Giro d'Italia 1973

The 56th Giro d'Italia was held in 21 sections and 3801 kilometers from May 18 to June 9, 1973 and won by Belgian Eddy Merckx . Merckx had secured the Maglia rosa in the prologue and did not give it up until the end of the tour. Of the 140 riders who started, 113 reached the finish in Trieste . After starting abroad in Belgium, the tour led via Germany , Luxembourg , France and Switzerland to Italy . Apart from the start in Vatican City the following year , this was the last real international start of the Giro for the next 23 years until 1996 .

course

stage	from	to	km	winner	Maglia pink
prolog	Verviers ( BEL )	Verviers	5 ( PZF )	Eddy Merckx , Roger Swerts	Eddy Merckx
1	Verviers	Cologne ( GER )	137	Eddy Merckx
2	Cologne	Luxembourg ( LUX )	227	Roger De Vlaeminck
3	Luxembourg	Strasbourg ( FRA )	239	Gustave van Roosbroeck
4th	Geneva ( SUI )	Aosta	163	Eddy Merckx
5	Saint Vincent	Milan	173	Karstens tanning
6th	Milan	Iseo	144	Gianni Motta
7th	Iseo	Lido delle Nazioni	248	Rik Van Linden
8th	Lido delle Nazioni	Monte Carpegna	156	Eddy Merckx
9	Carpegna	Alba Adriatica	243	Patrick Sercu
10	Alba Adriatica	Lanciano	174	Eddy Merckx
11	Lanciano	Benevento	230	Roger De Vlaeminck
12	Benevento	Fiuggi	236	Tullio Rossi (cyclist)
13	Fiuggi	Bolsena	215	Roger De Vlaeminck
14th	Bolsena	Florence	202	Francesco Moser
15th	Florence	Forte dei Marmi	150	Martín Emilio Rodríguez
16	Forte dei Marmi	Forte dei Marmi	37 ( EZF )	Felice Gimondi
17th	Forte dei Marmi	Verona	244	Rik Van Linden
18th	Verona	Andalo	173	Eddy Merckx
19th	Andalo	Auronzo di Cadore	208	José Manuel Fuente
20th	Auronzo di Cadore	Trieste	197	Marino Basso

Final results

winner	Eddy Merckx	106: 54: 41 h
Second	Felice Gimondi	+ 7:42 min
Third	Giovanni Battaglin	+ 10:20 min
Fourth	José Pesarrodona	+ 15:51 min
fifth	Santiago Lazcano	+ 19:11 min
Sixth	Wladimiro Panizza	+ 19:45 min
seventh	Ole Knight	+ 24:24 min
Eighth	José Manuel Fuente	+ 26:06 min
Ninth	Francisco Galdós	+ 26:35 min
Tenth	Gianni Motta	+ 26:49 min
Scoring	Eddy Merckx	237 P.
Second	Roger De Vlaeminck	216 P.
Third	Felice Gimondi	146 P.
Mountain scoring	José Manuel Fuente	550 p.
Second	Eddy Merckx	510 p.
Third	Giovanni Battaglin	180 p.
Team evaluation	Molteni