 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Miguel Poblet Orriols |
| Born | (1928-03-18)18 March 1928 Montcada i Reixac,Spain |
| Died | 6 April 2013(2013-04-06) (aged 85)[1] Barcelona, Spain |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Professional teams | |
| 1952 | Minaco-Telefunken |
| 1953–1954 | La Perle-Hutchinson |
| 1955 | Splendid-d'Alessandro |
| 1956 | Faema-Guerra |
| 1957–1958 | Ignis-Doniselli |
| 1959 | Ignis-Frejus |
| 1960–1961 | Ignis |
| 1962 | Ignis-Moschettieri |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Miguel Poblet Orriols (18 March 1928 – 6 April 2013) was a Spanish professional cyclist, who had over 200 professional victories from 1944 to 1962.[1] He was the first Spanish rider to wear theyellow jersey in theTour de France, and in 1956 he became the first of only three riders to win stages in the threeGrand Tours in the same year. (The other two arePierino Baffi andAlessandro Petacchi.)He won theMilan–San Remo classic race on two occasions and took 26 stage wins in the three Grand Tours. His twenty-stage wins in theGiro d'Italia makes him the third most successful foreign rider in the "Giro" behindEddy Merckx (25) andRoger De Vlaeminck (22). Poblet was of short stature who had great power, he was the first Spanish rider to be a specialist in one day races in an age when Spain only produced climbers. He had a lightning fast sprint, but could also climb well, taking the Spanish Mountain championships on three occasions and the mountainousVolta a Catalunya twice. His nickname whilst riding was"La Flecha Amarilla" (the Yellow Arrow) due to the yellow kit of his Ignis team.
Poblet was born atMontcada i Reixac in the northern suburbs ofBarcelona,Catalonia,Spain. His father Enrique owned a bicycle shop in Barcelona and he encouraged his son to take up racing seriously at a young age and supplied him with all the necessary equipment. Despite turning professional in 1944, at the age of 16, Poblet’s career did not really take off internationally until 1955 when he was invited to be part of the Spanish team at the Tour de France; at that time the Tour invited national squads rather than trade teams. Poblet made an immediate effect at the Tour when he won the opening stage betweenLe Havre andDieppe becoming the first Spaniard to wear the yellow jersey. He held onto the jersey in the afternoonTeam time trial but lost it next day to Dutchman Wout Wagtmans. However, Poblet had more glory at that year's Tour when he took the prestigious final stage intoParis at theParc des Princes stadium.
Success at the 1955 Tour ensured an invitation to the 1956 Giro d’Italia where he took four stages, this followed three stage wins in theVuelta a España, he took another Tour de France stage win that year betweenAngers andLa Rochelle to complete a grand slam of stages in Grand Tours for 1956. OnlyPierino Baffi andAlessandro Petacchi have been able to repeat this.[2] By this time Poblet was riding for the Faema team led byRik Van Looy but he left the team early in 1957 after being told he was not going to ride Milan–San Remo. He signed for the Italian squad Ignis and promptly wonMilano–Torino for them; a week later he was victorious at Milan–San Remo.[3] He stayed with the Ignis squad for the rest of his career.
Poblet prepared meticulously for Milan–San Remo, designing a training course in Catalonia similar to the Italian classics parcours with a big climb similar to the Turchino Pass followed by a series of smaller hills. He finished second in 1958 behind Van Looy and then won again in 1959 after breaking away from the peloton with 400 metres to go. He came close to winningParis–Roubaix in 1958 coming second toLeon Van Daele[4] and third in 1960 when Pino Cerami won. For 45 years, he was the only Spaniard ever to have got on the podium at theRoubaix Velodrome, untilJuan Antonio Flecha took the third step in2005 and second in2007.
After retirement Poblet continued to live in the Barcelona area, in 2001 the local sports arena was named after him and more than 2000 people turned out to pay tribute to him. Poblet was awarded theCreu de Sant Jordi in December 2002, one of the highest civil distinctions in Catalonia. In 2004 he was a special guest of the Vuelta a España as it passed through Catalonia. He died on 6 April 2013 from kidney failure.[5]
OverallGran Premio Cataluña OverallGran Premio Cataluña
OverallVolta a Catalunya after Stages 1a & 1b
after Stages 1a, 1b & 9 OverallVolta a Catalunya Mountains classification
after Stages 1–6| Grand Tour | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vuelta a España | Race not held | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
 Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | DNF | 6 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 41 | — |
| Tour de France | — | — | — | 26 | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | — |
| Monuments results timeline | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monument | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 |
| Milan–San Remo | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 39 | — |
| Tour of Flanders | Did not contest during career | ||||||||||
| Paris–Roubaix | — | 85 | 40 | 32 | — | 26 | 2 | 37 | 3 | — | — |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Did not contest during career | ||||||||||
| Giro di Lombardia | — | — | — | — | 31 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 12 | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
