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1973 Tour de France Podium Pennant, Team Classification Leader
1973 Tour de France Podium Pennant, Team Classification Leader - Image 2
1973 Tour de France Podium Pennant, Team Classification Leader - Image 3
1973 Tour de France Podium Pennant, Team Classification Leader - Image 4
1973 Tour de France Podium Pennant, Team Classification Leader - Image 5
1973 Tour de France Podium Pennant, Team Classification Leader - Image 6

1973 Tour de France Podium Pennant, Team Classification Leader

$285.00

1973 Tour de France Podium Pennant, Team Leader
Fanion Challenge International, Sponsored by le Coq Sportif

The Bic team dominated the team classification in 1973, taking the lead on Stage 1b and keeping it all the way to Paris. The Gan-Mercier-Hutchinson led the team competition after the prologue, and Sonolor held it briefly after Stage 1a.

To determine the leader of 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 and were awarded this pennant. Challenge International was the original name for the team classification in the Tour de France, introduced in 1930.

Size: 11 3/4 x 11 1/2 inches (30 x 29 cm)

This is a one-of-a-kind item; please review the photos carefully to determine the condition.

In stock

SKU: COL-0457 Category: Tags: , , ,

Description

1973 Tour de France

The 1973 Tour de France was the 60th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling’s Grand Tours. It took place between 30 June and 22 July, with 20 stages covering a distance of 4,090 km (2,541 mi). Eddy Merckx, winner of the previous four editions, did not start the 1973 Tour, partly to avoid angry French fans and partly to please his sponsor; instead, he rode and won the 1973 Vuelta a España and the 1973 Giro d’Italia. In his absence, Luis Ocaña dominated the race by winning four mountain stages and two time trials. The result was a margin of victory exceeding 15 minutes.

In 1973, a new team classification was added: the team points classification, calculated by adding the three best stage rankings per team; it would be calculated until 1988.

Pre-race Favorites

The winner of the previous four editions, Eddy Merckx, had changed sponsors to the Italian Molteni. His contract said that he had to start in the 1973 Vuelta a España and the 1973 Giro d’Italia, and Merckx thought it was impossible to start in three grand tours in one year, so he stayed away from the Tour. Ocaña, who was in great shape, was now the main favourite, with Fuente, Poulidor, and Thévenet as his biggest threats. Ocaña was not the clear favourite; he had already crashed out of the Tour three times, and he was seen as fragile. Zoetemelk had changed teams because he did not have the full support of his team leader. Among the Italian riders absent were world champion Marino Basso and former Tour winner Felice Gimondi.

Route and Stages

After the 1972 Tour de France, there were rumours that the 1973 Tour would become easier, to suit French cyclist Cyrille Guimard better. However, when the 1973 Tour route was announced in December 1972, the organisation had included three more mountains compared to the 1972 route. The race started on 30 June, and had two rest days, in Divonne-les-Bains and Bolquères Pyrenees 2000. The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,556 m (8,386 ft) at the summit tunnel of the Col du Galibier mountain pass on stage 8.

Race Overview

Joop Zoetemelk, after he won the opening prologue time trial in Scheveningen,

Zoetemelk won the opening prologue, one second ahead of Poulidor. In the first part of the next stage, Teirlinck won and took over the lead. Ocaña and Herman Van Springel fell down when a dog crossed the road, but both suffered no serious damage. In the second part of that stage, Van Springel bridged the gap to Catieau, who had escaped. Van Springel did all the work to stay away, while Catieau did not help his team captain’s rival. They stayed away until the end of the stage, where Catieau won the sprint, and Van Springel became the new race leader.

In the third stage, a group with Guimard and Ocana escaped. Van Springel, Zoetemelk, Fuentes, Thévenet, and Poulidor were not in that group and had to chase them. The group stayed away, Guimard won the sprint, and Catieau became the race leader. More important for the final result was that Ocaña won more than two minutes on Zoetemelk, and more than seven minutes on Fuente.

In stage seven, when the first mountains were climbed, Ocaña attacked, and only Zoetemelk could follow. A few kilometers from the summit, Zoetemelk had to let Ocaña go, and Ocaña finished solo. Ocaña became the new race leader, almost three minutes ahead of Zoetemelk.In the eighth stage, Ocaña and Fuente both attacked. Ocaña and Fuente did not like each other, and when Fuente stopped working, Ocaña was angry, especially when Fuente passed him just before the top of the Izoard to steal the points for the mountain classification. When Fuente had a flat tire, Ocaña did not wait for him and left him behind, beating him by one minute at the finish line. All the others were far behind: Thévenet and Martinez followed after seven minutes, the other pre-race favourites after twenty minutes.

In the thirteenth stage, Poulidor crashed and was taken away in a helicopter. In the sixteenth stage, the cyclists were slower than expected and finished one hour after the latest time schedule. The train that they should have taken had already left, and they had to use buses.

In the time trial in stage 17, Fuente lost second place in the general classification to Thévenet. He tried to take second place in the mountain stage 18, but he failed and even lost some time.

Excerpt from Wikipedia – Read the full entry by clicking here

 

Additional information

Weight 2 lbs

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