The family of Tour de France legend Raymond Poulidor is very concerned about the 83-year-old's health after he was hospitalized two weeks ago.

Poulidor, nicknamed "the eternal second best" because he has finished second three times and third five times in the Tour, was initially thought to be suffering from fatigue after the Tour de France, where he is an ambassador for Crédit Lyonnais, the annual yellow jersey sponsor . The irony is that the Frenchman can be seen chatting with friends, fans, journalists, and supporters at the start every morning, but he himself has never worn the yellow jersey.

However, Poulidor's wife Giselle told leparisien.fr that her husband's health has deteriorated in recent days.

"It's not good news," she told the French newspaper Wednesday from a hospital near her home in Saint-Leonard de Nobla, near Limoges. Doctors say they will do some more tests, but that we should not expect good news."

"For the past few days he has said very little. When asked if he has eaten or slept, he just says "yes" or "no." Of course, I am very worried," she said.

Poulidor turned pro in 1960 and spent her entire professional career in various capacities with the Mercier team in France, finishing in 1976 at the age of 40 in her last Tour de France (third behind Lucien Van Impe and Joop Zoetemelk), before retiring in 1977 He retired in 1977.

Poulidor's career overlapped with that of five-time French Tour winner Jacques Anquetil and five-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx. Poulidor finished second to Anquetil in the 1964 Tour, but Poulidor had already won the Vuelta a España in April and May of that year.

Poulidor also finished second in the following year's Tour, behind Italy's Felice Gimondi, and in 1975, behind Merckx, who turned pro in 1965.

His daughter Corinne is married to former Dutch pro rider Adri van der Poel, and their son is current pro rider Mathieu van der Poel, a two-time elite cyclocross world champion and winner of this year's Amstel Gold Race.