Description
1968 Tour de France
The 1968 Tour de France was the 55th 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 4,492 km (2,791 mi). Eleven national teams of 10 riders competed, with three French teams, two Belgian teams, and one from Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, and a combined Swiss/Luxembourgian team.
The 1968 Tour marked the first time the race ended at the Vélodrome de Vincennes, replacing the now-defunct Parc des Princes Velodrome, which served as the final stop from 1904 to 1967. Jan Janssen won the general classification, overtaking Herman Van Springel in the final time trial.
Innovations and changes
After Tom Simpson’s death, doping controls became mandatory. To further protect the cyclists, it was now allowed to get water during the race, and two rest days were added. To get more sponsor income, a new classification was added: the combination classification, calculated from the positions in general, as well as the points and mountains classification. The points classification jersey, which has been green in all other years, was red in 1968 for sponsorship reasons.
Route and Stages
The route for the Tour de France was announced in December 1967. At that time, the last stage was not finalized yet because the old finish place (the Parc des Princes) was no longer available, and a new one had to be found.
The 1968 Tour de France started on 27 June and had two rest days in Royan and Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via. The highest point was 2,408 m (7,900 ft) at the Port d’Envalira mountain pass summit on stage 13.
Race Overview
Charly Grosskost won the initial time trial, with most favorites shortly behind him. Grosskost also won the next stage and thus kept the lead. In the first part of the third stage, a team time trial, the Belgian A team won, and because of the time bonuses, Herman Vanspringel took over the lead. The following stages were all flat, and the favorites could not gain time with each other. In the fourth stage, a group without favorites escaped and won the stage with a margin of a few minutes; Jean-Pierre Genet was the best-placed cyclist of that group and became the new leader. A similar thing happened in the first part of the fifth stage; Georges Vandenberghe was the only cyclist who had been present in both escape groups, and he became the new leader of the general classification. Vandenberghe was now a few minutes ahead in the general classification and kept that lead until the start of the Pyrenees after stage eleven.
Vandenberghe was expected to lose the lead in the twelfth stage because he was not known to be a good climber. But he was surprised and stayed with some of the favorites, keeping the lead. At that stage, the Dutch team was reduced to four cyclists, and the leader, Jan Janssen, did not look strong. On the other hand, the leader of the French squad, Raymond Poulidor, had gained time and seemed to be the best-placed favorite, in fifth place in the general classification. In the thirteenth stage, Vandenberghe again stayed at the front. On the last day in the Pyrenees, during stage fourteen, Janssen won the stage but won little time by, as almost all cyclists were in the group just behind him.
In the fifteenth stage, Raymond Poulidor was hit by a moto but was able to remount and reach the finish, although he lost more than a minute to his direct competitors.
In the sixteenth stage, French internal rivalry dominated; while Roger Pingeon of the France A team was slowing down to drink, Lucien Aimar of the France B team attacked and took a group of favorites with him. Although Aimar was later dropped from that group, Godefroot, Janssen, Vanspringel, Bracke, and Gandarias stayed at the front. At the same time, Pingeon, Poulidor, and Vandenberghe lost more than nine minutes and were out of contention. The new leader was now Rolf Wolfshohl, with San Miguel in second place and Franco Bitossi in third place.
In the eighteenth stage, Pingeon fought back and escaped early in the stage. He was joined by Bitossi, who was keen on taking over the lead in the general classification. On the last climb, Bitossi was exhausted and lost considerable time. Pingeon won the stage, and San Miguel climbed to first place in the general classification. However, the top eight were within two minutes of each other.
In the nineteenth stage, San Miguel lost a little time on Vanspringel, who became the new leader. The following few stages did not change anything at the top of the general classification. The Tour ended with a time trial, and before the time trial, Herman Van Springel was leading, followed by San Miguel at 12 seconds, Janssen at 16 seconds, and Bitossi at 58 seconds. Janssen won the final time trial, with Van Springel in second place, but the margin was large enough for Janssen to win the Tour.
Doping
Doping controls were performed daily on the first three riders to complete the stage and three more riders by random drawing. Gimondi advised the Tour de France organizers to adopt the system above, which was used at the Giro d’Italia earlier that year, in order for him to agree to participate in the race. In total, 163 doping tests were performed. Two returned positive:
- José Samyn, after the sixth stage
- Jean Stablinski, after the eleventh stage, for amphetamines
Both were removed from the race, suspended for one month, and given a fine.
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