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Poulidor was given a final send-off in his
hometown in the Limoges region of central France, the rural
heartland where he grew up as the son of poor farmers and where
he died last week aged 83.
Family members and cycling dignitaries crammed into the tiny
church in Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat, while several hundred people
stood in the town square outside watching the funeral service on
a big screen.
Poulidor finished the Tour de France on the podium eight times
but never came first.
He was competing in the 1960s and 1970s at the same time as two
of cycling's greatest champions - Jacques Anquetil and Eddie
Merckx - who each won the tour five times, regularly pushing
Poulidor off the top spot.
But his perpetual runner-up status made Poulidor a favorite with
the public.
Addressing the funeral service on Tuesday, Christian Prudhomme,
the director of the Tour de France, said Poulidor stood as an
example to everyone of how to be successful without forgetting
your integrity.
"If Raymond is loved so much, it's because he was a great
champion, of course, but also because he was a person of great
humanity," said Prudhomme.
"His values of courage, of work, of respect for your roots, for
where you're from, are eternal."
Poulidor's grandson Mathieu Van der Poel is also a professional
cyclist.
Standing near Poulidor's coffin, which was draped with orange
and red flowers, Prudhomme said he hoped to see Van der Poel
competing for the first time in the Tour de France in 2021.
If he is on the starting line, Prudhomme said, addressing Van
der Poel who was among the mourners, "there will be a lot of
love for you."
(Reporting by Christian Lowe; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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