stop us from having
respect for Raymond. It’s true that in the Tour de France,
he didn’t have the chance to get a first place. I told him that a head was leaking. He always came across a bigger guy. That’s often how it is in life. The Tour de France is a celebration. The Tour de France is a fabulous celebration. Even back then, because it
brought happiness to people. And today, it’s still a celebration. That’s what’s fabulous
about this Tour de France. It’s that it’s open to everyone. There are no social issues,
there is no question of whether one is Prime Minister or whether one is simply a
person setting up a campaign fund. No, it’s open to everyone.
And that’s awesome. And it’s free. It was a French bank, a
partner of the event, which chose Raymond Poulidor
to represent it on the Tour de France. Why did you choose it? Because it characterizes everything
that the Tour brings, with this popularity,
this proximity and then this availability, this kindness. This is Raymond. He is a wonderful ambassador who
very frequently lends himself to the exercise of signatures and presence. People are happy to see him,
people are happy to be around him, people are happy to talk with him. I remember in 76, my last Tour
de France, I came third. The third was
Raymond Delille who was French. We were obviously fighting for the podium. And we finished the Champs-Élysées with
a lap against the World and I came third. But I was very careful because you
know that the Champs-Élysées, when it rains, is black ice. The first year we arrived
here, it was raining lightly, there were a lot of crashes
and the riders were very careful because it was icy. The show will take place
here on the Champs-Élysées. The last stage,
the last kilometers. But it’s a show
that happens at 50 miles an hour. And it’s legendary, by the way. Runners who finish here say:
This is the most beautiful avenue in the world. So everyone wants to
win on the Champs-Élysées. So she skipped the race, right? Yes, this is the last round. According to you, there would be the word that will win the stage. Normally, like a bitch,
it’s the fastest. Pardon ?
It’s the fastest. No, he’s much faster than us.
He is crazy. Yes. They’re not far away, though. He’s not going to get caught?
Yes. He will win with 10 meters. He will win with 10 meters. Oh my, that speed. Oh my! He’s on the note, he has an idea. Raymond’s gaze flashes through
the sensations of those wonderful racing years, with a touch of nostalgia,
melancholy and perhaps a hint of melancholy. How did you feel when you were building brands? I don’t know, it’s… We feel a little helpless all the same.
This is the end. Afterwards, it’s the nerve that gives way. We’re all It’s crazy stuff. Especially in the morning, tomorrow morning. When he gets up, we say to ourselves:
What time should we eat? It’s very strange.
He lost everything. Yes, three weeks. It’s the nerve impulse that fails
and we are very tired. There is a crowd. The television coverage of the Tour
de France is fabulous. Now it’s become… It’s huge sums
with television. Of course. Until now, the esponco comes out,
it calculates how much time it spends on the image. A Tour de France rider who
breaks away sometimes lasts for hours. It’s priceless. But it is Noah who gives it to him. She holds it. It’s a shame we don’t see
his facial expression. I don’t have my glasses. Bernard Hinault expels an over-
enterprising admirer as the English national anthem plays. For me, it’s a
new round that ends. Every year it gets better and better.
It’s a pleasure. It’s a vacation.
I get a year younger every year. Thank you Raymond.
He always won fairly. He always did his
job very well. There is absolutely nothing to reproach him for,
he is the model professional. I think that I have never let go of the public and the public has never let go of me. Maybe I don’t run fast enough, but
I always catch up. I tell myself that the day I walk
down the street, and no one turns their head as I pass,
I will be unhappy and sad. What can we
wish for Raymond Poulidor? I don’t know what one can wish for. I think that… What I’ve always said
is to die in good health.