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10 July on this day

Legendary Belgian climbing specialist cyclist Lucien Van Impe riding solo on the Pla d'Adet at Tour de France 197z

10 July 1976 Lucien Van Impe takes the yellow jersey at Tour de France

Lucien Van Impe was second in the general classification with 2 ‘ 41″ behind Raymond Delisle before the 14th stage of Tour de France 1976.  The program of the day on the 10th of July 1976 was a 139 km long route in the Pyrenees  between Saint-Gaudens and Saint-Larry-Soulan, including Col de Menté, Col du Portillon and Col de Peyresourde. The stage ended on Pla d’Adet, what was visited by Tour de France for the first time in 1974. (The race returned also in the subsequent year.) Peugeot, Delisle’s team clearly didn’t intend to defend the yellow jersey on that day, thus the race was open. There was a very strong breakaway group, including Luis… Read More »10 July 1976 Lucien Van Impe takes the yellow jersey at Tour de France

For the first time in Tour de France history Col du Galibier is climbed in the 5th stage at Tour de France 1911

10 July 1911 The first mountain stage in the Alps at Tour de France

After the introduction of the Pyrenees to the race in 1910, the next big challenge of Tour de France was how to include the “giants of the Alps” into the program.  The story behind using Galibier, Thelegraphe, Aravis, and Lautarer was far less dramatic than the organizers’ first encounter with Col du Tourmalet. Nevertheless, the 5th stage of Tour de France 1911 between Chamonix and Grenoble was 366 km long and it took 13 hours and 35 minutes for stage winner Émile Georget to finish it. Paul Duboc was 15 minutes, Gustave Garrigou, the leader of the general classification 26 minutes behind him. (Please note, this was the time, between 1905 and 1912, when the… Read More »10 July 1911 The first mountain stage in the Alps at Tour de France

10 July 1970 Eddy Merckx’s Victory on the Mont Ventoux

This was the 14th stage of the race, a 170 km long course between Gap and Mont Ventoux. Merckx won the race in yellow, he gained the jersey on the 6th stage and led the general classification since then.