The 62nd edition of Tour de France was held between 26 June and 20 July. The 4000 km long route was split into 22 stages. The race started in Charleroi, Belgium. Everybody expected Eddy Merckx (Molteni) to win the 6 km long prologue, but a young Italian, a certain Francesco Moser (Filotex) was 2 seconds faster. This was the first and only Tour de France participation of Moser (later Giro d’Italia winner and World Champion), He managed to wear the yellow jersey for several days after his impressing start and to win another stage (7th). He finished 7th in the GC and won the classification of the young riders.
Merckx gained the yellow jersey by winning the 16 km long individual time trial on Stage 6.
Stage 11, the second day in the Pyrenees became a decisive moment for many riders fighting for top results in the general classification. The stage included Tourmalet, Aspin and a hilltop finish at St-Lary-Soulan. At the end of the day only Eddy Merckx, Bernard Thévenet (Peugeot-BP) Lucien Van Impe (Gitane-Campagnolo) and Joop Zoetemelk (Gan-Mercier) remained the riders with real chance to win the race.
Then it came to the infamous 14th stage. Before the start, Merckx led the GC with 1 min 32 sec ahead of Thévenet. The French rider alongside Lucien Van Impe dropped Merckx on the final climb (Puy de Dôme) with 4 km to go. He was chasing the leading duo alone when a middle-aged local man jumped out of a group of the roadside spectators and punched in his gut.
Merckx was able to keep the yellow jersey for one more day. But he lost it on the next stage (another day in the mountains with the ascents St Martin, Couillole, Champs, Allos and the hilltop finish on Pra Loup). He was able to answer the several attacks of Thévenet for a while, he even led an attack in the last km of the penultimate climb. Only Felice Gimondi (Bianchi) could go after him within a close distance, while Zoetemelk and Impe followed them with a 2 minutes gap. (During the downhill ride, the car of the Bianchi team had an accident, but the driver survived the crash with a tree.)
At the foot of Pra Loup Merckx’s health condition changed dramatically, he could barely push the pedals. According to the rider, all this was caused by the pain killers he had to take after the incident on the previous stage. At the end of the day, stage winner Bernard Thévenet jumped into the leading position of the general classification. Merckx followed him with a 58-sec gap. Nevertheless, the new race leader has a great day in the saddle, he came back after a puncture and left everyone behind before crossing the finish line first.
Thus, the 15th stage became part of cycling history. This was the last time Eddy Merckx wore the yellow jersey of the Tour de France.
Thévenet had another excellent day in the Alps either. He won the 16th stage (including Vars and Izoard) and the gap between him and Merckx was more than 3 minutes already. His first place in the GC wasn’t in real danger anymore. The peloton spent also the next day in the Alps, when, unfortunately, Merckx crashed, his cheekbone and jaw were broken. The race doctor advised him to give up the race, but he refused it. The main reason he continued the race was to be able to collect the prize money earned by his placement in the GC for the team.
Top10 of the race
1. Bernard Thévenet (Peugeot-BP) 114hr 35min 31sec
2. Eddy Merckx (Molteni) 2min 47sec
3. Lucien van Impe (Gitane-Campagnolo) 5min 1sec
4, Joop Zoetemelk (Gan-Mercier) 6min 42sec
5. Vicente López-Carril (KAS) 19min 29sec
6.Felice Gimondi (Bianchi) 23min 5sec
7. Francesco Moser (Filotex) 24min 13sec
8. Josef Fuchs (Filotex) 25min 51sec
9. Èdouard Janssens (Molteni) 32min 1sec
10. Pedro Torres (Super Ser) 35min 36sec