Miguel Poblet

Miguel Poblet Orriols (18 March 1928 – 6 April 2013) was a Spanish professional cyclist, who had over 200 professional victories from 1944 to 1962. By this time Poblet was riding for the Faema team led by Rik 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 won Milano–Torino for them; a week later he was victorious at Milan–San Remo. 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 winning Paris–Roubaix in 1958 coming second to Leon Van Daele and third in 1960 when Pino Cerami won. For 45 years, he was the only Spaniard ever to have got on the podium at the Roubaix Velodrome, until Juan Antonio Flecha took the third step in 2005 and second in 2007.

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 the Creu 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.

Major results

1945 1st Trofeo Jaumendreu 3rd Overall Trofeo Masferrer 1st Stage 1 1946 2nd GP Pascuas 4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos 1st Stages 2 & 4 10th Trofeo Jaumendreu 1947

1st Stages 2, 3, 5 & 7 1st Klasika Primavera 1st Trofeo Jaumendreu 5th Overall Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 1b, 6 & 8 1948

1st Stages 1b & 2 1st GP Pascuas 1st Stage 2 Vuelta a Levante 2nd Trofeo Jaumendreu 7th Overall Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 7 & 8 1949 2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 1, 3, 6 & 7 6th Overall Gran Premio Cataluña 1st Stages 2 & 5 1951 Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 2 & 12 2nd Trofeo Masferrer 3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla 1st Stages 1, 3, 4 & 9 1952

1st Stages 1, 3 & 6 3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla 1st Stages 1, 6, 9 & 10 1953 Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 1 & 6 1954 1st Trofeo Masferrer 1st Stage 6 Vuelta a Asturias 3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 6, 9, 10 & 11 3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón 1st Stages 1, 4, 5, 8 & 9 4th GP Pascuas 9th Overall Gran Premio Ciclomotoristico 1955 1st Grand Prix du Midi Libre Tour de France 1st Stages 1a & 22

1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Andalucía 1st Stage 3 Euskal Bizikleta 2nd Critérium des As 5th Road race, National Road Championships 1956 1st Stage 8 Tour de France Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 4, 9, 16 & 18 Vuelta a España 1st Stages 3, 5 & 6 4th Overall Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 2, 6b, 8 & 9 6th Paris–Tours 1957 1st Milan–San Remo 1st Milano–Torino Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 1a & 8 2nd Overall Gran Premio Ciclomotoristico 1st Stages 6b, 7 & 8c 5th Trofeo Baracchi (with Francisco Masip) 6th Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 3, 9, 10 & 18 7th Paris–Tours 10th Giro di Lombardia 1958 1st Stage 5b Paris–Nice 1st Stage 7 Volta a Catalunya 2nd Overall Gran Premio Ciclomotoristico 1st Stages 1, 5, 6b, 7a & 7b 2nd Milan–San Remo 2nd Paris–Roubaix 2nd Giro di Lombardia 2nd Milano–Torino 5th Road race, National Road Championships 5th Gran Premio di Lugano 6th Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Points classification 1st Stages 16, 19 & 20 10th Driedaagse van Antwerpen 1st Stage 1b 1959 1st Milan–San Remo Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 1, 6 & 9 1st Stage 8 Vuelta a Levante 3rd Giro di Lombardia 3rd Paris–Brussels 4th Road race, National Road Championships 4th Paris–Tours 5th Overall Gran Premio Ciclomotoristico 1st Stages 4 & 8b 6th Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 6, 13 & 15 1960

1st Stages 2, 3a (TTT), 4 & 6 1st Classica Sarda 1st Stage 2 Giro di Sardegna Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 3, 7a (ITT) & 9b (ITT) (victory shared with Jacques Anquetil) 2nd Giro della Romagna 3rd Paris–Roubaix 6th Overall Gran Premio Ciclomotoristico

1st Stages 2a, 5a & 6a 8th Milano–Torino 1961 Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 1, 2 & 21

Vuelta a Levante 1st Stages 2, 3, 6 & 8 3rd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline Monuments results timeline Monument 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962Milan–San Remo—————1212639—Tour of FlandersDid not contest during careerParis–Roubaix—854032—262373——Liège–Bastogne–LiègeDid not contest during careerGiro di Lombardia————31102312——

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish