Tour de France 1971

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58th Tour de France 1971 - final result
Route length 20 stages, 3584.2 km
Tour winner Eddy Merckx 96:45:14 h
(37.045 km / h)
Second Joop Zoetemelk + 9:51 min
Third Lucien Van Impe + 11:06 min
Fourth Bernard Thévenet + 14:50 min
fifth Joaquim Agostinho + 21:00 min
Sixth Leif Mortensen + 21:38 min
seventh Cyrille Guimard + 22:58 min
Eighth Bernard Labourdette + 30:07 min
Ninth Lucien Aimar + 32:45 min
Tenth Vicente Lopez-Carril + 36:00 min
Green jersey Eddy Merckx 202 P.
Second Cyrille Guimard 186 P.
Third Karstens tanning 107 P.
Mountain scoring Lucien Van Impe 228 P.
Second Joop Zoetemelk 179 P.
Third Eddy Merckx 136 P.
Team evaluation BIC

The 58th Tour de France took place from June 26 to July 18, 1971 and covered 20 stages over 3,584.2 km. For the first time since 1905 , the route was shorter than 4,000 kilometers. Belgian Eddy Merckx won his third tour in a row, although his dominance was not as great as in his first two victories. 130 racing drivers took part in the tour, 94 of which were classified.

Race course

Merckx was already able to claim the yellow jersey on the second day , with his stage win in Strasbourg he was able to gain a 21-second lead in the overall standings, so that he initially had little trouble defending his jersey. On the stage to Strasbourg, a 15-man top group, in which all favorites were represented, formed, which drove out on the peloton for around nine minutes .

The 8th stage with the finish on the Puy de Dôme was won by the Spaniard Luis Ocaña Pernía ahead of the Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk . The two drivers thus reduced the gap to Merckx, two days later they crossed the finish line at the same time as stage winner Bernard Thévenet , while Merckx had to accept a gap of 1:36 minutes and thus lost the yellow jersey to Zoetemelk. Ocaña was now only a second behind Zoetemelk, but on the next stage from Grenoble to Orcières-Merlette the Spaniard attacked and won the stage with a lead of six minutes over the second, Lucien Van Impe . Merckx as third of the day was 8:42 minutes behind, as was Zoetemelk. At this stage, because of the Spaniard's clear lead, 67 of the 106 drivers still in the race should have been disqualified because they had crossed the finish line after the waiting period , but the jury increased the time coefficient so that the drivers could also start the next day .

Ocaña then had a lead of almost nine minutes in the overall standings over Zoetemelk (8:43 back), Van Impe and Merckx (9:46 back), a Tour victory was within reach. Even in Merckx's special discipline, the time trial, Ocaña only lost 11 seconds to the Belgian on the 13th stage.

On the 14th stage from Revel to Luchon , Ocaña and Merckx crashed on the descent from the Col de Menté in bad weather. While Merckx was able to continue, Zoetemelk, who could no longer brake in time, ran into Oçana, who then had to give up the race. Merckx, who had overtaken the drivers in front of him except for the Spaniard in the days before, was again the leader in the overall standings after this stage. Even so, he initially refused to wear the yellow jersey.

With his stage wins in Bordeaux and the final time trial to Paris, Merckx extended its lead and was able to celebrate its third win in a row. Merckx also won the green jersey . Second was the Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk, the third place went to the Belgian Lucien Van Impe, who also won the mountain classification.

The stages

Stages Day Start finish km Stage winner Yellow jersey
prolog June 26th Mulhouse 11 ( MZF ) Molteni - - -
1st stage (a) June 27th Mulhouse - Basel ( CH ) 59.5 Eric Leman Wout Wagtmans
1st stage (b) Basel (CH) - Freiburg im Breisgau ( DE ) 90 Karstens tanning Eddy Merckx
1st stage (c) Freiburg im Breisgau (DE) - Mulhouse 74 Albert Van Vlierberghe Eddy Merckx
2nd stage June 28th Mulhouse - Strasbourg 144 Eddy Merckx Eddy Merckx
3rd stage June 29th Strasbourg - Nancy 165.5 Marinus Wagtmans Eddy Merckx
4th stage June 30th Nancy - Marche-en-Famenne (BEL) 242 Jean-Pierre Genet Eddy Merckx
5th stage July 1 Dinant (BEL) - Roubaix 208.5 Pietro Guerra Eddy Merckx
6th stage (a) 2nd July Roubaix - Amiens 127.5 Eric Leman Eddy Merckx
6th stage (b) Amiens - Le Touquet-Paris-Plage 133.5 Mauro Simonetti Eddy Merckx
Rest day
7th stage July 4th Rungis - Nevers 257.5 Eric Leman Eddy Merckx
8th stage 5th July Nevers - Puy de Dôme 221 Luis Ocaña Pernía Eddy Merckx
9th stage July 6th Clermont-Ferrand - Saint-Etienne 153 Walter Godefroot Eddy Merckx
10th stage 7th of July Saint-Etienne - Grenoble 188.5 Bernard Thévenet Joop Zoetemelk
11th stage 8th of July Grenoble - Orcières-Merlette 134 Luis Ocaña Pernia Luis Ocaña Pernia
Rest day
12th stage 10th of July Orcières-Merlette - Marseille 251 Luciano Armani Luis Ocaña Pernia
13th stage July 11th Albi - Albi ( EZF ) 16.3 Eddy Merckx Luis Ocaña Pernia
14th stage July 12 Revel - Luchon 214.5 José-Manuel Fuente Eddy Merckx
15th stage July 13th Luchon - Superbagnères 19.6 José-Manuel Fuente Eddy Merckx
16. Stage (a) July 14th Luchon - Gourette / Les Eaux Bonnes 145 Bernard Labourdette Eddy Merckx
16th stage (b) Gourette / Les Eaux Bonnes - Pau 57.5 Herman Van Springel Eddy Merckx
17th stage 15th of July Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux 188 Eddy Merckx Eddy Merckx
18th stage 16th of July Bordeaux - Poitiers 244 Jean-Pierre Danguillaume Eddy Merckx
19th stage 17th July Blois - Versailles 185 Jan Krekels Eddy Merckx
20th stage July 18th Versailles - Paris 53.8 (EZF) Eddy Merckx Eddy Merckx

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