Anquetil will be remembered not simply for the five Tour wins and his unique success in the Grand Prix des Nations. He will be remembered for his stand on the drugs issue that was beginning to concern professional cycling and which came to public attention with the death of the British rider, Tom Simpson, in the Tour de France of 1967. Anquetil never hid that he took drugs - a common practice at the time - and in a debate with a government minister on French television said that "only a fool would imagine it was possible to ride Bordeaux-Paris on just water."