1974 Tour de France
Route of the 1974 Tour de France
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| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 27 June – 21 July | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 22 + Prologue, including four split stages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 4,098 km (2,546 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 116h 16' 58" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Winner |
 Eddy Merckx (BEL)
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(Molteni) |
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| Second |
 Raymond Poulidor (FRA)
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(Gan–Mercier) | |
| Third |
 Vicente Lopez-Carril (ESP)
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(Kas–Kaskol) | |
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Points |
Patrick Sercu (BEL)
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(Brooklyn) |
| Mountains |
Domingo Perurena (ESP)
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(Kas–Kaskol) | |
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Combination |
Eddy Merckx (BEL)
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(Molteni) |
| Sprints |
 Barry Hoban (GBR)
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(Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson) | |
| Team | Kas–Kaskol | ||
| Team Points | Gan–Mercier–Hutchinson | ||
The 1974 Tour de France was the 61st edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between June 27 and July 21, with 22 stages covering a distance of 4,098 km (2,546 mi). Eddy Merckx was attempting to win his fifth Tour de France in as many races, while Luis Ocaña and Joop Zoetemelk were notable absentees from the 1974 Tour.
In 1974 the tour made its first visit to the United Kingdom, with a circuit stage on the Plympton By-pass, near Plymouth, England.
The race was won by favourite Eddy Merckx, who thus at that point had won all five Tours that he had entered, and had equalled Jacques Anquetil in Tour victories. Merckx also won the combination classification. Fellow Belgian Patrick Sercu won the points classification, while Spanish Domingo Perurena won the mountains classification.
The 1974 Tour de France had 13 teams, with 10 cyclists each.
The teams entering the race were:
Eddy Merckx, who had been absent in 1973 after winning four Tours in a row, was present again. Merckx had not been as dominant in the spring as in other years; it was his first year as a professional cyclist in which he did not win a spring classic. He did win the 1974 Giro d'Italia and the Tour de Suisse, but after winning the latter he required surgery on the perineum, five days before the 1974 Tour started.
Notable absents were Ocana and Zoetemelk. Zoetemelk was injured during the Midi Libre and was in hospital with life-threatening meningitis. Between 1970-1986 this would be the only Tour Zoetemelk would not start and finish, and would be the only Tour until 1983 that he was not in the top ten.
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