[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
I think I heard Phil Ligget say that Joop Zoetoemilch was the "eternal second" to Eddy Merck. Was that correct?
He finished second to Merckx twice (1970-71), once to Lucien van Impe (1976), and three times to Hinault (1978-9, 1982). He did manage to win the Tour one time, in 1980, however.
Raymond Poulidor is the rider universally called the "eternal second" - he had eight podium finishes but never won.
