1971 Tour de France
Route of the 1971 Tour de France
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 26 June – 18 July | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 20 + Prologue, including three split stages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,608 km (2,242 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 96h 45' 14" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Winner |
 Eddy Merckx (BEL)
|
(Molteni) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second |
 Joop Zoetemelk (NED)
|
(Flandria–Mars) | |
| Third |
Lucien Van Impe (BEL)
|
(Sonolor–Lejeune) | |
|
|
|||
 |
Points |
Eddy Merckx (BEL)
|
(Molteni) |
| Mountains |
Lucien Van Impe (BEL)
|
(Sonolor–Lejeune) | |
 |
Combination |
Eddy Merckx (BEL)
|
(Molteni) |
| Sprints |
Pieter Nassen (BEL)
|
(Flandria–Mars) | |
| Team | Bic | ||
The 1971 Tour de France was the 58th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 26 June and 18 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 3,608 km (2,242 mi).
The race was won by Eddy Merckx, his third consecutive victory. It was no easy win; after the 11th stage, Merckx was more than eight minutes behind Luis Ocaña in the general classification. In the 14th stage, Ocaña crashed in the descent of the Col de Menté and had to leave the race, what is named the most famous fall in Tour de France history.
From this year's race the second, third and fourth place finishers, Joop Zoetemelk, Lucien Van Impe and Bernard Thevenet would each win at least one TDF during their careers and Ocana would win the 1973 Tour de France.
The 1971 Tour started with 13 teams, each with 10 cyclists, a total of 130.
The teams entering the race were:
Eddy Merckx, who had won the 1969 and 1970 Tours, was the big favourite. Pre-race predictions were certain that if he would not become ill or crash, Merckx would be the winner, and were speculating whether he would be able to lead the race from start to end.
The 1970 Tour, with fewer flat stages, fewer time trials and more mountain stages, was thought to be a route that suited climbing specialists. There were five split stages, and cyclists had complained about it. Nevertheless, the 1971 Tour again used split stages; one reason was that the UCI rules did not allow long stages to prevent the use of doping, another reason was that split stages generated more income.
There were two rest days, in Le Touquet and Orcières, and during the first rest day, the cyclists were transferred by airplane, the first time this happened during the Tour.
The race started with a team time trial as prologue, won by Merckx' team, which gave them a 20 seconds bonification for the general classification. After the first part of the first stage, Merckx' team mate Wagtmans briefly took over the leading position in the general classification, only to lose it to Merckx in the second part.
...
Wikipedia