Thank you for being a devoted reader of PelotonTales. You are the reason why it’s worth spending so many hours to create new content and trying to improve this website. If you would show appreciation to my work, please consider supporting the blog with a small donation. Thank you! One of the oddest images from the history of Tour de France pictures Lucien Van Impe after the crash with a motobike on Alpe d’Huez on 19th July 1977.
The race in 1972 was Bernard Thévenet’s second Tour de France. In his devutant year, in 1971 he finished fifth in the general classification and also won stage. It was a bit of a surprise performance, but in the subsequent year he was considered as one of the favourites. The 7th stage of Tour de France 1972 was a day in the Pyrenees with only one big challenge, the Aubisque. Thévenet crashed with Luis Ocaña and went down. He was temporarily amnesic. As he began to regain his memory, he looked down at his own Peugeot jersey and wondered whether he might be a cyclist. On recognizing the team car, he exclaimed:”I’m riding the Tour de France!”He… Read More »Iconic Cycling Images: Bernard Thévenet after a crash (Tour de France 1972)
Eddy Merckx rode Vuelta a España only once during his extremely successful carreer, in 1973. He won the race, managed to achieve the first ever Vuelta-Giro double in the history of road cycling races, also became the third cyclist after Jacques Anquetil and Felice Gimondi, who has won all the three grand tours at least once. The 28th edition of Vuelta Cyclista a España was held between 26 April and 13 May 1973. Merckx won six stages (3 of them were individual time trials). He took the overall lead only after the 11th stage. The biggest rivals of Merckx were Luis Ocaña ( who that year, with the absence of Merckx would win the Tour… Read More »Eddy Merckx’s results at Vuelta a España
Defending champion, Eddy Merckx won the 14th stage of Tour de France up to the Mont Ventoux on the 10th July 1970. This was Merckx’s 6th stage victory from the total of 8 stage wins at the Tour de France 1970. He took the yellow jersey on the 6th stage and never let it out of his hands. He won the Tour de France with 12 min and 41 sec ahead of Joop Zoetemelk. During the active cycling years of Eddy Merckx, Tour de France visited Mont Ventoux twice. Besides 1970, the second occasion happened in 1972, when Bernard Thévénet won the 11th stage arriving on the top of the famous “windy mountain”. Merckx, already… Read More »Eddy Merckx on Mont Ventoux (Tour de France 1970)
