Before the 17th stage of Tour de France 1969 Eddy Merckx’s first overall victory was almost secured. He led the general classification with more than 8 minutes.
The 214, 5 km long stage between Luchon and Mourenx included the “big four” ascents of the Pyrenees: Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, Aubisque.
Eddy Merckx (Faema) attacked right before the top of Tourmalet, only to collect some mountain points. A few km later he realized, that nobody went with him.
Lomme Driessens, the Directeur Sportif of Faema told him to wait for the rest of the peloton.
But Merckx decided differetly.
It was still 105 km to go. Merckx rode it solo. He finished almost 8 minutes ahead of second placed Michele Dancelli (Molteni).
More epic Tour de France moments from the Pyrenees
Faces from the peloton: Victor Fontan (1892-1982)
A cyclist running while carrying his bike on his shoulder. Surely, you’ve seen this vintage cycling image several times. Now it’s time to learn a bit more about the protagonist of the picture. Victor Fontan (1892-1982) in the Faces from the peloton series of PelotonTales blog. A local rider World War I (as did World … Read more
The toughest Tour de France stage ever
The 10th stage of Tour de France 1926 is often dubbed as the toughest stage ever in the history of the race. The 326 km long route between Bayonne and Luchon on the 6th July 1926 went down in history also as one of the most chaotic ones thanks to the extreme weather conditions in … Read more
Introducing Col du Tourmalet to Tour de France
It was a great moment and yet one of the weirdest situations in the history of Tour de France, when and, it seems to be more important, how the organisers decided to put Col du Tourmalet in the program. Crossed Tourmalet stop. Very good road stop. Perfectly passable. -stood in the telegram Alphonse Steinès sent … Read more
Horquette d’Ancizan at Tour de France
Horquette d’Ancizan has a short history regarding its appearances at Tour de France. 2022 Thibaut Pinot (FRA) 2019 Simon Yates (GBR) 2016 Chris Froome (GBR) 2013 Daniel Martin (IRL) 2011 Laurent Mangel (FRA) Horquette d’Ancizan will part of the program Tour de France 2024.
Jean Alavoine on the Col d’Aspin (Tour de France 1922)
Jean Alavoine (1888-1943) had a very good Tour de France in 1922. He won three stages, two of them in the Pyrenees and thanks to his great performance, he was wearing the yellow jersey for five days. Col d’Aspin was part of the program of the 6th stage alongside with Aubisque and Peyresourde, as usual. … Read more
Col de Menté at Tour de France
Unfortunately, Col de Menté, a mountain pass in the central Pyrenees is well-known because of the tragic stories happened there during the Tour de France. In 1971, a nasty crash on the descent of Col de Menté ended Luis Ocaña’s dreams of winning the Tour de France that year. (Nevertheless, Ocaña managed to win Tour … Read more
Felicien Vervaecke’s bad luck (Tour de France 1936)
A Tour de France stage in the Pyrenees (especially, when it includes the big four, Peyresourde, Auspin, Aubisque and Tourmalet) always provides stories to tell. Belgian rider Felicien Vervaecke won the mountain competition of Tour de France twice, in 1935 and 1937. Before the 16th stage (Peyresourde, Tourmalet, Aspin, Aubisque) in 1936, he was 4 … Read more