# Michel Pollentier

Michel Pollentier (born 13 February 1951) 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 España 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.'

## Career achievements
### Major results
#### 1971

    1st Gent – Staden
    10th Ronde Van Vlaanderen Beloften

#### 1973

    2nd Tour du Loir-et-Cher
    3rd Overall Tour de Romandie
    4th Overall Étoile des Espoirs
    6th Kattekoers
    9th Paris–Tours

#### 1974

    4th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
    4th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    7th Boucles de l'Aulne
    7th Overall Tour de France
       1st Stage 21b (ITT)
    9th Overall Tour de Luxembourg

#### 1975

    1st Stage 13 Tour de France
    1st Stage 6 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
    2nd Overall Tour of Belgium
    2nd Brabantse Pijl
    2nd Trofeo Baracchi
    4th Paris–Brussels
    4th Druivenkoers Overijse
    5th Amstel Gold Race
    6th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
    8th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
    8th Gran Premio di Lugano
    10th Gent–Wevelgem

#### 1976

    1st Overall Tour of Belgium
       1st Stage 3
    1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
       1st Stage 1c (ITT)
    1st Giro del Piemonte
    1st Stadsprijs Geraardsbergen
    1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Freddy Maertens)
    2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
       1st Stages 2, 4a & 9b (ITT)
    4th Overall Ronde van Nederland
    7th Overall Tour de France
       1st Stage 16
    8th Grand Prix de Wallonie
    10th Züri-Metzgete

#### 1977

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    1st Overall Giro d'Italia
       1st Stage 21 (ITT)
    1st Overall Tour de Suisse
       1st Prologue, Stages 3a, 3b (ITT) & 9b (ITT)
    1st Gouden Pijl Emmen
    2nd Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
    3rd Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    4th Grand Prix de Wallonie
    5th Tour of Flanders
    6th Overall Vuelta a España
       1st Stage 4 (ITT)
    7th Trofeo Laigueglia
    8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

#### 1978

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
       1st Stages 5 & 7b (ITT)
    1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
       1st Stages 1a (ITT), 1b & 1c (ITT)
    1st Overall Vuelta a Mallorca
       1st Stages 1a & 2a
    2nd Tour of Flanders
    4th Overall Tour of Belgium
    4th Omloop van het Houtland
    5th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
    5th La Flèche Wallonne
    5th Critérium des As
    6th Brabantse Pijl
    8th Overall Tour de Suisse
       1st Stages 4b (ITT) & 9b (ITT)
    10th Giro di Lombardia
    10th Gent–Wevelgem

#### 1979

    1st GP du Tournaisis
    3rd Overall Vuelta a España
    3rd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
    4th Overall Tour of Belgium
    4th Brabantse Pijl
    5th Omloop Het Volk
    7th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
    7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

#### 1980

    1st Tour of Flanders
    1st Brabantse Pijl
    2nd Le Samyn
    5th Overall Tour of Belgium
    5th Road race, National Road Championships
    8th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico

#### 1981

    8th Overall Étoile de Bessèges

#### 1982

    1st Omloop van het Houtland
    2nd Overall Vuelta a España
    4th Tour of Flanders
    6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships

#### 1983

    3rd Overall Three Days of De Panne
    7th Tour of Flanders
    7th La Flèche Wallonne

#### 1984

    1st Stage 6 Vuelta a España

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 |
| Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | 3 | 26 | — | 2 | — | 13 |
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de France | 34 | 7 | 23 | 7 | — | DSQ | DNF | DNF | DNF | — | — | — |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |
| DSQ | Disqualified |