Esch-sur-Alzette honours Pou Pou

The most popular French cyclist of the 1960s, Raymond Poulidor, was received yesterday by the organising committee of the town of Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg, who will host both a start and finish at this year's Tour de France.

Fondly nicknamed 'Pou Pou' or, less fondly, 'the eternal second' (having thrice finished the Tour second and five times in third), a large crowd of his fans attended the reception as the town's president Henri Hinterscheid honoured Poulidor for his achievements. Among the public was previous Tour stage winner Bim Diederich, now 84, and Acacio Da Silva, the last 'Luxembourger' (whose real nationality is in fact Portugese) to wear the maillot jaune in 1989. Poulidor is currently 69 years old.

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1