that year between Angers and La Rochelle to complete a grand slam of stages in Grand Tours for 1956. Only Pierino Baffi and Alessandro Petacchi have been able to repeat this. 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 1946 Two stage wins and 4th overall Vuelta a Burgos 1947 1st GP Primavera Three stage wins and 5th overall Volta a Catalunya Spanish mountain champion 1948 Two stage wins and 7th overall Volta a Catalunya Spanish mountain champion 1949 Spanish sprint champion Four stage wins and 2nd overall Volta a Catalunya Spanish mountain champion 1951 Spanish sprint champion Two stage wins Volta a Catalunya 1952 Spanish Madison champion First overall and three stage wins Volta a Catalunya Four stage wins Tour of Castille 1953 Two stage wins Volta a Catalunya 1954 Five stage wins Vuelta a Aragón Three stage wins Volta a Catalunya 1955 Two stage wins