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Orcieres-Merlette 1971 Luis Ocana

8 July 1971 Luis Ocana won in Orcieres-Merlette

Orcieres-Merlette (or Orcieres Merlette 1850), the ski resort in the Alpes was introduced to Tour de France during this edition. Not only the 11th stage finished here, but also the peloton spent the rest day and the 12stage started at the place.. The 134 km long stage from Grenoble was won by Luis Ocana. He rode 60 km solo and finished 5 min 52 sec ahead of Lucien van Impe and 8 min 42 sec ahead of Eddy Merckx and some other race favourites. Ocana jumped to the first place in the general classification and everyone was convinced by his upcoming overal 9 July 1971 Luis Ocana won in Orcieres-Merlette victory. But on the 14th… Read More »8 July 1971 Luis Ocana won in Orcieres-Merlette

Fausto Coppi Gino Bartali Tour de France 1949

9 July 1949 First time a Tour de France stage finished in Spain

It was the  228 km long 9th stage between Bordeaux and San Sebastian on the 9th July 1949. Louis Caput was the winner of the stage. Tour de France used to visit neighbour countries  during the early years of its history already. Read more about when Tour de France went abroad before 1914. Tour de France in 1949 considered one of the greatest of every TDF editions. Read more about the rivalry of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali during Tour de France 1949. Fun fact: 1949 was the  first year, when someone – Fausto Coppi – managed to win both the Giro d’Italia and a Tour de France in the same year.  Also, read more about… Read More »9 July 1949 First time a Tour de France stage finished in Spain

Raymond Poulidor Tour de France 1965 Mont Ventoux

6 July 1965 Raymond Poulidor’s victory on Mont Ventoux

This was the 14th stage of that year’s Tour de France. A 173 km long route from Montpelier to the top of the Mont Ventoux. With his victory, Poulidor jumped up to the second place, but Felice Gimondi, who gained the yellow on the 9th stage (Aubisque, Tourmalet), remained in the leading position till the end of the race.

4 July 1969 Eddy Merckx’s first ever Tour de France stage victory

It was the 133 km long 6th stage from Mulhouse to the Ballon d’Alsace at the Tour de France 1969, when Eddy Merckx celebrated his first Tour de France stage victory. Although Merckx was a Tour de France debutant in 1969, the peloton already knew him very well. He already won the Giro d’Italia (1968) and several one-day classics (including 4 of the 5 monuments).

18 April 1969 – Guido Reybrouck’s victory at Amstel Gold Race

The 4th edition of Amstel Gold Race stretched 259 km, started in Helmond, finished in Meerssen. Hail and snow made the competition difficult, 132 riders started the race, but only 36 finished it. This was Reybrouck’s only one victory at Amstel Gold Race.  Jon Huysmans finished 2nd, Eddy Merckx 3rd.

18 April 1982 Jan Raas won Paris-Roubaix

The weather on the day of the 80th Paris-Roubaix was dry. The road from Compiegne to Roubaix was 270,5 km long. 174 riders  were at the start,  57 of them were able to the route. With 20 km to go, a 9-man group led the race, including Jan Raas, Ludo Peeters, Bernard Hinault and Roger de Vlaeminck. Peeters, who was working for Raas on this day, escaped from the group, so Hinault and co. had to chase him. When they caught him, Raas attacked, reached the velodrome in Roubaix alone and won the race. This was his only Paris-Roubaix victory.

Tour de France 1976 on Peloton&Tales

Tour de France 1976

The 63rd Tour de France was held between the 24th June and 18th July 1976. This was a 4017 km long edition divided into a prologue and 22 stages. The 5th and the 22nd stages had A and B parts, the 18th stage (on the Bastille Day) was split into three parts. The course included 8 mountain stages, five of them with a  hilltop finish.

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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.