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1973 Tour de France

Route of the 1973 Tour de France
Race details
Dates	30 June – 22 July
Stages	20 + Prologue, including six split stages
Distance	4,090 km (2,541 mi)
Winning time	122h 25' 34"
Results
Winner  Luis Ocaña (ESP) (Bic)   Second  Bernard Thévenet (FRA) (Peugeot–BP–Michelin)   Third  José Manuel Fuente (ESP) (Kas–Kaskol) Points  Herman Van Springel (BEL) (Rokado–De Gribaldy)   Mountains  Pedro Torres (ESP) (La Casera–Peña Bahamontes) Combination  Joop Zoetemelk (NED) (Gitane–Frigécrème)   Sprints  Marc Demeyer (BEL) (Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano)   Combativity  Luis Ocaña (ESP) (Bic)   Team Bic   Team Points Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson
← 1972 1974 →

The 1973 Tour de France was the 60th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 30 June and 22 July, with 20 stages covering a distance of 4,090 km (2,541 mi). Eddy Merckx, winner of the previous four editions, did not start the 1973 Tour, partly to avoid angry French fans and partly to please his sponsor; instead he rode and won the 1973 Vuelta a España and the 1973 Giro d'Italia. In his absence, Luis Ocaña dominated the race, winning with a margin of more than 15 minutes.

In 1973, a new team classification was added: the team points classification, calculated by adding the three best stage rankings per team; it would be calculated until 1988.

Teams

The Italian teams did not join the 1973 Tour de France, because no top French cyclist rode the 1973 Giro d'Italia.^[1] The Tour started with 12 teams, each with 11 cyclists.^[2]

The teams entering the race were:

Pre-race favourites

The winner of the previous four editions, Eddy Merckx had changed sponsors to the Italian Molteni. His contract said that he had to start in the 1973 Vuelta a España and the 1973 Giro d'Italia, and Merckx thought it was impossible to start in three grand tours in one year, so he stayed away from the Tour. Ocana, who was in great shape, was now the main favourite, with Fuente, Poulidor and Thevenet as his biggest threats.^[2] Ocana was not the clear favorite; he had already crashed out of the Tour three times, and he was seen as fragile.^[3] Zoetemelk had changed teams, because he did not have the full support of his team leader.^[3] Among the Italian riders absent were world champion Marino Basso and former Tour winner Felice Gimondi.^[1]

Route and stages

After the 1972 Tour de France, there were rumours that the 1973 Tour would become easier, to suit French cyclist Cyrille Guimard better. However, when the 1973 Tour route was announced in December 1972, the organisation had included three more mountains compared to 1972.^[4] The race started on 30 June, and had two rest days, in Divonne-les-Bains and Pyrénées 2000.^[5]

Stage characteristics and winners^[2][5][6]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	30 June	Scheveningen (Netherlands)	7.1 km (4.4 mi)		Individual time trial	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)
1a	1 July	Scheveningen (Netherlands) to Rotterdam (Netherlands)	84 km (52 mi)		Plain stage	Willy Teirlinck (BEL)
1b		Rotterdam (Netherlands) to Sint-Niklaas (Belgium)	137.5 km (85.4 mi)		Plain stage	José Catieau (FRA)
2a	2 July	Sint-Niklaas (Belgium)	12.4 km (7.7 mi)		Team time trial	Watney–Maes Pils
2b		Sint-Niklaas (Belgium) to Roubaix	138 km (86 mi)		Plain stage	Eddy Verstraeten (BEL)
3	3 July	Roubaix to Reims	226 km (140 mi)		Plain stage	Cyrille Guimard (FRA)
4	4 July	Reims to Nancy	214 km (133 mi)		Plain stage	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)
5	5 July	Nancy to Mulhouse	188 km (117 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Walter Godefroot (BEL)
6	6 July	Mulhouse to Divonne-les-Bains	244.5 km (151.9 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Jean-Pierre Danguillaume (FRA)
	7 July	Divonne-les-Bains			Rest day
7a	8 July	Divonne-les-Bains to Gaillard	86.5 km (53.7 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Luis Ocaña (ESP)
7b		Gaillard to Méribel	150.5 km (93.5 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)
8	9 July	Moûtiers to Les Orres	237.5 km (147.6 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Luis Ocaña (ESP)
9	10 July	Embrun to Nice	234.5 km (145.7 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Vicente López Carril (ESP)
10	11 July	Nice to Aubagne	222.5 km (138.3 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Michael Wright (GBR)
11	12 July	Montpellier to Argelès-sur-Mer	238 km (148 mi)		Plain stage	Barry Hoban (GBR)
12a	13 July	Perpignan to Thuir	28.3 km (17.6 mi)		Individual time trial	Luis Ocaña (ESP)
12b		Thuir to Pyrénées 2000	76 km (47 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Lucien Van Impe (BEL)
	14 July	Pyrénées 2000			Rest day
13	15 July	Bourg-Madame to Luchon	235 km (146 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Luis Ocaña (ESP)
14	16 July	Luchon to Pau	227.5 km (141.4 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Pedro Torres (ESP)
15	17 July	Pau to Fleurance	137 km (85 mi)		Plain stage	Wilfried David (BEL)
16a	18 July	Fleurance to Bordeaux	210 km (130 mi)		Plain stage	Walter Godefroot (BEL)
16b		Bordeaux	12.4 km (7.7 mi)		Individual time trial	Joaquim Agostinho (POR)
17	19 July	Sainte-Foy-la-Grande to Brive-la-Gaillarde	248 km (154 mi)		Plain stage	Claude Tollet (FRA)
18	20 July	Brive-la-Gaillarde to Puy de Dôme	216.5 km (134.5 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Luis Ocaña (ESP)
19	21 July	Bourges to Versailles	233.5 km (145.1 mi)		Plain stage	Barry Hoban (GBR)
20a	22 July	Versailles	16 km (9.9 mi)		Individual time trial	Luis Ocaña (ESP)
20b		Versailles to Paris	89 km (55 mi)		Plain stage	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)
	Total		4,090 km (2,541 mi)[7]

Race overview

Joop Zoetemelk after he won the opening prologue time trial in Scheveningen, Netherlands

The finish of stage 1a in Rotterdam, Netherlands, won by Willy Teirlinck

Zoetemelk won the opening prologue, one second ahead of Poulidor. In the first part of the next stage, Teirlinck won and took over the lead. Ocana and Herman Van Springel fell down when a dog crossed the road, but both suffered no serious damage.^[3] In the second part of that stage, Van Springel bridged the gap to Catieau, who had escaped. Van Springel did all the work to stay away, while Catieau did not help his team captain's rival. They stayed away until the end of the stage, where Catieau won the sprint, and Van Springel became the new race leader.^[3]

In the third stage, a group with Guimard and Ocana escaped. Van Springel, Zoetemelk, Fuentes, Thevenet and Poulidor were not in that group, and had to chase them. The group stayed away, Guimard won the sprint and Catieau became the race leader. More important for the final result was that Ocana won more than two minutes on Zoetemelk, and more than seven minutes on Fuente.^[3][8]

In stage seven, when the first mountains were climbed, Ocana attacked, and only Zoetemelk could follow. A few kilometers from the summit, Zoetemelk had to let Ocana go, and Ocana finished solo. Ocana became the new race leader, almost three minutes ahead of Zoetemelk.^[3] In the eighth stage, Ocana and Fuente both attacked. Ocana and Fuente did not like each other, and when Fuente stopped working, Ocana was angry, especially when Fuente passed him just before the top of the Izoard to steal the points for the mountain classification. When Fuente had a flat tire, Ocana did not wait for him, and left him behind, beating him by one minute at the finish line. All the others were far behind: Thevenet and Martinez followed after seven minutes, the other pre-race favourites after twenty minutes.^[3][9]

In the thirteenth stage, Poulidor crashed, and was taken away with a helicopter.^[3] In the sixteenth stage, the cyclists were slower than expected, and finished one hour after the latest time schedule. The train that they should have taken had already left, and they had to use buses.^[3]

In the time trial in stage 17, Fuente lost his second place in the general classification to Thevenet. Fuente tried to take it back in the mountain stage 18, but he failed and even lost some time.^[3]

Doping

Three cyclists tested positive during the 1973 Tour de France:

• 
  Barry Hoban, after the 9th stage^[10]


• 
  Claude Baud, after the 13th stage^[11]


• 
  Michel Roques, after the 18th stage^[12]

All three received a fine of 1000 Swiss Francs, one-month suspension and ten minutes penalty time in the general classification.

Classification leadership

There were several classifications in the 1973 Tour de France, three of them awarding jerseys to their leaders. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour.^[13]

Additionally, there was a points classification, where cyclists got points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.^[13]

There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorized some climbs as either first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, but was not identified with a jersey in 1973.^[13]

Another classification was the combination classification. This classification was calculated as a combination of the other classifications, its leader wore the white jersey.^[14]

The fifth individual classification was the intermediate sprints classification. This classification had similar rules as the points classification, but only points were awarded on intermediate sprints. In 1973, this classification had no associated jersey.^[15]

For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. The riders in the team that lead this classification wore yellow caps.^[16]

For the first time, there was also a team points classification. After each stage, the stage rankings of the best three cyclists per team were added, and the team with the least total lead this classification, and were identified by green caps.^[17][14]

The combativity award was given to Luis Ocana.^[5]

Classification leadership by stage^[18]

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Team classification
P	Joop Zoetemelk	Joop Zoetemelk	Joop Zoetemelk	no award	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson
1a	Willy Teirlinck	Willy Teirlinck	Willy Teirlinck		Sonolor
1b	José Catieau	Herman Van Springel	Herman Van Springel		Bic
2a	Watney–Maes Pils
2b	Eddy Verstraeten			Frans Verbeeck
3	Cyrille Guimard	José Catieau	Cyrille Guimard	Willy De Geest
4	Joop Zoetemelk		Herman Van Springel
5	Walter Godefroot			Charly Grosskost
6	Jean-Pierre Danguillaume			Pedro Torres
7a	Luis Ocaña	Luis Ocaña
7b	Bernard Thévenet
8	Luis Ocaña			Luis Ocaña
9	Vicente López Carril			José Manuel Fuente
10	Michael Wright
11	Barry Hoban
12a	Luis Ocaña
12b	Lucien Van Impe
13	Luis Ocaña
14	Pedro Torres
15	Wilfried David
16a	Walter Godefroot
16b	Joaquim Agostinho
17	Claude Tollet			Pedro Torres
18	Luis Ocaña
19	Barry Hoban
20a	Luis Ocaña
20b	Bernard Thévenet
Final		Luis Ocaña	Herman Van Springel	Pedro Torres	Bic

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the general classification		Denotes the winner of the points classification
	Denotes the winner of the combination classification

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[2]

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Luis Ocaña (ESP)	Bic	122h 25' 34"
2	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 15' 51"
3	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 17' 15"
4	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 26' 22"
5	Lucien Van Impe (BEL)	Sonolor	+ 30' 20"
6	Herman Van Springel (BEL)	Rokado–De Gribaldy	+ 32' 01"
7	Michel Périn (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 33' 02"
8	Joaquim Agostinho (POR)	Bic	+ 35' 51"
9	Vicente López Carril (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 36' 18"
10	Régis Ovion (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 36' 59"

Final general classification (11–87)
Rank	Rider	Team	Time
11	Raymond Delisle (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 37' 43"
12	Mariano Martínez (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 40' 49"
13	Pedro Torres (ESP)	La Casera–Peña Bahamontes	+ 47' 30"
14	José Catieau (FRA)	Bic	+ 49' 12"
15	Antonio Martos (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 49' 20"
16	Antoon Houbrechts (BEL)	Rokado–De Gribaldy	+ 49' 38"
17	Lucien Aimar (FRA)	De Kova–Lejeune	+ 49' 54"
18	Fernando Mendes (POR)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	+ 51' 22"
19	Leif Mortensen (DEN)	Bic	+ 52' 18"
20	Francisco Galdós (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 53' 05"
21	Bernard Labourdette (FRA)	Bic	+ 1h 04' 49"
22	Jean-Pierre Danguillaume (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 1h 08' 41"
23	Luis Zubero (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 1h 18' 49"
24	Ronald Dewitte (BEL)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	+ 1h 19' 18"
25	Luis Balague (ESP)	La Casera–Peña Bahamontes	+ 1h 20' 11"
26	René Grelin (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 1h 20' 33"
27	Jean-Claude Genty (FRA)	Bic	+ 1h 21' 06"
28	Roland Berland (FRA)	Bic	+ 1h 22' 07"
29	Santiago Lazcano (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 1h 25' 27"
30	Pierre Martelozzo (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 1h 27' 51"
31	Alain Santy (FRA)	Bic	+ 1h 29' 19"
32	Johnny Schleck (LUX)	Bic	+ 1h 34' 06"
33	José Martins (POR)	Canada Dry–Gazelle	+ 1h 34' 36"
34	Michel Pollentier (BEL)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	+ 1h 36' 03"
35	Raymond Martin (FRA)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 1h 36' 10"
36	Charly Rouxel (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 1h 47' 42"
37	Jurgen Tschan (FRG)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 1h 49' 20"
38	Damaso Torres (ESP)	La Casera–Peña Bahamontes	+ 1h 49' 23"
39	Jesus Manzaneque (ESP)	La Casera–Peña Bahamontes	+ 1h 51' 40"
40	Antonio Menendez (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 1h 55' 58"
41	Carlos Melero (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 1h 58' 07"
42	Ferdinand Julien (FRA)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 2h 01' 12"
43	Barry Hoban (GBR)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 2h 03' 00"
44	Marcel Boishardy (FRA)	De Kova–Lejeune	+ 2h 03' 38"
45	Herculano Oliveira (POR)	Canada Dry–Gazelle	+ 2h 05' 13"
46	Jean-Pierre Genet (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 2h 07' 14"
47	José Antonio González (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 2h 08' 07"
48	Claude Tollet (FRA)	Sonolor	+ 2h 09' 04"
49	Jean-Claude Largeau (FRA)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 2h 09' 22"
50	José Grande (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	+ 2h 09' 40"
51	Michel Roques (FRA)	Sonolor	+ 2h 10' 41"
52	Albert Van Vlierberghe (BEL)	Rokado–De Gribaldy	+ 2h 13' 02"
53	Sylvain Vasseur (FRA)	Bic	+ 2h 13' 56"
54	Jesus Esperanza (ESP)	La Casera–Peña Bahamontes	+ 2h 14' 49"
55	Daniel Ducreux (FRA)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	+ 2h 15' 21"
56	Robert Bouloux (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 2h 15' 55"
57	Michael Wright (GBR)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 2h 23' 21"
58	Christian Blain (FRA)	De Kova–Lejeune	+ 2h 23' 35"
59	Gerard Vianen (NED)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 2h 24' 21"
60	Willy Teirlinck (BEL)	Sonolor	+ 2h 24' 44"
61	Gérard Besnard (FRA)	Sonolor	+ 2h 28' 25"
62	Jean-Jacques Sanquer (FRA)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	+ 2h 29' 05"
63	Alain Nogues (FRA)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 2h 33' 41"
64	Joaquim Andrade (POR)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 2h 34' 07"
65	Walter Godefroot (BEL)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	+ 2h 34' 49"
66	Gustaaf Van Roosbroeck (BEL)	Rokado–De Gribaldy	+ 2h 38' 02"
67	Charly Grosskost (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 2h 38' 43"
68	Jacques Esclassan (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 2h 42' 03"
69	André Mollet (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	+ 2h 43' 05"
70	Theo van der Leeuw (NED)	Canada Dry–Gazelle	+ 2h 43' 38"
71	Jacques Botherel (FRA)	Sonolor	+ 2h 45' 45"
72	Marc Demeyer (BEL)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	+ 2h 46' 08"
73	Francis Campaner (FRA)	Gitane–Frigécrème	+ 2h 47' 21"
74	Wilfried David (BEL)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	+ 2h 50' 33"
75	Jan Krekels (NED)	Canada Dry–Gazelle	+ 2h 54' 39"
76	Jacques Mourioux (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 2h 59' 21"
77	Guy Santy (FRA)	Bic	+ 3h 01' 19"
78	Raymond Riotte (FRA)	Sonolor	+ 3h 04' 24"
79	Gérard Moneyron (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 3h 05' 20"
80	Robert Mintkiewicz (FRA)	Sonolor	+ 3h 07' 58"
81	Alf Gaida (FRG)	Rokado–De Gribaldy	+ 3h 32' 23"
82	Régis Delépine (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	+ 3h 14' 21"
83	Charles Genthon (FRA)	De Kova–Lejeune	+ 3h 42' 20"
84	Noël Geneste (FRA)	De Kova–Lejeune	+ 4h 17' 31"
85	Jean-Claude Baud (FRA)	De Kova–Lejeune	+ 4h 33' 09"
86	Jean-Claude Blocher (FRA)	De Kova–Lejeune	+ 4h 36' 56"
87	Jacques Hochart (FRA)	De Kova–Lejeune	+ 4h 51' 09"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)^[2][19]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Herman Van Springel (BEL)	Rokado–De Gribaldy	187
2	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)	Gitane–Frigécrème	168
3	Luis Ocaña (ESP)	Bic	145
4	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	139
5	Walter Godefroot (BEL)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	139
6	Barry Hoban (GBR)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	110
7	Gerard Vianen (NED)	Gitane–Frigécrème	110
8	Lucien Van Impe (BEL)	Sonolor	109
9	Mariano Martínez (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	89
10	Jacques Esclassan (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	89

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)^[2][19]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Pedro Torres (ESP)	La Casera–Peña Bahamontes	225
2	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	216
3	Luis Ocaña (ESP)	Bic	192
4	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	119
5	Lucien Van Impe (BEL)	Sonolor	107
6	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)	Gitane–Frigécrème	83
7	Vicente López Carril (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	80
8	Joaquim Agostinho (POR)	Bic	46
9	Francisco Galdós (ESP)	Kas–Kaskol	46
10	Mariano Martínez (FRA)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	38

Combination classification

Final combination classification (1–5)^[19]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)	Gitane–Frigécrème	20
2	Lucien Van Impe (BEL)	Sonolor	26
3	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)	Peugeot–BP–Michelin	33
4	Herman Van Springel (BEL)	Rokado–De Gribaldy	50
5	Fernando Mendes (POR)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	55

Intermediate sprints classification

Final intermediate sprints classification (1–5)^[19]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Marc Demeyer (BEL)	Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano	105
2	Barry Hoban (GBR)	Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson	70
3	Willy Teirlinck (BEL)	Sonolor	60
4	Raymond Riotte (FRA)	Sonolor	28
5	Robert Mintkiewicz (FRA)	Sonolor	16

References

Sources

External links

Media related to 1973 Tour de France at Wikimedia Commons