tour francia 1974

1974 Tour de France

61st edition: june 27 - july 21, 1974, results, stages with running gc, map, photos, video and history.

1973 Tour | 1975 Tour | Tour de France database | Quick Facts | Final GC | Stage results with running GC | The Story of the 1974 Tour De France | Video

Map of the 1974 Tour de France

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 1: 1903 - 1975 is available as an audiobook here .

1974 Tour Quick Facts:

4,098 km raced at an average speed of 35.241 km/hr

130 starters and 105 classified finishers.

This was Eddy Merckx's fifth and final Tour win and part of one of the most extraordinary seasons for any athlete in any sport.

In 1974 Merckx won The Giro, the Tour of Switzerland, the Tour de France and the World Championship.

In the 1974 Tour Merckx was fortunate as well in that Luis Ocaña and Joop Zoetmelk were absent.

A tiring Vicente López-Carril was headed for second place but Raymond Poulidor nicked him in the final time trial.

This was the final Tour de France to end at the "La Cipale" Velodrome. Tours since then have finished on the Champs Elysées.

Complete Final 1974 Tour de France General Classification:

• Raymond Poulidor (Gan-Mercier) @ 8min 4sec
• Vicente López-Carril (KAS) @ 8min 9sec
• Wladimiro Panizza (Brooklyn) @ 10min 59sec
• Gonzalo Aja (KAS) @ 11min 24sec
• Joaquim Agostinho (Bic) @ 14min 24sec
• Michel Pollentier (Carpenter-Confortluxe) @ 16min 34sec
• Mariano Martinez (Sonolor-Gitane) @ 18min 33sec
• Alain Santy (Gan-Mercier) @ 19min 55sec
• Herman Van Springel (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy) @ 24min 11sec
• Roger Pingeon (Jobo-Lejeune) @ 27min 7sec
• Raymond Delisle (Peugeot-BP) @ 28min 59sec
• Jean-Pierre Danguillaume (Peugeot-BP) @ 29min 43sec
• Juan Zurano (La Casera-Bahamontes) @ 30min 20sec
• André Romero (Jobo-Lejeune) @ 31min 35sec
• Michel Périn (Gan-Mercier) @ 31min 57sec
• Miguel-Maria Lasa (KAS) @ 32min 55sec
• Lucien van Impe (Sonolor-Gitane) @ 37min 35sec
• Andrés Oliva (La Casera-Bahamontes) @ 37min 48sec
• Bernard Labourdette (Bic) @ 38min 2sec
• Joseph Bruyère (Molteni) @ 41min 31sec
• Edouard Janssens (Molteni) @ 44min 30sec
• Fausto Bertoglio (Brooklyn) @ 45min 30sec
• Willy Van Neste (Sonolor-Gitane) @ 46min 50sec
• Ronald De Witte (Carpenter Confortluxe) @ 47min 10sec
• Giancarlo Bellini (Brooklyn) @ 47min 46sec
• Fedor den Hertog (Frisol) @ 50min 28sec
• José Catieau (Bic) @ 51min 11sec
• José Pesarrodona (KAS) @ 53min 44sec
• Georges Pintens (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy) @ 56min 43sec
• Joël Millard (Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage) @ 57min 8sec
• Ferdinand Julien (Sonolor-Gitane) @ 1hr 0min 6sec
• Roland Berland (Bic) @ 1hr 1min 13sec
• Régis Ovion (Peugeot-BP) @ 1hr 5min 22sec
• Marc Lievens (Molteni) @ 1hr 9min 16sec
• Victor Van Schil (Molteni) @ 1hr 12min 37sec
• Barry Hoban (Gan-Mercier) @ 1hr 13min 11sec
• Gerrie Knetemann (Gan-Mercier) @ 1hr 14min 15sec
• Francis Campaner (Lejeune-Jobo) @ 1hr 16min 19sec
• Antonio Martos (KAS) @ 1hr 18min 2sec
• Marc Demeyer (Carpenter-Confortluxe) @ 1hr 18min 28sec
• Luis Zubero (KAS) @ 1hr 19min 12sec
• Arturo Pecchielan (Brooklyn) @ 1hr 19min 15sec
• Domingo Perurena (KAS) @ 1hr 19min 18sec
• Jos Deschoenmaecker (Molteni) @ 1hr 19min 36sec
• Jesus Manzaneque (La Casera-Bahamontes) @ 1hr 19min 54sec
• Jean-Claude Misac (Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage) @ 1hr 23min 26sec
• Christian Blain (Lejeune-Jobo) @ 1hr 23min 52sec
• Carlos Melero (KAS) @ 1hr 25min 17sec
• Joseph Spruyt (Molteni) @ 1hr 25min 41sec
• Sylvain Vasseur (Bic) @ 1hr 26min 37sec
• Bernard Bourreau (Peugeot-BP) @ 1hr 27min 7sec
• Jan Van De Wiele (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy) @ 1hr 28min 25sec
• Antonio Menendez (KAS) @ 1hr 30min 43sec
• André Dierickx (Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage) @ 1hr 32min 18sec
• Gerard Vianen (Gan-Mercier) @ 1hr 36min 27sec
• Michael Wright (Sonolor-Gitane) @ 1hr 38min 11sec
• Ludo Delcroix (Molteni) @ 1hr 38min 13sec
• André Mollet (Peugeot-BP) @ 1hr 38min 40sec
• José Luis Abilleira (La Casera-Bahamontes) @ 1hr 39min 12sec
• Gerben Karstens (Bic) @ 1hr 39min 19sec
• Damaso Torres (La Casera-Bahamontes) @ 1hr 40min 11sec
• Gustaaf Van Roosbroeck (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy) @ 1hr 41min 11sec
• Alain Nogues (Sonolor-Gitane) @ 1hr 42min 17sec
• Willy Teirlinck (Sonolor-Gitane) @ 1hr 47min 11sec
• Jos Huysmans (Molteni) @ 1hr 49min 0sec
• Jean-Pierre Genet (Gan-Mercier) @ 1hr 49min 2sec
• Jean-Jacques Sanquer (Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage) @ 1hr 50min 29sec
• Valerio Lualdi (Brooklyn) @ 1hr 51min 22sec
• Noël Vanclooster (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy) @ 1hr 51min 24sec
• Guy Sibille (Peugeot-BP) @ 1hr 52min 44sec
• Gerard Moneyron (Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage) @ 1hr 53min 52sec
• Wilfried Wesemael (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy) @ 1hr 54min 9sec
• Charles Rouxel (Peugeot-BP) @ 1hr 54min 22sec
• Jacques Esclassan (Peugeot-BP) @ 1hr 56min 47sec
• Christian Raymond (Gan-Mercier) @ 1hr 57min 36sec
• Daniel Rebillard (Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage) @ 1hr 58min 3sec
• Wim Prinsen (Frisol) @ 1hr 58min 50sec
• Raymond Riotte (Peugeot-BP) @ 1hr 59min 51sec
• Jacky Mourioux (Gan-Mercier) @ 2hr 0min 6sec
• Alain Vasseur (Bic) @ 2hr 1min 28sec
• Claude Magni (Lejeune-Jobo) @ 2hr 6min 3sec
• Frans Mintjens (Molteni) @ 2hr 6min 43sec
• Henk Prinsen (Frisol) @ 2hr 10min 9sec
• Jean-Pierre Guillemot (Lejeune-Jobo) @ 2hr 12min 12sec
• Jacques Botherel (Sonolor Gitane) @ 2hr 12min 37sec
• Robert Mintkiewicz (Sonolor-Gitane) @ 2hr 16min 5sec
• Ronny Vanmarcke (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy) @ 2hr 17min 34sec
• Patrick Sercu (Brooklyn) @ 2hr 18min 58sec
• Daniel Ducreux (Lejeune-Jobo) @ 2hr 19min 20sec
• Gianni De Lorenzo (Brooklyn) @ 2hr 20min 52sec
• Bernard Croyet (Bic) @ 2hr 23min 57sec
• Dirk Baert (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy) @ 2hr 24min 45sec
• Fernando Plaza (La Casera-Bahamontes) @ 2hr 28min 19sec
• Michel Coroller (Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage) @ 2hr 36min 59sec
• Arthur Van De Vyver (Carpenter-Confortluxe) @ 2hr 38min 42sec
• Aldo Parecchini (Brooklyn) @ 2hr 41min 11sec
• Alain Cigana (Lejeune-Jobo) @ 2hr 42min 24sec
• Frans Van Looy (Carpenter-Confortluxe) @ 2hr 46min 3sec
• Daniel Verplancke (Carpenter-Confortluxe) @ 2hr 46min 38sec
• Regis Delepine (Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage) @ 2hr 55min 42sec
• Piet Van Katwijk (Frisol) @ 2hr 58min 39sec
• Donald John Allan (Frisol) @ 3hr 6min 53sec
• Bernard Masson (Leujeune-jobo) @ 3hr 16min 56sec
• Lorenzo Alaimo (Frisol) @ 3hr 55min 46sec

Climbers' Competition :

• Eddy Merckx (Molteni): 118
• José-Luis Abilleira (La Casera-Bahamontes): 109
• Gonzalo Aja (KAS): 90
• Raymond Poulidor (Gan-Mercier): 80
• Vicente Lopez-Carril (KAS): 74
• Andres Oliva (La Casera-Bahamontes): 65
• Wladimiro Panizza (Brooklyn): 52
• Antonio Menendez (KAS): 35
• Jean-Pierre Danguillaume (Peugeot-BP), Joaquim Agostinho (Bic): 33

Points Competition:

• Eddy Merckx (Molteni): 270
• Barry Hoban (Gan-Mercier): 170
• Gerben Karstens (Bic): 149
• Jacques Escalssan (Peugeot-BP): 143
• Herman Van Springel (MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy): 113
• Michel Pollentier (Carpenter-Confortluxe): 107
• Piet Van Katwijk (Frisol): 97
• Gerard Vianen (Gan-Mercier): 94
• Raymond Poulidor (Gan-Mercier): 94

Team Classification:

• KAS: 350hr 24min 27sec
• Gan-Mercier @ 15min 26sec
• Molteni @ 32min 23sec
• Sonolor-Gitane @ 49min 2sec
• Bic @ 49min 50sec
• Brooklyn @ 53min 4sec
• Lejeune-Jobo @ 1hr 1min 9sec
• Peugeot-BP @ 1hr 15min 24sec
• La Casera-Bahamontes @ 1hr 34min 47sec
• MIC-Ludo-De Gribaldy @ 1hr 36min 35sec
• Carpenter-Confortluxe @ 1hr 53min 40sec
• Flandria-Shimano-Merlin Plage @ 2hr 13min 48sec
• Frisol @ 3hr 44min 53sec

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Stage results with running GC:

Prologue: Thursday, June 27, Brest 7.1 km Individual Time Trial

• Eddy Merckx: 8min 54sec
• Jesus Manzaneque @ 6sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 8sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 13sec
• Dirk Baert @ 17sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 20sec
• Jean-Pierre Danguillaume s.t.
• Bernard Thévenet @ 23sec
• Michel Pollentier s.t.
• Herman Van Springel @ 24sec

GC after prologue: same as stage times and places

Stage 1: Friday, June 28, Brest - St. Pol de Leon, 144 km.

• Ercole Gualazzini: 3hr 25min 30sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 1sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 4sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 25sec
• Frans Van Looy s.t.
• Eddy Merckx s.t.
• Patrick Sercu s.t.
• Piet Van Katwijk s.t.
• Barry Hoban s.t.
• Cees Priem s.t.

GC after Stage 1:

• Joseph Bruyère: 3hr 34min 18sec
• Eddy Merckx @ 16sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 26sec
• Jesus Manzaneque @ 34sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 37sec
• Ercole Gualazzini @ 39sec
• Joaquim Agostino @ 41sec
• Dirk Baert @ 45sec
• Jean-Pierre Danguillaume @ 48sec
• Bernard Thévenet @ 51sec

Stage 2: Saturday, June 29, Plymouth U.K. Circuit, 163.7 km

• Henk Poppe: 3hr 53min 44sec
• Jacques Escalssan s.t.
• Gerben Karstens s.t.
• Herman Van Springel s.t.
• Miguel-Maria Lasa s.t.
• Gustaaf Van Roosbroeck s.t.

GC after Stage 2:

• Joseph Bruyère: 7hr 28min 2sec
• Eddy Merckx @ 10sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 22sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 41sec
• Barry Hoban @ 47sec

Stage 3: Sunday, June 30, Morlaix - St. Malo, 190 km

• Patrick Sercu: 4hr 45min 57sec
• Régis Delépine s.t.
• Jacques Esclassan s.t.
• Jacky Mourioux s.t.
• Robert Mintkiewicz

GC after Stage 3:

• Joseph Bruyère: 12hr 13min 59sec
• Eddy Merckx @ 2sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 15sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 20sec
• Ercole Gualazzini @ 33sec
• Patrick Sercu @ 34sec
• Jesus Manzaneque s.t.
• Barry Hoban @ 43sec

Stage 4: Monday, July 1, St. Malo - Caen, 184.5 km

• Patrick Sercu: 4hr 48min 54sec
• Ercole Gualazzini s.t.
• Cyrille Guimard s.t.
• Miguel Maria Lasa s.t.
• Régis Ovion s.t.

GC after Stage 4:

• Eddy Merckx: 17hr 2min 49sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 4sec
• Patrick Sercu @ 18sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 22sec
• Ercole Gualazzini @ 26sec
• Jesus Manzaneque @ 38sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 45sec
• Jean-Pierre Danguillauime @ 52sec
• Bernard Thévenet @ 55sec

Stage 5: Tuesday, July 2, Caen - Dieppe, 165 km

• Ronny De Witte: 4hr 15min 34sec
• Marc De Meyer s.t.
• Wilfried Wesemael s.t.

GC after Stage 5:

• Gerben Karstens: 21hr 18min 26sec
• Patrick Sercu @ 9sec
• Ercole Gualazzini @ 10sec
• Joseph Bruyère s.t.
• Herman Van Springel @ 28sec
• Ronny De Witte @ 43sec
• Jesus Manzaneque @ 44sec
• Barry Hoban @ 49sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 51sec

Stage 6A: Wednesday, July 3, Dieppe - Harelbeke, 239 km

• Jean-Luc Molinéris: 6hr 18min 56sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 1sec
• Cees Bal @ 22sec
• Dirk Baert s.t.

GC after Stage 6A:

• Patrick Sercu: 27hr 27min 38sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 2sec
• Eddy Merckx @ 8sec
• Ercole Gualzzini @ 16sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 21sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 31sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 36sec
• Jean-Luc Molinéris @ 51sec
• Ronny De Witte @ 54sec
• Jesus Manzaneque @ 55sec

Stage 6B: Wednesday, July 3, Harelbek 9 km Team Time Trial

The times of the first five riders for each team were added up to give the team's time. The team's real time was added to each rider's GC time.

• Molteni: 54min 5sec
• KAS @ 1min 15sec
• BIC @ 1min 26sec
• NIC-De Gribaldy @ 1min 35sec
• Carpenter-Confortluxe @ 1min 57sec
• Gan-Mercier @ 2min 31sec
• Brooklyn @ 2min 56sec
• Frisol @ 3min 52sec
• Sonolor-Gitane @ 3min 59sec
• Peugeot-BP @ 4min 49sec

GC after Stage 6B:

• Gerben Karstens: 27hr 37min 36sec
• Patrick Sercu @ 2sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 13sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 33sec
• Jean-Luc Molinéris @ 43sec
• Ercole Gualzzini @ 48sec
• Ronny De Witte @ 56sec

Stage 7: Thursday, July 4, Mons - Chalons sur Marne, 221.5 km

• Eddy Merckx: 6hr 38min 37sec
• Willy Tierlinck s.t.

GC after Stage 7:

• Eddy Merckx: 34hr 15min 49sec
• Patrick Sercu @ 5sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 18sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 37sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 57sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 1min
• Barry Hoban @ 1min 5sec
• Jean-Luc Molinéris
• Ronny De Witte @ 1min 20sec

Stage 8A: Friday, July 5, Chalons sur Marne - Chaumont, 136 km

• Cyrille Guimard: 3hr 44min 8sec
• Ronny De Witte s.t.
• Andres Oliva s.t.
• Gérard Vianen s.t.
• Georges Pintens s.t.
• Wladimiro Panizza s.t.
• Raymond Poulidor s.t.
• Bernard Thévenet s.t.

GC after Stage 8A:

• Eddy Merckx: 37hr 59min 57sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 14sec
• Barry Hoban @ 1min 3sec
• Ronny De Witte @ 1min 5sec
• Jean-Luc Molinéris @ 1min 7sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 1min 17sec
• Jesus Manzaneque @ 1min 21sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 1min 24sec

Stage 8B: Friday, July 5, Chaumont - Besançon, 152 km

• Patrick Sercu: 4hr 25min 4sec
• Charly Rouxel s.t.

GC after Stage 8B:

• Eddy Merckx: 42hr 24min 48sec
• Gerben Karstens @ 13sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 50sec
• Barry Hoban @ 1min 4sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 1min 10sec
• Ronny De Witte @ 1min 18sec
• Jean-Luc Molinéris @ 1min 20sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 1min 30sec
• Patrick Sercu @ 1min 34sec

Stage 9: Saturday, July 6, Besançon - Aspro Gaillard, 241 km

• Eddy Merckx: 7hr 9min 58sec
• Joaquim Agostinho s.t.
• Gonzalo Aja s.t.
• Vicente Lópes-Carril @ 18sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 2min 27sec
• Alain Santy s.t.

GC after Stage 9:

• Eddy Merckx: 49hr 34min 46sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 1min 37sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 2min 1sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 2min 2sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 2min 12sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 2min 18sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 3min 57sec
• Miguel-Maria Lasa @ 4min 10sec
• Jean-Pierre Danguillaume @ 4min 15sec
• Joseph Bruyrère @ 4min 21sec

Stage 10: Sunday, July 7, Aspro Gaillard - Ais les Bains, 131.5 km

• Eddy Merckx: 3hr 46min 44sec
• Mariano Martinez s.t.
• Fausto Bertoglio @ 1min 2sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 39sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 1min 2sec
• Michel Périn @ 1min 57sec

GC after stage 10:

• Eddy Merckx: 53hr 21min 30sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 2min 16sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 3min 4sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 3min 20sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 4min 38sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 5min 43sec
• Andres Oliva @ 6min 24sec
• Alain Santy @ 6min 27sec

Stage 11: Tuesday, July 9, Aix les Bains - Serre Chevalier, 199 km

• Vicente López-Carril: 6hr 55min 36sec
• Eddy Merckx @ 54sec
• Francisco Galdos s.t.
• Roger Pingeon @ 2min 23sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 3min 46sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 6min 17sec

GC after stage 11:

• Eddy Merckx: 60hr 17min 52sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 2min 20sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 2min 34sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 4min 41sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 5min 16sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 7min 32sec
• Francisco Galdos @ 7min 37sec
• Alain Santy @ 8min 4sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 10min 50sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 11min 1sec

Stage 12: Wednesday, July 10, Savines le Lac - Orange, 231 km

• Jozef Spruyt: 7hr 15min 12sec
• Fedor Den Hartog s.t.
• Edouard Janssens s.t.
• Raymond Riotte s.t.
• Jacques Esclassan @ 41sec

GC after stage 12:

• Eddy Merckx: 67hr 33min 4sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 2min 1sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 3min 13sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 5min 20sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 5min 55sec
• Francisco Galdos @ 6min 57sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 7min 30sec
• Alain Santy @ 8min 45sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 11min 29sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 11min 42sec

Stage 13: Thursday, July 11, Avignon - Montpellier, 126 km

• Barry Hoban: 3hr 15min 42sec
• Domingo Perurena s.t.
• Robert Mintkiewicz s.t.

GC after stage 13:

• Eddy Merckx: 70hr 48min 46sec
• Vicente López-Carril s.t.
• Alain Santy @ 10min 7sec

Stage 14: Friday, July 12, Lodève - Colomiers, 248.5 km

• Jean-Pierre Genet: 7hr 12min 50sec
• Ludo Delcroix @ 20sec
• Gianni Di Lorenzo s.t.
• Antonio Martos s.t.
• Marc De Meyer @ 26sec
• André Dierickx s.t.
• Jean-Luc Molineris s.t.
• Juan Zurano s.t.
• Jacques Botherel s.t.

GC after Stage 14:

• Eddy Merckx: 78hr 2min 43sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 2min 5sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 5min 24sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 5min 59sec
• Francisco Galdos @ 7min 1sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 7min 37sec
• Alain Santy @ 10min 14sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 11min 33sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 11min 49sec

Stage 15: Sunday, July 14, Colomiers - Seo de Urgel, 225 km

• Eddy Merckx: 6hr 42min 29 sec
• Valerio Lualdi s.t.
• Raymond Delisle s.t.
• Joaquim Agostinho s,t,

GC after Stage 15:

• Eddy Merckx: 84hr 45min 12sec
• Raymond Poulidour @ 7min 37sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 14min 32sec

Stage 16: Monday, July 15, Seo de Orgel - St. Lary Soulan (Pla d'Adet), 209 km

• Raymond Poulidor: 7hr 53min 29sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 41sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 1min 2sec
• Alain Santy @ 1min 17sec
• Eddy Merckx @ 1min 49sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 2min 5sec
• Roger Pingeon @ 2min 34sec
• André Romero @ 3min 31sec
• Michel Périn @ 3min 45sec
• Willy Van Neste @ 3min 48sec

GC after Stage 16:

• Eddy Merckx: 92hr 40min 18sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 2min 24sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 4min 20sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 5min 58sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 6min
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 10min 54sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 13min 53sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 14min 16sec
• Alain Santy @ 15min 7sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 18min 8sec

Stage 17: Tuesday, July 16, St. Lary Soulan - Tourmalet, 119 km

• Jean-Pierre Danguillaume: 3hr 58min 44sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 2min 26sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 2min 32sec
• Alain Santy @ 2min 33sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 2min 49sec
• Lucien van Impe @ 2min 51sec
• Eddy Merckx @ 3min 8sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 3min 9sec
• Raymond Delisle @ 3min 25sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 3min 38sec

GC after Stage 17:

• Eddy Merckx: 95hr 42min 10sec
• Vicente López Carril @ 2min 25sec
• Raymond poulidor @ 5min 18sec
• Waldimiro Panizza @ 5min 39sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 6min 1sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 11min 24sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 13min 40sec
• Alain Santy @ 14min 32sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 14min 39sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 18min 56sec

Stage 18: Wednesday, July 17, Bagnères de Bigorre - Pau, 141.5 km

• Jean-Pierre Danguillaume: 4hr 19min 20sec
• Barry Hoban @ 3min 14sec

GC after Stage 18:

• Eddy Merckx: 101hr 4min 44sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 2min 25sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 5min 18sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 5min 39sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 21min 20sec

Stage 19A: Thursday, July 18, Pau - Bordeaux, 195.5 km

• Francis Campaner: 4hr 51min 56sec

GC after Stage 19A:

• Eddy Merckx: 106hr 10min 37sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 2mn 29sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 5min 22sec
• Waldimiro Panizza @ 5min 43sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 6min 5sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 11min 28sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 13min 42sec
• Alain Santy @ 14min 36sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 14min 43sec
• Herman Van springel @ 19min

Stage 19B: Thursday, July 18, Bordeaux 12.4 km Individual Time Trial

• Eddy Merckx: 16min 15sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 2sec
• Gerrie Knetemann @ 13sec
• Gérard Vianen @ 18sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 20sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 21sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 24sec
• José Pesarrondona @ 26sec
• Wilfied Wesemael @ 29sec

GC after Stage 19B:

• Eddy Merckx: 106 hr 26min 52sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 3min 26sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 5min 42sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 6min 40sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 6min 57sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 11min 49sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 14min 32sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 14min 45sec
• Alain Sainty @ 15min 51sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 19min 59sec

Stage 20: Friday, July 19, St. Gilles Croix de Vie - Nantes, 117 km

• Gérard Vianen: 2hr 53min 21sec
• Patrick Sercu @ 20sec

GC after Stage 20:

• Eddy Merckx: 109hr 20min 31sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 3min 28sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 5min 44sec
• Waldimiro Panizza @ 6min 42sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 6min 59sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 11min 51sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 14min 34sec
• Alain Santy @ 15min 53sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 20min 1sec

Stage 21A: Saturday, July 20, Vouvray - Orléans, 112.5 km

• Eddy Merckx: 2hr 19min 5sec
• Patrick Sercu @ 1min 25sec
• Ferdinand Julien s.t.
• Donald Allan s.t.

GC after Stage 21A:

• Eddy Merckx: 111hr 39min 16sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 5min 13sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 7min 29sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 8min 27sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 8min 44sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 13min 36sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 16min 19sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 16mn 24sec
• Alain Santy @ 17min 38sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 21min 46sec

Stage 21B: Saturday, July 20, Orléans 37.5 km Individual Time Trial:

• Michel Pollentier: 48min 23sec
• Jesus Manzaneque @ 27sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 29sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 38sec
• Joseph Bruyère @ 41sec
• Jean-Pierre Danguillaume @ 1min 3sec
• Bernard Labourdette @ 1min 50sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 2min 4sec

GC after Stage 21B:

• Eddy Merckx: 112hr 27min 49sec
• Raymond Poulidor @ 7min 48sec
• Vicente López-Carril @ 7min 49sec
• Wladimiro Panizza @ 10min 39sec
• Gonzalo Aja @ 11min 4sec
• Joaquim Agostinho @ 14min 4sec
• Michel Pollentier @ 16min 14sec
• Mariano Martinez @ 18min 13sec
• Alain Santy @ 19min 35sec
• Herman Van Springel @ 23min 51sec

Stage 22, Final Stage: Sunday, July 21, Orléans - Paris ("La Cipale" Velodrome), 146 km

Final Tour de France finish at "La Cipale"

• Eddy Merckx: 3hr 49min 29sec
• Aldo Parecchini s.t.
• Gerrie Knetemann s.t.

Complete Final 1974 Tour de France General Classification

The Story of the 1974 Tour de France:

This excerpt is from "The Story of the Tour de France", Volume 2. If you enjoy it we hope you will consider purchasing the book, either print, eBook or Audiobook. The Amazon link here will make the purchase easy.

Merckx came to the Tour with wins in both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of Switzerland. He started the early season well, winning one of the first races on the European calendar, the Italian Trofeo Laigueglia. The rest of Merckx's spring was not up to his normal standards. For the first time since 1965, his first year as a pro, he didn't win any Spring Classics. It wasn't for lack of trying. In 1974 he entered 140 races but won only 38 of them, a sharp fall-off from his 51 victories the year before. He produced second places in both the Catalonian Week and Gent–Wevelghem, a third in Paris–Nice and was fourth in the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix and the 5 Days of Dunkirk. Health problems got in the way. Writers described his difficulties differently. Some write about his having the flu. Merckx himself says he had a sore tailbone. Immediately after winning the Tour of Switzerland, Merckx had surgery on his perineum. The surgery was performed on June 22 with the Tour starting on June 27. As one might expect, the wound from the surgery never healed during the Tour and it gave him trouble the entire time. He would often end the stages with a bloody chamois.

With the exception of the Classics, his list of 1974 victories is stunning: Giro, Swiss Tour, Tour de France and the World Road Championship. But the wins weren't generally coming with the same ease. He was starting to get a little ragged at the edges. If Merckx had been anything less than a Nietzscheian siege engine of will his career would surely have been longer but perhaps his win list shorter.

Denying the world the rematch everyone wanted, neither Zoetemelk nor Ocaña entered the 1974 Tour. Zoetemelk crashed in the Midi-Libéré and ended up in the hospital with a life-threatening case of meningitis. Ocaña crashed while racing in a 4-day pre-Tour tune-up race, the Tour de L'Aude, and went home. From that point he failed to communicate with either his sponsor (Bic) or his Director Sportif, Maurice de Muer, and was fired.

The other great hope, Bernard Thévenet, even though he started the Tour, was hopelessly banged up from several crashes in the Vuelta.

The 1974 Tour remained about the same length as the year before, 4,098 kilometers. Counting split days as individual stages, the Tour organization crammed 27 stages and 2 rest days into the 3 weeks of racing. There were fewer of the onerous transfers that had reduced 1973's peloton into a surly, slow-moving group of exhausted riders but they were still a source of vigorous complaint. For the first time the Tour went to England for a stage. The 1974 Tour went clockwise, starting in Brittany, circling the perimeter of France before heading inland for Paris a couple of stages after the Pyrenees.

If there were any doubts about Merckx's form they were laid to rest with the 7 kilometers of the prologue, which Merckx won. His very loyal teammate, Joseph Bruyère, was third at only 8 seconds behind. The next day in the first road stage, Bruyère got in the winning break with Herman van Springel (who did all the work) and Ercole Gualazzini (who won the sprint). Because of his excellent prologue, Bruyère took over the lead in General Classification. It doesn't look as if this was the way Merckx wanted it to play out. From the very first intermediate sprint Merckx was out dueling with the sprint specialists, fighting for the bonus seconds in play. It looked as if Merckx was out to do what had not been done since Romain Maes in 1935, he wanted to take the Yellow at the start of the Tour and hold it all the way to Paris. Van Springel's ambition foiled the grand plan.

Bruyère is an interesting rider. His career was devoted to one thing: helping his good friend Eddy Merckx win races. He followed Merckx from team to team, always riding as hard as he could to help Merckx, never thinking of himself. Merckx said that Bruyère almost never realized how good he was, but when his morale was high, he had the power to pulverize the field.

The second stage was held in Plymouth, England. The entire Tour was ferried in a big, tiring transfer to race on a yet unopened highway. The riders were livid because British Immigration held them up as they tried to fly back to France. British racer Barry Hoban said that he wasn't back in his hotel until 10 at night. The experiment was sufficiently disliked that it was over 10 years before it was attempted again.

By virtue of the intermediate bonus sprints, Merckx regained the Yellow Jersey from Bruyère after the 4th stage. It was a tenuous hold: only 4 seconds separated Merckx from Bruyère. And it was actually more tenuous than that. Gerben Karstens was second on that stage but felt that he had been victimized by collusion between Merckx and Belgian super-sprinter Patrick Sercu. Even though they were on different teams, Sercu and Merckx were lifelong friends and partners during the winter track season. Karstens felt that Merckx was helping Sercu earn the points leader's Green Jersey. Karstens was so furious over Merckx's friendly help that he failed to report to dope control on time. For this serious infraction, Karstens was penalized 10 minutes. Upset, the riders threatened a strike over what they perceived as an overly hard punishment. The next day he was reinstated and with the time bonus for his second place, Gerben Karstens was in Yellow with 2-second lead on Merckx.

As the Tour moved across Northern France and into Belgium and then back into France the sprinters (Merckx included) fought hard for the dribs and drabs of seconds that were available. Because the lead was so close it changed several times.

After unloading several hard attacks that were brought back by a fast moving field, Merckx won a 55-man sprint for stage 7. With the time bonuses he had accrued Merckx was now in Yellow. The rankings stayed basically unchanged until the next stage which placed the riders at the base of the Alps. The General Classification at this point shows that things had been staying very close and that sprinters Karstens and Hoban had been doing very well:

The first day in the Alps, stage 9, had 2 hard climbs. At the start of the second and hardest ascent of the day, the Rousses, all the major contenders were together. Spanish champion Vicente Lopez-Carril tried to get away but with several kilometers of hard work Merckx was able to bring him back and in the process, dropped all but 11 others. The big surprise was 38-year old Raymond Poulidor's escape near the summit. He was caught on the descent but it was a shock to see the man who had first ridden the Tour in 1962 drop Merckx, Joaquim Agostinho and Italian climbing specialist Wladimiro Panizza. Merckx won the stage but it required grit to chase down the attacks. It appeared that even with several of the best stage racers sitting this Tour out, the others were in no mood to let Merckx have anything without a fight. On the other hand, Merckx was clearly willing to battle for every scrap on the table.

The next day was a variation on the same theme. There was 1 major climb, the 1,500 meter Mont du Chat. Lopez-Carril's teammate Gonzalo Aja took flight near the summit with Poulidor hot on his wheel. Poulidor caught Aja on the descent but they couldn't keep Merckx from joining them near the finish. Merckx, being by far the superior sprinter, took the stage.

The riders had a day of rest before tackling the hardest Alpine stage with the Cochette, Grand Cucheron, Télégraphe and Galibier on the day's schedule. The better riders arrived at the foot of the Télégraphe together. The Télégraphe really must be considered part of the Galibier because after the crest of the Télégraphe there is only a short descent and then the Galibier proper is ascended. As the peloton climbed the Télégraphe the cream of the Tour, its 13 best riders including Merckx, Poulidor and Lopez-Carril, rose to the top. Thévenet was able to get into that group and then faded slowly back, eventually abandoning. Near the crest Lopez-Carril took off with Merckx chasing. The riders came together again and then Roger Pingeon (winner of the 1967 Tour) attacked and took Lopez-Carril with him. Again Merckx had to chase but this time with Lopez-Carril's teammates Aja and Galdos on his wheel. Again Merckx caught Lopez-Carril and again the Spaniard attacked and got a gap. This time he made it stick. Lopez-Carril must have taken terrible chances because he actually gained time on Merckx on the descent. Once off the mountain he raced the final 20 kilometers to the finish line in Serre Chevalier as if he were being chased by the hounds of hell. Cannibal, Hounds of Hell, it was probably all the same to Lopez-Carril. And he did it! After attacking Merckx over and over and finally getting free, Vicente Lopez-Carril arrived at the end of the stage with a 54-second lead on Merckx who had Galdos and Aja glued to his wheel. Merckx was in an impossible situation. If he were to slow down and avoid dragging Aja, Lopez-Carril would close in on Merckx in the General Classification. Continue chasing as hard as he could and he drags Aja along on a free ride and helps a dangerous rival. No good choices. Pingeon came in 2½ minutes later. Poulidor had come apart and although he had a good, high placing at tenth, he lost 6 minutes, 17 seconds.

The new General Classification:

The next day included Mount Ventoux, but not as a hill-top finish. The riders ascended the windy mountain in blistering heat and came together on the descent. A very complex set of time bonuses for the first riders over the Mount gave Aja a couple of seconds over Merckx while Vicente-Carril lost a half-minute. The stage was won by Merckx domestique Jozef Spruyt, in a small break that escaped on the final run-in.

Across Provence the sprinters fought for stage wins and Hot Spot sprints in stifling heat, racing that didn't change the General Classification.

Stage 15, the first Pyrenean stage, had only 1 major ascent, the Port d'Envalira, famous in Tour history as the scene of Anquetil's famous crisis in the 1964 Tour. Only about 15 riders were with Merckx at the crest of the climb but the real adventure was just a few kilometers from the finish. Right behind Merckx and the others in the front of the break, a crash took down Poulidor, van Springel, Galdos and several others. Galdos, who was sitting in sixth place, turned out to have a hairline fracture in his femur. He was an important part of the Spanish challenge and now Aja and Lopez-Carril would be without his valuable services.

When stages 15 and 16 took the Tour into Spain, Basque separatists bombed some of the team and press cars. Lopez-Carril, who was the Spanish Champion, wore the blue and green Kas colors those days rather than tempt fate by wearing the champion's jersey which sported the colors of the Spanish flag, thereby being a target for the Spanish-hating partisans. By the time the Tour returned to France no one had been hurt but it gave everyone a very justifiable scare.

Stage 16 was 209 kilometers from Seo de Urgel to St.-Lary-Soulan/Pla d'Adet. The riders would climb the Porto de Canto, the Porto de la Bonaigua, the Portillon, the Peyresourde and a final ascent to Pla d'Adet. The important riders arrived at the base of the final climb together.

On the lower slope of the climb to Pla d'Adet van Impe's teammate Willy van Neste took off with Spanish Miguel-Maria Lasa, a teammate of Lopez-Carril, rushing off the front to join him (Lasa later came off and finished over 7 minutes down). And then who emerged from the front of the peloton? Raymond Poulidor! Poulidor chased, caught and dropped van Neste and was off the front of the final climb, alone. Back in the front group Lopez-Carril attacked and dropped Merckx who was now looking haggard. Alain Santy, a member of Poulidor's Mercier squad took off as did Belgian rider Michel Pollentier. Merckx dug deeper, struggling to keep the fleeing attackers in sight as the gradient in the final meters approached 24 percent. Poulidor held his lead for a brilliant stage win with Lopez-Carril 41 seconds behind. Merckx finished an exhausted 1 minute, 49 seconds after Poulidor. He was still in Yellow but there were 2 more days of Pyrenean mountains to go.

Stage 17 had 2 of the more fearsome climbs in the Tour's bandolier, the Aspin and a finish at the top of the Tourmalet. Peugeot rider Jean-Pierre Danguillaume broke clear near the top of the Aspin, which had been placed near the start of the stage. Thinking that the stage was still young, Danguillaume's action elicited no reaction from the peloton. Undeterred by the long way to the finish, the Frenchman put his head down and descended the Aspin as if he had rails instead of wet asphalt under him. His move was wonderfully successful and he finished 2 minutes, 26 seconds ahead of...Raymond Poulidor! Poulidor had hammered the leaders on the final ascent and finished alone. Merckx was over 3 minutes back but Lopez-Carril, also tiring in the final stages of this super-aggressive Tour, could do no better. Poulidor was now in third place:

Stage 18 gave the real climbers a final chance to gain time. In this last mountain stage they would not only have to mount a serious attack that would crack Merckx, but also forge a gap that would withstand 2 more individual time trials totaling 50 kilometers. This was a tall order. After only a few kilometers into the stage the riders went over the Tourmalet. Lopez-Carril, showing some wear and tear, came off but clawed his way back to the leaders. On the final climb, the Soulor, Danguillaume got into a small group, none of whom posed any threat to the Overall. The group was allowed its freedom. For the descent and final ride into Pau, Danguillaume had his rear wheel changed, not because he had a flat tire, but because he wanted bigger gears in order to force the hot pace he needed to stay away. And stay away he did, getting his second consecutive stage win. Back in the peloton all the contenders stayed together, more or less conceding the Tour to Merckx.

The full extent of Lopez-Carril's exhaustion was clear after the stage 19b time trial. Only 12.4 kilometers long, the Spaniard lost almost a full minute to Merckx, who won the stage.

The final time trial contained a surprise. Michel Pollentier, a small rider on the Belgian Carpenter team won the 37.5-kilometer stage 21b individual time trial in Orléans, beating Merckx by 10 seconds. That was interesting but the bigger news was the gap between Poulidor and Lopez-Carril. Poulidor beat the Spanish Champion, described by cycling writer David Saunder as "looking positively ghastly" after his ride, by 2 minutes, 17 seconds. That lifted Poulidor to second place with the huge gap of a single second.

On the final stage to Paris Poulidor's Mercier team was able to help him gain a few more seconds of time in one of the intermediate sprints. Lopez-Carril's team was too tired to defend their leader. The race was Merckx's and Poulidor had another second place.

Merckx's 1974 Tour win allowed him to, first of all, equal Anquetil's 5 victories, but unlike Anquetil Merckx had so far won every Tour he had entered. By winning 8 stages in 1974 he now had 32 stage wins, finally passing the record of 25 owned by André Leducq. He is also the first and only man to have won the Italian, Swiss and French Tours in a single year. This record is astounding because it entailed racing from May 16 to July 21 with very little rest. In addition, in the few days between the Swiss and French Tours he had surgery. Clearly the Merckx of 1969 was long gone but the 1974 Merckx had shifted his tactics, scrambling for little time bonuses, conceding nothing, fighting for everything. This time, it was not in the spirit of tyrannical excess but out of necessity in order to fend off a peloton that no longer feared him.

Final 1974 Tour de France General Classification:

Climbers' Competition:

French video of the 7.1 prologue in Brest:

© McGann Publishing

1974 Tour de France: results and classification

General classification of the 1974 tour de france, jerseys of the 1974 tour de france, stages of the 1974 tour de france.

Prologue (Brest - Brest, 7.1 km in Individual Time Trial)

Stage 1 (Brest - St Pol de Leon, 144 km)

Stage 2 (Plymouth - Plymouth, 163.7 km)

Stage 3 (Morlaix - St Malo, 190 km)

Stage 4 (St Malo - Caen, 184.5 km)

Stage 5 (Caen - Dieppe, 165 km)

Stage 6a (Dieppe - Harelbeke, 239 km)

Stage 6b (Harelbeke - Harelbeke, 9 km in Team Time Trial)

Stage 7 (Mons - Chalons sur Marne, 221.5 km)

Stage 8a (Chalons sur Marne - Chaumont, 136 km)

Stage 8b (Chaumont - Besançon, 152 km)

Stage 9 (Besançon - Gaillard, 241 km)

Stage 10 (Gaillard - Aix-les-Bains, 131.5 km)

Stage 11 (Aix-les-Bains - Serre Chevalier, 199 km)

Stage 12 (Savines le Lac - Orange, 231 km)

Stage 13 (Avignon - Montpellier, 126 km)

Stage 14 (Lodève - Colomiers, 248.5 km)

Stage 15 (Colomiers - Seo de Urgel, 225 km)

Stage 16 (Seo de Urgel - St Lary Soulan, 209 km)

Stage 17 (St Lary Soulan - La Mongie, 119 km)

Stage 18 (Bagnères-de-Bigorre - Pau, 141.5 km)

Stage 19a (Pau - Bordeaux, 195.5 km)

Stage 19b (Bordeaux - Bordeaux, 12.4 km in Individual Time Trial)

Stage 20 (St Gilles Croix de Vie - Nantes, 117 km)

Stage 21a (Vouvray - Orléans, 112.5 km)

Stage 21b (Orléans - Orléans, 37.5 km in Individual Time Trial)

Stage 22 (Orléans - Paris, 146 km)

• Championship and cup winners
• Club honours
• World Cup: results of all matches
• Winners of the most important cycling races
• Tour de France winners (yellow jersey)
• Best sprinters (green jersey)
• Best climbers (polka dot jersey)
• Best young riders (white jersey)
• Tour de France: Stage winners
• Australian Open: Men's singles
• Australian Open: Women's singles
• Australian Open: Men's doubles
• Australian Open: Women's doubles
• Australian Open: Mixed doubles
• French Open: Men's singles
• French Open: Women's singles
• French Open: Men's doubles
• French Open: Women's doubles
• French Open: Mixed doubles
• US Open: Men's singles
• US Open: Women's singles
• US Open: Men's doubles
• US Open: Women's doubles
• US Open: Mixed doubles
• Wimbledon: Men's singles
• Wimbledon: Women's singles
• Wimbledon: Men's doubles
• Wimbledon: Women's doubles
• Wimbledon: Mixed doubles

Tour de Francia 1974

61.ª edición del tour de francia / de wikipedia, la enciclopedia encyclopedia, estimado wikiwand ai, seamos breves simplemente respondiendo estas preguntas clave:.

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El 61.º Tour de Francia se disputó entre el 27 de junio y el 21 de julio de 1974 con un recorrido de 4098 km., divididos en un prólogo y 22 etapas; de ellas, la sexta, la octava, la decimonovena y la vigésima primera estuvieron divididas en dos sectores. Participaron 13 equipos de 10 corredores de los que solo uno logró finalizar la prueba con todos sus integrantes. El vencedor cubrió la prueba a una velocidad media de 35,241 km/h.

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1974 Tour de France explained

The 1974 Tour de France was the 61st edition of the Tour de France , one of cycling's Grand Tours . It took place between 27 June and 21 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 4098km (2,546miles). Eddy Merckx was attempting to win his fifth Tour de France in as many races.

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. While he won the race by a comfortable margin, he was not as overwhelmingly dominant as he had been in his previous victories with eight riders finishing within 20:00, two riders within 10:00 and his two top competitors in Luis Ocaña and Joop Zoetemelk absent from the race. Despite other riders finishing closer in the overall standings, Merckx still won an astonishing eight stages. He also won the combination classification . Fellow Belgian Patrick Sercu won the points classification , while Spanish Domingo Perurena won the mountains classification .

See main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1974 Tour de France .

The 1974 Tour de France had 13 teams, with 10 cyclists each. [1]

The teams entering the race were:

• La Casera–Peña Bahamontes
• Merlin Plage–Shimano–Flandria

Pre-race favourites

Eddy Merckx , who had been absent in 1973 after winning four Tours in a row, was present again. [2] 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 Ocaña and Zoetemelk . Zoetemelk was injured during the Midi Libre and was in hospital with life-threatening meningitis. Between 1970 and 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.

Ocaña had crashed in the Tour de l'Aude, gone home and was fired by his team for not communicating.

Bernard Thévenet, who was considered a potential winner, had crashed several times in the 1974 Vuelta a España . He did start in the Tour, but was not yet back at his former level.

Route and stages

The 1974 Tour de France started on 27 June, and had two rest days, in Aix-les-Bains and Colomiers. The highest point of elevation in the race was 2556m (8,386feet) at the summit tunnel of the Col du Galibier mountain pass on stage 11. [3]

Race overview

Merckx won the prologue, with his teammate Joseph Bruyère in third place. In the first stage, Bruyère was part of a breakaway, and became the new leader.

The second stage was in Plymouth, the first time that the Tour de France visited England. [6] The riders did not like the experiment, as the British immigration officials made the cyclists wait for a long time when entering the country and again when returning to France. [6]

Merckx collected bonus time in the sprints, and in the fourth stage took back the leading position in the general classification, with Gerben Karstens in second place. Karstens was also doing well in the points classification , and felt Merckx and Patrick Sercu , the leaders in the general and points classification, were helping each other. Karstens was angry and after the finish quickly went away, but forgot that he had to go to the doping control. For this, he was given ten minutes penalty time, and thus he lost his second place in the general classification. [7] Karstens complained to the jury, and other cyclists threatened with a strike, so the jury removed the penalty after the fifth stage. Thanks to bonification seconds in that stage, Karstens took the leading position after that stage. [8]

It was still close in the top of the general classification. Patrick Sercu became the new leader after the first part of the sixth stage, but Karstens regained the lead after the second part of the sixth stage, a team time trial won by Merckx's team, Molteni. Merckx won the seventh stage, and became the next leader.

The Alps were the first serious mountains to be seen, in stage nine. Merckx won the stage, but the surprise of the day was Raymond Poulidor, who at 38 years old was still able to escape during the toughest part of the stage. This also happened in the tenth stage: Poulidor joined the crucial escape, but could not beat Merckx in the final sprint.

In the tenth stage, the hardest Alpine stage, Vicente López Carril from the KAS team stayed away. Merckx was in the next group, together with Francisco Galdós and Gonzalo Aja , also from the KAS team. Aja was in third place in the general classification, so Merckx was unable to chase Lopez Carril without helping his rival Aja.

The next stages did not change the general classification. In the fifteenth stage, the Pyrenées were encountered. There was a crash that took down Galdós, now in sixth place in the general classification, and he had to leave the race.

The Tour was in Spain at that point, and Basque separatist placed bombs on press and team cars. There was violence around France, Andorra and in Corsica from unrelated protests including from farmers and other angry nationalists and in some areas people hung dead pigs from street lamps. The bombings in the Pyrenees took place in the middle of the night in Lourdes where thirteen vacant buses and two parked cars where destroyed. Then a few hours later at Saint-Lary-Soulan several vehicles associated with the Tour de France were targeted and blown up. No one was in them at the time. Leaflets were distributed threatening the fascist government of Spain and telling Spanish riders to leave the race. [9] Other acts of violence against the Tour included many trees being cut down to block the route, which had to be dealt with and removed.

Nobody was hurt, but cyclists were scared: Spanish champion Lopez Carril did not wear his national champion's jersey, afraid to become a target because of the Spanish flag on it.

In the sixteenth stage, with an uphill finish, Poulidor won, his first Tour stage victory since 1965. Merckx finished in fourth place, losing time to Poulidor, Lopez Carril and Pollentier. [10]

In the seventeenth stage, Poulidor again won time, finishing second after Jean-Pierre Danguillaume , and jumped to the third place in the general classification, behind Merckx and Lopez Carril.Danguillaume also won the eighteenth stage, the last mountain stage. The favourites stayed together with Merckx, and at that point Merckx was more or less certain of the victory, with two time trials remaining, in which he normally would gain time on the others.

Poulidor battled with Lopez-Carril for the second place. After the time trial in the second part of stage 21, Poulidor captured the second place by just one second. Surprisingly, Merckx was in second place in that time trial, beaten by Michel Pollentier . In the last stage, Poulidor increased the margin to Lopez Carril to five seconds due to bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint. At the finish of that last, Sercu finished first in a sprint, but he had blocked the way of Gustaaf Van Roosbroeck , so the jury decided to set him back, and the second rider to finish (Merckx) was declared winner of the stage. Normally, a rider penalized for blocking another rider during a sprint would be set back to the last place of the group that he finished in, but that would have meant that Sercu would have not only lost the stage victory to Merckx, but also the points classification . The jury then declared that only three riders were really sprinting for the stage victory, so Sercu would be set back to the third place; this enabled him to keep his victory in the points classification by 13 points. [11]

Cyrille Guimard , who had won the first part of stage eight, tested positive for piperidine [12] after stage thirteen. [13] Three other cyclists tested positive:Claude Tollet, for amphetamine; Daniel Ducreux, for piperidine; Carlos Melero, for piperidine. [12]

Classification leadership and minor prizes

There were several classifications in the 1974 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.

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.

There was also a mountains classification . The organisation had categorised 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-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, but was not identified with a jersey in 1974.

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

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 1974, this classification had no associated jersey.

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 led this classification were identified by yellow caps . There was also a team points classification. Cyclists received points according to their finishing position on each stage, with the first rider receiving one point. The first three finishers of each team had their points combined, and the team with the fewest points led the classification. The riders of the team leading this classification wore green caps.

In addition, there was a combativity award , in which a jury composed of journalists gave points after certain stages to the cyclist they considered most combative. The split stages each had a combined winner. At the conclusion of the Tour, Eddy Merckx won the overall super-combativity award, also decided by journalists. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given to the first rider to pass the memorial to Tour founder Henri Desgrange near the summit of the Col du Galibier on stage 11. This prize was won by Vicente López Carril .

Final standings

General classification, points classification, mountains classification, combination classification, intermediate sprints classification, team classification, team points classification.

With his fifth Tour victory, Merckx equalled Jacques Anquetil . Moreover, Merckx had won the first five Tours that he entered. Merckx set a few new records after winning the 1974 Tour:

• Total number of stage victories: 32 (surpassing André Leducq , who had won 25)
• First man to win the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Tour de Suisse in one year.

Merckx had already won the 1974 Giro d'Italia earlier that year, and after winning the 1974 Tour de France also won the world championship , and became the first cyclist to win the Triple Crown of Cycling .

Bibliography

• Web site: Jacques. Augendre. Jacques Augendre. Guide historique . Historical guide. 2016. fr. 27 October 2016. PDF. Tour de France . Paris. Amaury Sport Organisation . https://web.archive.org/web/20160817121602/http://netstorage.lequipe.fr/ASO/cyclisme/le-tour/2016/histoire/TDF16_GH_Interactif-PROD.pdf. 17 August 2016. live.
• Book: McGann. Bill. McGann. Carol. The Story of the Tour de France: 1965–2007 . 2. Dog Ear Publishing. Indianapolis. 2008. 978-1-59858-608-4.
• Book: Nauright. John. Parrish. Charles. Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice . 2. 2012. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara, California. 978-1-59884-300-2.
• Book: Saunders, David. Tour de France 1974. Kennedy Brothers Publishing. Keighley, UK. 1974.
• Book: van den Akker, Pieter. Tour de France Rules and Statistics: 1903–2018 . 2018. Self-published. 978-1-79398-080-9.

Notes and References

• Web site: The history of the Tour de France – Year 1974 – The starters . Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation . 2 April 2020. 3 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200403104428/http://histo.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1974/partants.html. dead.
• Web site: 61ème Tour de France 1974 . Mémoire du cyclisme. fr. https://web.archive.org/web/20120629200322/http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1947_1977/tdf1974.php. 29 June 2012. 26 September 2016. dead.
• News: Ronde van Frankrijk . Tour de France. de Volkskrant . 26 June 1974. 13. nl. Delpher .
• Web site: Tour de France GC top ten . Arian . Zwegers . CVCC . 17 May 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080516071832/http://www.cvccbike.com/tour/top_ten.html . 16 May 2008 . dead .
• Web site: The history of the Tour de France – Year 1974 – The stage winners . Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation . 2 April 2020. 3 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200403003400/http://histo.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1974/vainqueurs.html. dead.
• Web site: Tour de France: The disastrous 1974 Plymouth stage . 3 July 2014 . BBC News.
• Web site: 61ème Tour de France 1974 - 4ème étape . Mémoire du cyclisme. fr. https://web.archive.org/web/20120403111749/http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1947_1977/tdf1974_4.php. 3 April 2012. 26 September 2016. dead.
• Web site: 61ème Tour de France 1974 - 5ème étape . Mémoire du cyclisme. fr. https://web.archive.org/web/20120403111755/http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1947_1977/tdf1974_5.php. 3 April 2012. 26 September 2016. dead.
• Web site: From the archive, 17 July 1974: Tour de France in danger . The Guardian. Paul Webster. 17 July 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150728124356/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jul/17/tour-de-france-france-bombs-anarchists-farmers-corsica . 28 July 2015 .
• Web site: 61ème Tour de France 1974 - 16ème étape . Mémoire du cyclisme. fr. https://web.archive.org/web/20110804032409/http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1947_1977/tdf1974_16.php. 4 August 2011. 26 September 2016. dead.
• News: Ongelukkige refleks kost Patrick Sercu nog bijna de groene trui . Unlucky reflex almost costs Patrick Sercu the green jersey. 22 July 1974. Concentra. Gazet van Antwerpen. nl. André. Putzeijs. 20.
• Web site: Tombés au champs d'honneur . Dopage.com . Magazine Sport & Vie . July 2003 . fr . 30 March 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071213011439/http://www.dopage.com/cas-dopage/tombes-au-champs-dhonneur-81-105-11-770.html . 13 December 2007 .
• News: Guimard positief . 18 July 1974. Regionaal archief leiden. Leidsche Courant . 13.
• News: Tour panorama . nl. Gazet van Antwerpen . 22 July 1974. 19. https://web.archive.org/web/20190214182602/http://krantenarchief.concentra.be/vw/article.do?code=GVA&date=19740722&id=GVA-19740722-01019022. 14 February 2019. live.
• Web site: van den Akker. Pieter. Informatie over de Tour de France van 1974 . Information about the Tour de France from 1974. https://web.archive.org/web/20190304062036/http://www.tourdefrancestatistieken.nl/tour.php?jaar=1974. 4 March 2019. nl. TourDeFranceStatistieken.nl. 2 March 2019. live.
• Web site: The history of the Tour de France – Year 1974 – Stage 22 Orléans > Paris . Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation . 2 April 2020. 2 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200402221047/http://histo.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1974/2200/etape.html. dead.
• News: Clasificaciones oficiales . 22 July 1974. 19. es. Mundo Deportivo . https://web.archive.org/web/20191006192210/http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1974/07/22/MD19740722-019.pdf. 6 October 2019. live.

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1974 Tour de France (Q754426)

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From the archive, 17 July 1974: Tour de France in danger

France faces bombings from anarchists and Corsican separatists as well as protests from farmers

A series of bomb explosions caused by an international anarchist group has put the Tour de France in danger. The bombs, which wrecked cars and buses, were backed by leaflets calling on the Spanish cyclists to pull out of the race.

The attacks meant that France faced a third front of violence as the protests by French farmers continued today and tension in Corsica increased after new bombings.

Explosions began in the Pyrenees area at 2 am when 13 empty buses in two car parks were destroyed at Lourdes. The buses had been carrying children.

Two hours later at Saint Lary in the High Pyrenees a series of bombs wrecked vehicles which had been accompanying the Tour de France. Two cars, a van, and a motorcycle were destroyed and other vehicles damaged.

Both attacks were claimed by a group called GARI - the revolutionary internationalist action group - an anarchist movement which kidnapped a Spanish banker in Paris in May.

Although dedicated to overthrowing all Governments, the group is concentrating on wrecking the Spanish Government and is blamed for two other explosions yesterday in Andorra and on the Spanish frontier.

After the explosions at Saint Lary, the group left leaflets calling on the Spanish cyclists to pull out of the race and said that non-Spanish cyclists should also show their opposition to fascism or risk “disagreeable measures.”

The group said they had chosen to attack the Tour because it turned away consciences from problems of survival in both democratic and Fascist countries.

The Tour organisers let the race continue with increased security measures, particularly for the Spaniards, but had to clear away trees which had been cut down along the route.

Meanwhile there was no let up in the wave of violence by French farmers, and at Morlaix in Brittany today two commandos ransacked Government buildings. Three arrests were made.

Other protests, mostly in Brittany or in the north, used well tried tactics of spreading liquid manure in front of Government buildings and hanging pigs from lamp posts and blocking roads and railways.

The ministerial council meets tomorrow to discuss the farmers’ grievances and their insistence on stopping cheap imports, especially beef.

In Corsica, the separatist movement Giustizia Paolina today claimed responsibility for the new series of explosions at a police station and shops owned by non-Corsicans.

The GP which has been responsible for about twenty bomb attacks this year said the point of rupture with “French colonialism” had been reached.

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Race information

• Date: 01 July 1974
• Start time: -
• Avg. speed winner: 38.32 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 184.5 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
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• ProfileScore: 48
• Vert. meters: 2315
• Departure: St Malo
• Arrival: Caen
• Race ranking: 0
• Startlist quality score: 1280
• Won how: ? - let us know!
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