1970 Tour de France

The Tour de France started with 15 teams, of 10 cyclists each, from five different countries.[1][2] A few days before the Tour started, it became known that Paul Gutty had failed a doping test when he won the French national road championship. Gutty was removed from his Frimatic team,[3] and replaced by Rene Grelin.

The teams entering the race were:[1]

After his dominating victory in the previous year, Merckx was the major favourite.[4] The main competition was expected from Luis Ocaña and Bernard Thévenet. Early in the race, 86 journalists predicted who would be in the top five of the Tour. 85 of them expected Merckx to be in the top five; Ocana was named by 78, Poulidor by 73.[5] Merckx had already won important races in 1970, including Paris–Roubaix, Paris–Nice, the Giro d'Italia and the Belgian national road championship.[6] Luis Ocaña, who had won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and the Vuelta a España, suffered from bronchitis, but still started the Tour, unable to seriously challenge Merckx.[6]

The 1970 Tour de France started on 27 June, and had no rest days.[7] After the financial success of the split stages in the 1969 Tour de France, even more split stages were used in the 1970 Tour.[6] The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,115 m (6,939 ft) at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet mountain pass on stage 19.[8][9]

Stage characteristics and winners[4][7][10][11]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	27 June	Limoges	7.4 km (4.6 mi)		Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
1	27 June	Limoges to La Rochelle	224.5 km (139.5 mi)		Plain stage	Cyrille Guimard (FRA)
2	28 June	La Rochelle to Angers	200 km (120 mi)		Plain stage	Italo Zilioli (ITA)
3a	29 June	Angers	10.7 km (6.6 mi)		Team time trial	Faemino–Faema
3b		Angers to Rennes	140 km (87 mi)		Plain stage	Marino Basso (ITA)
4	30 June	Rennes to Lisieux	229 km (142 mi)		Plain stage	Walter Godefroot (BEL)
5a	1 July	Lisieux to Rouen	94.5 km (58.7 mi)		Plain stage	Walter Godefroot (BEL)
5b		Rouen to Amiens	223 km (139 mi)		Plain stage	Jozef Spruyt (BEL)
6	2 July	Amiens to Valenciennes	135.5 km (84.2 mi)		Plain stage	Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
7a	3 July	Valenciennes to Forest (Belgium)	120 km (75 mi)		Plain stage	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
7b		Forest (Belgium)	7.2 km (4.5 mi)		Individual time trial	José Antonio González (ESP)
8	4 July	Ciney (Belgium) to Felsberg (Saar) (West Germany)	232.5 km (144.5 mi)		Plain stage	Alain Vasseur (FRA)
9	5 July	Saarlouis (West Germany) to Mulhouse	269.5 km (167.5 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Mogens Frey (DEN)
10	6 July	Belfort to Divonne-les-Bains	241 km (150 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
11a	7 July	Divonne-les-Bains	8.8 km (5.5 mi)		Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
11b		Divonne-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains	139.5 km (86.7 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Marino Basso (ITA)
12	8 July	Thonon-les-Bains to Grenoble	194 km (121 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
13	9 July	Grenoble to Gap	194.5 km (120.9 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Primo Mori (ITA)
14	10 July	Gap to Mont Ventoux	170 km (110 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
15	11 July	Carpentras to Montpellier	140.5 km (87.3 mi)		Plain stage	Rini Wagtmans (NED)
16	12 July	Montpellier to Toulouse	160 km (99 mi)		Plain stage	Albert Van Vlierberghe (BEL)
17	13 July	Toulouse to Saint-Gaudens	190 km (120 mi)		Plain stage	Luis Ocaña (ESP)
18	14 July	Saint-Gaudens to La Mongie	135.5 km (84.2 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)
19	15 July	Bagnères-de-Bigorre to Mourenx	185.5 km (115.3 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Christian Raymond (FRA)
20a	16 July	Mourenx to Bordeaux	223.5 km (138.9 mi)		Plain stage	Rolf Wolfshohl (FRG)
20b		Bordeaux	8.2 km (5.1 mi)		Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
21	17 July	Ruffec to Tours	191.5 km (119.0 mi)		Plain stage	Marino Basso (ITA)
22	18 July	Tours to Versailles	238.5 km (148.2 mi)		Plain stage	Jean-Pierre Danguillaume (FRA)
23	19 July	Versailles to Paris	54 km (34 mi)		Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
	Total		4,254 km (2,643 mi)[12]

The race director's car and peloton at the start of stage two in La Rochelle

The big favourite Merckx won the opening prologue, but he decided not to try to keep this leading position during the entire race.[13] In the next stage, Merckx' team chased back all the escapees, so the stage ended in a bunch sprint, and Merckx kept the lead. In the second stage, a few cyclists escaped, and two of Merckx' teammates, Italo Zilioli and Georges Vandenberghe, joined the escape. Merckx' teammate Zilioli was ranked highest amongst the escaped cyclists, and none of them were considered competitors for the general classification, so Guillaume Driessens, Merckx's team leader, allowed the breakaway to work, and told Zilioli and Vandenberghe to give their best.[6] Merckx however chased his own teammates.[6] The group stayed away, Zilioli won the sprint and became the new leader, 4 seconds ahead of Merckx.[14][15] After the stage, Merckx was angry at his team leader, because he had allowed Zilioli to "steal" Merckx' yellow jersey, but Driessens explained him that the other teams had spent energy to chase Zilioli, and the argument was over.[16] Merckx team won the team time trial, and controlled the next stages, keeping Zilioli the leader with Merckx in second place.[16]

In the sixth stage, Zilioli had a flat tire. Normally, if the leader in the Tour de France suffers a flat tire, a teammate would offer his wheel, and some teammates would stay with him to help him get back into the peloton. However, this time Merckx was considered more important, and Zilioli was given no help. Zilioli finished the stage one minute behind, and Merckx was the new leader.[17]

The seventh stage was split in two. Merckx won the first stage with a solo break, and finished second in the second part, a time trial. In that time trial, run during the rain, Roger de Vlaeminck, third in the general classification, took too much risk, fell down and left the race in an ambulance. Merckx saw De Vlaeminck lying on the street during his race, and decided to take less risks, allowing José Antonio González Linares to win the stage by three seconds.[18] Because Roger de Vlaeminck had left the race, his team Mars needed a new captain. Debutant Joop Zoetemelk was the highest ranked cyclist, and became the new captain.[19]

In the ninth stage, Mogens Frey and Joaquim Agostinho, teammates, broke away together. They worked together to stay away, but near the end of the stage Frey stopped working and had Agostinho do all the work, even after his team manager told him to help. In the sprint, Agostinho expected his teammate to give him the victory because he had done all the work, but to his surprise Frey started to come around him. Agostinho then grabbed Frey's handlebars, and crossed the finish line first. The race jury did not allow this, and gave the victory to Frey, putting Agostinho in second place.[6]

In the tenth stage, when the first medium mountains showed up, Merckx won the stage, and only three cyclists were able to stay with him, including Zoetemelk. Zoetemelk then rose to the second place, and he became the most important rival for Merckx.[20]

Zoetemelk, along with Luis Ocana and Bernard Thevenet would be the only serious rivals for the remainder of Merckx's career.

Zoetemelk said that he would focus on defending his second place, because he thought Merckx was better than the rest of the world.[21]

After the thirteenth stage, Merckx heard that Vicenze Giacotto, who started the Faema team around Merckx, had died of a heart attack.[22]

Merckx increased his lead steadily in the mountain stages in the Alps. After he won the stage to the Mont Ventoux, Merckx briefly lost consciousness.[4][6]

In the two Pyrenéan stages, Merckx did not win. He was suffering from stomach problems, and changed bicycles several times. The young Bernard Thévenet won the first, showing his potential as a future Tour winner.[4][6]

Merckx was the third cyclist to win the Tour-Giro double in one year; Fausto Coppi and Jacques Anquetil had done it before. Coppi and Anquetil were over thirty years old at their doubles, Merckx was only 25.[23] The margin with the second placed cyclist was less than the year before; according to J.B. Wadley, the difference was that Merckx stopped attacking in 1970 after the Mont Ventoux; had he been inclined to win more time, he probably would have been able to.[6]

There were several classifications in the 1970 Tour de France, three of them awarding jerseys to their leaders.[24] 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.[25]

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.[26]

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 1970.[27]

Another classification was the combination classification. This classification was calculated as a combination of the other classifications, its leader wore the white jersey.[28]

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 1970, this classification had no associated jersey.[29]

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 wore yellow caps.[29]

The intermediate sprints classification, sponsored by Miko, was also named "hot spot". In addition, there was a combativity award given after each mass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative. The split stages each had a combined winner. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification.[30] Roger Pingeon won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award.[7] The new rider classification was first calculated in 1970. It is not the same as the young rider classification, introduced in 1975.[4] The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col d'Aubisque on stage 19. This prize was won by Raymond Delisle.[31][32]

Classification leadership by stage[33][34][35]

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification[lower-alpha 1]	Combination classification	Intermediate sprints classification	Team classification	Combativity
								Award	Classification
P	Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx	no award	no award	no award	Bic	no award	no award
1	Cyrille Guimard		Cyrille Guimard	Pierre Ghisellini	Cyrille Guimard	Cyrille Guimard		Pierre Ghisellini	Pierre Ghisellini
2	Italo Zilioli	Italo Zilioli	Jan Janssen		Italo Zilioli	Régis Delépine		Italo Zilioli	Italo Zilioli
3a	Faemino–Faema						Faemino–Faema	Joaquim Agostinho
3b	Marino Basso		Cyrille Guimard	Luis Zubero		Cyrille Guimard
4	Walter Godefroot		Walter Godefroot					José Catieau	Joaquim Agostinho
5a	Walter Godefroot				Eddy Merckx
5b	Jozef Spruyt
6	Roger De Vlaeminck	Eddy Merckx	Roger De Vlaeminck					Jaak De Boever	Leo Duyndam
7a	Eddy Merckx		Walter Godefroot					Lucien Van Impe
7b	José Antonio González								Joaquim Agostinho
8	Alain Vasseur							Alain Vasseur
9	Mogens Frey							Joaquim Agostinho
10	Eddy Merckx			Eddy Merckx				Eddy Merckx
11a	Eddy Merckx
11b	Marino Basso
12	Eddy Merckx						Dr. Mann–Grundig	Andrés Gandarias	Eddy Merckx
13	Primo Mori						Faemino–Faema	Primo Mori
14	Eddy Merckx		Eddy Merckx				Kas–Kaskol	Eddy Merckx
15	Rini Wagtmans							Eddy Merckx
16	Albert Van Vlierberghe		Walter Godefroot					Attilio Benfatto
17	Luis Ocaña							Luis Ocaña
18	Bernard Thévenet		Eddy Merckx					Raymond Delisle
19	Christian Raymond		Walter Godefroot					Raymond Delisle
20a	Rolf Wolfshohl							Gilbert Bellone
20b	Eddy Merckx
21	Marino Basso							Jean-Pierre Danguillaume
22	Jean-Pierre Danguillaume							Jean-Pierre Danguillaume
23	Eddy Merckx						Salvarani
Final		Eddy Merckx	Walter Godefroot	Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx	Cyrille Guimard	Salvarani	Eddy Merckx

• During the stages when Merckx was leading the general classification and the points classification, Merckx wore the yellow jersey and the number two of the points classification was wearing a black/green jersey. When Merckx was leading the general classification and the combination classification, the number two of the combination classification wore a black/white jersey.[36]

Merckx had been so dominant during the entire Tour, that the organisation was afraid the race would become dull. The director Félix Lévitan announced that rule changes were considered to break the power of Merckx's team, that he was considering to return to national teams, and to reduce the number of time trials in the Tour.[45] The 1971 Tour did not see major changes in rules, but the number of individual time trials decreased from five to two.

• Augendre, Jacques (2016). Guide historique [Historical guide] (PDF). Tour de France (in French). Paris: Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
• McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol (2008). The Story of the Tour de France: 1965–2007. 2. Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59858-608-4.
• Nauright, John; Parrish, Charles (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-300-2.
• van den Akker, Pieter (2018). Tour de France Rules and Statistics: 1903–2018. Self-published. ISBN 978-1-79398-080-9.
• Wadley, J. B. (1970). Eddy Merckx and the 1970 Tour de France. Keighley, UK: Kennedy Brothers Publishing. OCLC 00483041.

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