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.