Tour de France 1968
| 55th Tour de France 1968 - final result | ||
| Route length | 22 stages, 4684.8 km | |
| Tour winner | Jan Janssen | 133: 49: 42 h (35.006 km / h) |
| Second | Herman Van Springel | + 0:38 min |
| Third | Ferdinand Bracke | + 3:03 min |
| Fourth | Gregorio San Miguel | + 3:17 min |
| fifth | Roger Pingeon | + 3:29 min |
| Sixth | Rolf Wolfshohl | + 3:46 min |
| seventh | Lucien Aimar | + 4:44 min |
| Eighth | Franco Bitossi | + 4:59 min |
| Ninth | Andres Gandarias | + 5:05 min |
| Tenth | Ugo Colombo | + 7:55 min |
| Scoring | Franco Bitossi | 241 P. |
| Second | Walter Godefroot | 219 P. |
| Third | Jan Janssen | 200 p. |
| Mountain scoring | Aurelio Gonzalez | 96 P. |
| Second | Franco Bitossi | 84 P. |
| Third | Julio Jiménez | 72 P. |
| Team evaluation | Spain | |
The 55th Tour de France took place from June 27th to July 21st, 1968 and ran over 22 stages with 4,685 km.
After the death of the British Tom Simpson in the previous year , regular doping controls were introduced. 110 racing drivers took part in the tour , of which 63 were classified.
Race course
Charly Grosskost from France won both the prologue and the first stage on the first day . After the victory of his Belgian team, Herman Van Springel was able to take the overall lead in the team time trial. He was only able to wear the yellow jersey of the front runner for two days. On the fifth stage, Van Springel's compatriot Georges Vandenberghe took over , who was several minutes ahead of all favorites in a breakaway group on the stage to Vorst . He was able to save his lead in the overall standings over the Pyrenees and was able to defend it until the 16th stage.
On the 15th stage to Albi , Raymond Poulidor , who started again as the favorite, fell after a collision with a press motorcycle and had to give up the race after a serious head injury. For the French it was little consolation that last year's winner Roger Pingeon was able to win this stage and four days later in Grenoble .
The German Rolf Wolfshohl finally managed to take over the overall lead from Vandenberghe, he was able to ride in the yellow jersey for two days, which he lost after a fall on the 18th stage. He finished the tour in sixth.
After wearing the yellow jersey at the start of the tour, Herman Van Springel from Belgium was able to take the overall lead on the 19th stage. Although all the difficult mountain stages had been completed at this point, several drivers were close together at the front: Van Springel only had a lead of 12 seconds over Gregorio San Miguel from Spain, 16 seconds over Jan Janssen from the Netherlands .
At the final individual time trial in Paris, the decision was made in favor of Janssen, who had already won the 14th stage and was able to overtake Van Springel by winning the last time trial by 38 seconds. The first victory of a Dutchman was also the closest victory in the history of the tour.
The points classification , the leader of which was exceptionally awarded a red jersey in 1968, was won by the Italian Franco Bitossi . At the same time, he won the newly introduced combination classification, which was made up of the performance in the overall classification as well as the points and mountain classification . Aurelio Gonzalez won the mountain classification .
The stages
| Stages | Day | Start finish | km | Stage winner | Yellow jersey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st stage (a) | June 27th | Vittel | 6.1 ( EZF ) | Charly Grosskost | Charly Grosskost |
| 1st stage (b) | June 27th | Vittel - Esch-sur-Alzette ( LUX ) | 189 | Charly Grosskost | Charly Grosskost |
| 2nd stage | June 28th | Arlon ( BEL ) - Forest / Vorst (BEL) | 210.5 | Eric De Vlaeminck | Charly Grosskost |
| 3rd stage (a) | June 29th | Forest / Vorst (BEL) - Forest / Vorst (BEL) | 22 ( MZF ) | Belgium A | Herman Van Springel |
| 3rd stage (b) | June 29th | Forest / Vorst (BEL) - Roubaix | 112 | Walter Godefroot | Herman Van Springel |
| 4th stage | June 30th | Roubaix - Rouen | 238 | Georges Chappe | Jean-Pierre Genet |
| 5th stage (a) | July 1 | Rouen - Bagnoles-de-l'Orne | 165 | André Desvages | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 5th stage (b) | 2nd July | Bagnoles-de-l'Orne- Dinard | 154.5 | Jean Dumont | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 6th stage | 3rd of July | Dinard - Lorient | 188 | Aurelio Gonzalez | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 7th stage | July 4th | Lorient - Nantes | 190 | Franco Bitossi | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 8th stage | 5th July | Nantes - Royan | 223 | Daniel Van Rijckeghem | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 9th stage | July 6th | Royan - Bordeaux | 137.5 | Walter Godefroot | Georges Vandenberghe |
| Rest day | |||||
| 10th stage | 8th of July | Bordeaux - Bayonne | 202.5 | Gilbert Bellone | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 11th stage | July 9 | Bayonne - Pau | 183.5 | Daniel Van Rijckeghem | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 12th stage | 10th of July | Pau - Saint-Gaudens | 226.5 | Georges Pintens | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 13th stage | July 11th | Saint-Gaudens - La Seu d'Urgell ( ESP ) | 208.5 | Herman Van Springel | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 14th stage | July 12 | La Seu d'Urgell (ESP) - Canet-Plage | 231.5 | Jan Janssen | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 15th stage | July 13th | Font Romeu - Albi | 250.5 | Roger Pingeon | Georges Vandenberghe |
| 16th stage | July 14th | Albi - Aurillac | 199 | Franco Bitossi | Rolf Wolfshohl |
| 17th stage | 15th of July | Aurillac - Saint-Etienne | 236.5 | Jean-Pierre Genet | Rolf Wolfshohl |
| Rest day | |||||
| 18th stage | 17th July | Saint-Etienne - Grenoble | 235 | Roger Pingeon | Gregorio San Miguel |
| 19th stage | July 18th | Grenoble - Sallanches | 200 | Barry Hoban | Herman Van Springel |
| 20th stage | July 19 | Sallanches - Besançon | 242.5 | Jozef Huysmans | Herman Van Springel |
| 21st stage | 20th of July | Besançon - Auxerre | 242 | Eric Leman | Herman Van Springel |
| 22nd stage (a) | 21 July | Auxerre - Melun | 136 | Maurice Izier | Herman Van Springel |
| 22nd stage (b) | 21 July | Melun - Paris | 55.2 (EZF) | Jan Janssen | Jan Janssen |
Web links
- Tour de France 1968 in the ProCyclingStats.com database
- radsport-seite.de for the 1968 tour