[6] When Jacques was seven, his father Ernest returned from his service in World War II and, unable to find building work except for the German occupying forces, moved with the family to Le Bourguet close to Quincampoix to become a strawberry farmer.

With his father being unable to afford it, Jacques argued successfully to allow him to replace one of the workers on the strawberry fields, earning him the necessary money to buy a Stella bicycle on his own.

It was here that he met and befriended Maurice Dieulois, who rode amateur bike races on the weekends and whose father had been president of the local cycling club AC Sottevillais.

Since his employer would not allow him Thursday evening off, which the club used for training rides, he quit his position at the beginning of March, moving back to working on his father's farm while pursuing a career in cycling.

Francis Pélissier, a former professional and sporting director of the La Perle team, offered him a contract in order to race in the Grand Prix des Nations in September.

The victory made Anquetil an instant sensation in the sports press, with the Tour de France director Jacques Goddet writing an article in L'Equipe titled: "When the Child Champion was Born.

When Pélissier decided to follow Hugo Koblet during this year's running of the Grand Prix des Nations, Anquetil was enraged by this perceived loss of trust.

[38] At the Trofeo Baracchi, Anquetil this time partnered Bobet, but having had only three hours of sleep prior to the race and arriving late in Italy, the pair finished second, again to Coppi and Filippi.

On the track, Anquetil, Darrigade, and Teruzzi then defended their title at the Parix Six-Days to close out the year, the last time the event was held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver.

During stage 12, which featured three ascents of Monte Titano in San Marino, he managed to distance Gaul, gaining one-and-a-half minutes, reducing his deficit to just 34 seconds.

As the French riders entered the Parc des Princes during the final stage, they were booed by the crowd, who felt that Anquetil and Rivière had colluded with Bahamontes against their fellow Frenchman, Anglade.

[79] In Anquetil's absence, Rivière competed in the 1960 Tour de France as leader of the French team and was well placed when, on stage 14, he crashed while trying to follow Nencini on a steep descent.

[83] At the Giro, Anquetil won the time trial on stage 9 and gained the pink jersey the following day, when he was part of a breakaway that reached the finish ahead of previous leader Guillaume van Tongerloo.

Anquetil won the time trial on stage 19 to effectively seal his second Tour de France victory, finishing the course almost three minutes faster than second-placed Gaul.

[89] Following victory at the Grand Prix de Lugano, he managed only fifth place at the Trofeo Baracchi, partnered by Michel Stolker, his worst position at the event during his career.

Nevertheless, at the end of the season he was honored with the Super Prestige Pernod for the first time, an award given to the best rider of the year based on points given for high positions in prestigious races.

Even though he only finished second on the stage 12b time trial to Tarragona, suffering from stomach cramps, he eventually won the Vuelta easily, beating José Martín Colmenarejo by 3:06 minutes.

After winning the stage 6b time trial, Anquetil moved up into seventh place overall, behind a number of riders who had been in earlier breakaways, but more than a minute ahead of Bahamontes and Poulidor.

[102] At the World Championship road race in Ronse, Anquetil was leading alone with 1 km (0.62 mi) ahead of the chasing field, but led up his effort when he turned around to see the other riders approaching.

Poulidor managed to record a strong solo victory on the following stage into Luchon, gaining enough time to close the gap on Anquetil in the general classification to just nine seconds.

[114] In those days, the main income for professional cyclists came from criteriums, small races run over laps in city centres, usually held shortly after the Tour de France.

[115] Instead of the Grand Tours, Géminiani decided to propose another feat: the 1965 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ended on the same day that the 560 km (350 mi) classic Bordeaux–Paris started, a race partly done behind dernies due to its excessive length.

Just 15 minutes after standing on the podium at 5 pm, Anquetil was already in a car, being driven to the hotel for a bath and dinner, before heading to Nîmes airport, boarding a private jet which flew him to Bordeaux.

After Anquetil finished his ride, he was approached by the doctor appointed by the sport's governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), to conduct his doping test.

The extent of those divisions is shown in a story, perhaps apocryphal, told by Pierre Chany, who was close to Anquetil: The Tour de France has the major fault of dividing the country, right down to the smallest hamlet, even families, into two rival camps.

A big part of the public therefore finished by identifying with the one who symbolised bad luck and the eternal position of runner-up, an image that was far from true for Poulidor, whose record was particularly rich.

Hands resting serenely on his thin Mafac brake levers, the sensation from Quincampoix, Normandy, appeared to cruise while others wriggled in desperate attempts to keep up.

According to both his childhood friend Dieulois and fellow Tour winner Bernard Hinault, Anquetil waited until he received proper treatment, delaying it to fulfill commentating duties over the summer before going to hospital.

But the argument found less support as more riders were reported to have died or suffered health problems through drug-related incidents, including the death of Tom Simpson, in the 1967 Tour de France.

He said it was professional dignity, the right of a champion not to be ridiculed in front of his public, that led to his refusal to take a test in the centre of the Vigorelli track after breaking the world hour record.