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Historic Overview Michel Pollentier

Rider

Overall Rank139
NameMichel POLLENTIER
Country
  Belgium
Date of birth13-Feb-1951 - Diksmuide (West Vlaanderen)
ContemporiesView Contemporary Ranking

Biography

Michel Pollentier

Michel Pollentier (born 13 February 1951 in Diksmuide, West Flanders) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer.

He became professional in 1973. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1977 Giro d'Italia. Pollentier is one of just three Belgian riders to win the Giro, the others being Eddy Merckx and Johan de Muynck.

In the 1978 Tour de France, he was the Belgian national champion when he won the stage arriving in Alpe d'Huez, took the yellow jersey and would have been involved in a battle with Joop Zoetemelk and eventual winner Bernard Hinault for the remainder of the race as the three were within +0:30 of one another. However, he was accused of foul play in the succeeding doping test, having used what was described politely as a pear-shaped tube (in fact a condom) of different urine held under the armpit and connected by a plastic tube to give the impression of urinating. Pollentier was uncovered after another rider at the test had trouble operating his own system of tubes and aroused the suspicion of the doctor, who then demanded Pollentier lift his jersey to show if he too was cheating. He was put out of the Tour immediately.

The affair took away most of Pollentier's credibility in international cycling. Even though he won the 1980 edition of the Tour of Flanders and he also came 3rd in the 1982 Vuelta a EspaƱa where he was the beneficiary of a doping incident when the initial winner was disqualified bringing him to 2nd overall. 1984 was his last professional season; he finished outside the top 10 at the Vuelta and won the final grand tour stage of his career.

After his cycling career, Pollentier became a car tyre garage owner and founded a cycling school.

In "Seigneurs et Forcats du Velo" by Olivier Dazat, Pollentier is quoted as saying that he and another named Belgian cycling champion of the era had trouble after their careers because of drugs they had taken while racing. Dazat quotes him as saying: "I've never hesitated to confess that I spent three weeks under the surveillance of Dr Dejonckheere at the St-Joseph clinic at Ostend and that after treatment... I stayed under his control for another two years. Why hide it? It's impossible to come out of a situation like that without the help of a doctor.'

source - Wikipedia

Badges

3 2 6 2 4 24

Major Victories

Giro d'Italia 1977
Ronde van Vlaanderen 1980
Dauphiné Libéré 1978
Tour de Suisse 1977
Brabantse Pijl 1980
Trofeo Baracchi 1976
Tour de France - stages 1974 (1), 1975 (1), 1976 (1)
Giro d'Italia - stages 1977 (1)
Vuelta a España - stages 1977 (1), 1984 (1)
Dauphiné Libéré - stages 1975 (1), 1978 (2)
Tour de Suisse - stages 1976 (3), 1977 (4), 1978 (2)
More results

Seasons

Michel Pollentier - Scores by Season

Year Team Score Rank
1. 1971 Individual 5 804
2. 1972 Individual 15 587
3. 1973 Flandria - Carpenter - Shimano 1094 37
4. 1974 Carpenter - Confortluxe - Flandria 1070 41
5. 1975 Carpenter - Confortluxe - Flandria 1666 14
6. 1976 Flandria - Velda - West Vlaams Vleesbedrijf 1917 11
7. 1977 Flandria - Velda - Latina Assicurazioni 2891 4
8. 1978 Flandria - Velda - Lano 1992 13
9. 1979 Splendor - Euro Soap 1880 13
10. 1980 Splendor - Admiral 1202 34
11. 1981 Vermeer-Thijs 202 260
12. 1982 Safir - Marc 1170 35
13. 1983 Safir - Van de Ven 337 166
14. 1984 Safir - Van de Ven 264 211
Overall: 15705 139