A moment in time Anquetil and Poulidor go head to head
July 12th 1964. Stage 20 of the 51st Tour de France is ready to roll out from Brive-La-Gaillarde. Over three weeks of racing the peloton has shed 51 riders since its start in Rennes, leaving 81 to head out for the 237km slog through the Massif Central to the top of the Puy de Dôme volcano. Among those still racing are four-time winner and defending champion Jacques Anquetil and his eternal rival Raymond Poulidor.
Anquetil is leading the race with Poulidor second. Of course – that is the natural order of who is on the ground following the race, today will be spent ‘wandering narrow restless roads’ and tackling a ‘hundred vicious little hills’. For Poulidor it will be spent trying to take time from the man in yellow.
