Anglade turned professional in 1957. In 1959, he won the
Dauphiné Libéré, a mountainous stage race over a week; then the national road championship. He came second in the
Tour de Suisse and then in the
Tour de France, behind
Federico Bahamontes but in front of
Jacques Anquetil and
Roger Rivière. In that Tour, Anglade – riding for the regional Centre-Midi team – was the victim of the tactics of Anquetil, Rivière and others in the French national team. They preferred to see Bahamontes take the Tour de France rather than Anglade, who was unpopular among French riders and, had he won the Tour de France, would have earned more than Anquetil and Rivière in the post-Tour
criteriums that were then an important part of riders' incomes. Bahamontes was both Spanish and a poor rider in round-the-houses races and so of little threat. On top of that, Anquetil, Rivière and many other French stars were represented by Daniel Dousset, one of the two agents who divided French cycling, whereas Anglade was represented by the other, Roger Piel. That was why Anglade had been left out of the national team to ride for a regional one. At the stage finish in
Grenoble, Dousset was there to meet
Fausto Coppi, who was Bahamontes' sponsor, and the riders in the national team whom he represented. Émile Besson wrote in ''
L'Humanité'': "Dousset offered contracts for criteriums by the shovel load for after the Tour of Spain. Anglade's head, second in Paris, had fallen." Fans worked out what was going on and Anquetil was whistled and jeered as he entered the
Parc des Princes on the last day. Anglade said: "I've got no regrets about it. Racing is like that. And anyway I make it a principle to live without regrets."
1965 national championship The
Pelforth team met the night before the championship at a hotel near the circuit. The manager, Maurice de Muer, said: "Anyone intending to be champion of France, raise a hand." Four put up their hands, including
Georges Groussard and Anglade. Anglade said: "Right, that's three too many. You three who fancy the jersey, I consider you adversaries. As for the rest of you with no particular ambitions, ride for me because I'm going to be French champion." It was the first time the Tour had stopped during a stage.
Downhill race Anglade's downhill race with
Gastone Nencini has become part of the legend of cycling. Anglade was a proud rider and Nencini one of the fastest down hills. "The only reason to follow Nencini down mountains is if you have a death wish," was how
Raphaël Géminiani put it. It was in trying to follow Nencini down a mountain that
Roger Rivière missed a bend, crashed over a wall and broke his spine. Anglade and Nencini met at a col in the
Dolomites during the
Giro d'Italia. The weather was bad and a snowstorm had forced 57 riders to abandon that day. Anglade said: :I couldn't tolerate the idea that Nencini was the best descender of the peloton. I said to him, call the blackboard man, we'll do the descent together and whoever comes second pays for the
aperitifs this evening. So he called the
ardoisier and asked him to follow us. The road was of compressed earth. We attacked the drop flat out. I let Nencini take the lead so that I could see how he negotiated the bends before attacking him. In the end I dropped as though I was alone. At the bottom, I had taken 32 seconds out of him, written on the blackboard. I was really tickled. I had beaten Nencini. The next time I saw him was that evening in the hotel I was staying at. He had just bought me an apéritif! ==Retirement==