1979 Tour de France
Route of the 1979 Tour de France
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| Dates | 27 June – 22 July | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 24 + Prologue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,765 km (2,339 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 103h 06' 50" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Winner |
 Bernard Hinault (FRA)
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(Renault–Gitane) |
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| Second |
 Joop Zoetemelk (NED)
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(Miko–Mercier–Vivagel) | |
| Third |
 Joaquim Agostinho (POR)
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(Flandria–Ça va seul) | |
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Points |
Bernard Hinault (FRA)
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(Renault–Gitane) |
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Mountains |
 Giovanni Battaglin (ITA)
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(Inoxpran) |
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Youth |
Jean-René Bernaudeau (FRA)
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(Renault–Gitane) |
| Sprints |
 Willy Teirlinck (BEL)
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(Kas–Campagnolo) | |
| Team | Renault–Gitane | ||
| Team Points | Renault–Gitane | ||
The 1979 Tour de France was the 66th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 27 June and 22 July, with 24 stages covering a distance of 3,765 km (2,339 mi). It was the only tour to finish at Alpe d'Huez twice. It was won by Bernard Hinault, who also won the points classification, and whose team won both team classifications. The mountains classification was won by Giovanni Battaglin, and the young rider classification was won by Jean-René Bernaudeau.
The following 15 teams each sent 10 cyclists, for a total of 150.
The teams entering the race were:
The big favourite was Hinault; not only was he the defending champion, but the large number of time trials made the race especially suited for him. The only cyclist though to be able to seriously challenge Hinault was Zoetemelk, the runner-up of the previous edition.
The route for the 1979 Tour was revealed in November 1978. It was the shortest course since 1904, but with many climbs it was still considered hard.
Since 1974, the Tour had always been composed of 22 stages, with some of them run as split stages. Following the riders' strike in the 1978 Tour against these split stages, the 1979 Tour included no split stages. To compensate for this, the total number of stages increased to 24. The Tour had one rest day, in Les Menuires.
The prologue was won by Knetemann; Zoetemelk and Hinault both followed at four seconds. The first stage took the riders immediately into the mountains. Bittinger won the stage, and the favourites stayed together. The second stage was run as an individual climb time trial. Hinault won it, and became the new leader, with Zoetemelk and Agostinho almost one minute behind. Hinault also won the third stage, without gaining time on his rivals. In the fifth stage, the team time trial, Hinault lost time, but stayed the leader by 12 seconds on Zoetemelk. The Peugeot team had selected the wrong tires, according to their team leader Hennie Kuiper; he punctured five times in that stage, and if he had been 31 seconds faster he would have been the race leader.
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