00:00The city of Rouen is inextricably linked to the great Jacques Anquetil, who was born on
00:17the outskirts of the city. The Frenchman was given a hero's welcome there in 1957, the
00:22year of his first Tour de France triumph. Having started stage three with a team time
00:27trial victory in the morning, he sprinted to victory in Rouen in the afternoon in front
00:31of his friends and family. On his debut in 57, at the age of just 23, Anquetil snatched
00:37the yellow jersey in the mountains on stage 10. A formidable time trialist, he then dominated
00:43his rivals against the clock on stage 20 to open up a huge lead.
00:48It looks like you've got it in the bag. I think so, barring any accidents. Well here,
00:55touch wood. He won his first Tour that year by nearly 15 minutes from Belgium's Marcel
01:02Janssens. It wasn't until 1961 that he claimed his second overall win, but what a win it was.
01:10Anquetil had announced before the race that he wanted to wear yellow from start to finish,
01:14and he was as good as his word. After destroying his rivals on the opening day time trial in
01:19Versailles, he never looked back, eventually winning by more than 12 minutes in Paris.
01:26In 1962, Anquetil's time trialling prowess once again made all the difference. Two days from the
01:38finish in Paris, he trailed the race leader, Joe Plankart, by a minute and eight seconds. But that
01:43was before an outrageous performance in the 68km time trial from Bourgoire to Lyon. Well, Anquetil
01:50first caught Raymond Poulidor, who'd set off three minutes before him and was lying third
01:55overall. And before the finish, Maître Jacques even reeled in at Gilbert Desmet, who'd started
02:00six minutes before him. He also put more than five minutes into Plankart to take yellow and
02:06all but secure his third Tour victory. He won again in 1963, before a legendary battle with
02:17Poulidor in 1964. Anquetil couldn't stay with his rival on the Puy de Dome two days before the finish,
02:23but limited his losses to just 42 seconds. Crucially, he kept hold of the race lead by 14 seconds.
02:30Poulidor, after all, would famously never wear the yellow jersey. Once again, it came down to the time
02:36trial. On the final half stage between Versailles and Paris, Anquetil claimed victory, beating Poulidor
02:42by 21 seconds. He thus became the first man to win the Tour de France five times and said this was the
02:49toughest of the lot, praising Poulidor after a magnificent contest.
02:57Well, Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor here. I hope you win the Tour de France one day because you deserve it.
03:02I know how hard it is to be so close and come second, and you're a good loser, so congratulations for that.
03:08Thank you, Jacques.
