French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor dies at 83
Nov 13 2019 07:11 pm CET
Photo by ASO/A.Broadway
French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor has died at the age of 83 in France.
The rider was known as the "Eternal Second" because he finished in the second overall position in the Tour de France three times but never won it. Despite this, his fighting spirit gained him popularity among cycling fans all over the world, a recognition that he maintained all his life.
Poulidor was a puncheur and an outstanding climber, which gave him the victory at the 1964 Vuelta a España, in Milano-Sanremo and La Fleche Wallonne. He also won five times the Criterium International, twice the Criterium du Dauphine Libere and two times Paris-Nice.
The former rider was always involved in the world of cycling and in his latest years he followed closely the career of his grandson Mathieu van der Poel.
The 83-year-old former rider was admitted to the Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat hospital at the beginning of October with exhaustion symptoms. Until this year he was the ambassador for Credit Lyonnais at the Tour de France and he was seen in the 2019 edition of the race.
