Retirement
Poulidor has several times accepted that his career was handicapped by a lack of ambition and by the psychological domination of Jacques Anquetil. Poulidor said in an interview in 1992:
| “ | I knew straight away that I was getting places everywhere. I got all the leaders' jerseys but I used to lose them. Tonin said to me "Raymond, you're always in a daydream!" And was that true? Were you distracted? |
” |
On 25 January 1973 Poulidor was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. In 2003 the President, Jacques Chirac increased the award. Poulidor also has a rose named after him, reflecting his love of gardening in general and roses in particular.
He lives with his wife Gisèle in St-Léonard-de-Noblat, east of Limoges, where he makes short trips on his mountain bike. Their daughter, Corinne, is married to the former world cyclo-cross champion, Adri van der Poel. Poulidor works in public relations for one of the subsidiary sponsors during the Tour, has bicycles made under his name by the France-Loire company, and has appeared in television commercials aimed at older people.
When asked about his longevity compared to fellow cyclists, Poulidor said he took things in moderation and did not overstretch himself.
Poulidor has written several biographies, the first of which was Gloire sans le Maillot Jaune, written in 1964. Poulidor Intime was published in May 2007 by Éditions Jacob-Duvernet in France. In 2004 he helped write Poulidor par Raymond Poulidor with the radio reporter Jean-Paul Brouchon. The preface is by Eddy Merckx. Several other books have appeared about him.
Read more about this topic: Raymond Poulidor
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