frtour1-4, Exercise 2: Why Poulidor was loved

Model answer (check the details):

Three reasons:
1. Background: the son of a poor farmer, he seemed a man of the people, while Anquetil was elegant and calculating, so Poulidor's supporters saw their own lives in his.
2. Near misses: he finished second three times and third five times, so his story was one of effort and bad luck (falls, mechanical problems), and the public sympathised with the underdog.
3. Longevity and manner: he raced for many years, remained approachable and modest, and was popular with sponsors and advertisers, so his image was friendly and lasting.

Evidence to use: contemporary press coverage and polls of popularity; attendance and the reaction of crowds on the roadside (hard to measure); memoirs and biographies; later retrospectives; advertising use of his image.

Care: "loved more than the winners" is a general claim that depends on whom you ask. A historian would look for surveys or other measures of popularity and treat the nickname as a journalistic label.