Tour de France 1978
| 65th Tour de France 1978 | ||
| Route length | 22 stages, 3,923.7 km | |
| Tour winner | Bernard Hinault | 112: 03: 02 h (35.017 km / h) |
| Second | Joop Zoetemelk | + 3:56 min |
| Third | Joaquim Agostinho | + 6:54 min |
| Fourth | Joseph Briar | + 9:04 min |
| fifth | Christian Seznec | + 12:50 min |
| Sixth | Paul Wellens | + 14:38 min |
| seventh | Francisco Galdós | + 17:08 min |
| Eighth | Henk Lubberding | + 17:26 min |
| Ninth | Lucien Van Impe | + 21:01 min |
| Tenth | Mariano Martinez | + 22:58 min |
| Green jersey | Freddy Maertens | 242 P. |
| Second | Jacques Esclassan | 189 P. |
| Third | Bernard Hinault | 123 P. |
| Dotted jersey | Mariano Martinez | 187 P. |
| Second | Bernard Hinault | 176 p. |
| Third | Joop Zoetemelk | 155 P. |
| White jersey | Henk Lubberding | 112: 20: 28 h |
| Team evaluation | Miko-Mercier | |
The 65th Tour de France took place from June 29 to July 23, 1978. It led over 22 stages and over 3914 km. The 23-year-old Frenchman Bernard Hinault won on his first tour. Hinault had already won the overall victory at the Vuelta a España in the spring . 110 racing drivers took part in the tour , of which 78 were classified.
Race course
Jan Raas, who won the prologue, was not allowed to start the second stage, which he also won, in the yellow jersey. In the first week, the yellow jersey changed several times, including the German Klaus-Peter Thaler after a stage victory in the mass sprint and the victory of his team TI-Raleigh in the team time trial for two days took the lead in the overall standings.
In the first long time trial , Hinault was able to win his first tour stage, in the mountain stages he stayed close to his main rival Joop Zoetemelk . However, he decided the difficult individual time trial to the Puy de Dôme clearly for himself. The decision was made in the last big time trial two days before the end of the race, which Hinault won and was able to take over the lead from Zoetemelk. Joaquim Agostinho was the first Portuguese to finish third in the overall standings.
The 1978 tour was overshadowed by a drivers strike and a doping scandal : shortly before the finish of the 12th stage, the peloton stopped and crossed the finish on foot. The drivers protested against poor accommodation and transfers that were too long after the stages due to the routing of the organizers. After reaching the mountain in L'Alpe d'Huez , stage winner Michel Pollentier , who had taken over the yellow jersey from his compatriot Joseph Bruyère , was excluded from the tour because he had tried to manipulate the doping test with foreign urine. He was immediately banned for two months.
This year of the tour is considered to be the "most doped" in history: over 50 percent of the drivers have tested positive in the course of their careers.
The stages
| Stages | Day | Start finish | km | Stage winner |
 Yellow jersey
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| prolog | June 29th | Leiden ( NL ) | 5.2 ( EZF ) | Jan Raas | Jan Raas |
| 1st stage (a) | June 30th | Leiden (NL) - Sint-Willebrord (NL) | 135 | Jan Raas | |
| 1st stage (b) | June 30th | Sint-Willebrord (NL) - Brussels ( BEL ) | 100 | Walter Planckaert | |
| 2nd stage | July 1 | Brussels (BEL) - Saint-Amand-les-Eaux | 199 | Jacques Esclassan | Jacques Esclassan |
| 3rd stage | 2nd July | Saint-Amand-les-Eaux - Saint-Germain-en-Laye | 243.5 | Klaus-Peter Thaler | Jacques Bossis |
| 4th stage | 3rd of July | Evreux - Caen | 153 ( MZF ) | TI-Raleigh | Klaus-Peter Thaler |
| 5th stage | July 4th | Caen - Mazé-Montgeoffroy | 244 | Freddy Maertens | |
| 6th stage | 5th July | Mazé-Montgeoffroy - Poitiers | 166.2 | Sean Kelly | Gerrie Knetemann |
| 7th stage | July 6th | Poitiers - Bordeaux | 242 | Freddy Maertens | |
| 8th stage | 7th of July | Saint-Emilion - Sainte-Foy-la-Grande | 59.3 (EZF) | Bernard Hinault | Joseph Briar |
| 9th stage | 8th of July | Bordeaux - Biarritz | 233 | Miguel-Maria Lasa | |
| Rest day | |||||
| 10th stage | 10th of July | Biarritz - Pau | 191.5 | Henk Lubberding | Joseph Briar |
| 11th stage | July 11th | Pau - Saint-Lary-Soulan | 161 | Mariano Martinez | |
| 12th stage (a) | July 12 | Tarbes - Valence d'Agen | - | Stage canceled | |
| 12th stage (b) | July 12 | Valence d'Agen - Toulouse | 96 | Jacques Esclassan | |
| 13th stage | July 13th | Figeac - Super Besse | 221 | Paul Wellens | |
| 14th stage | July 14th | Besse-en-Chandesse - Puy de Dôme | 52.5 (EZF) | Joop Zoetemelk | |
| 15th stage | 15th of July | Saint-Dier-d'Auvergne - Saint-Etienne | 196 | Bernard Hinault | |
| Rest day | |||||
| 16th stage | 17th July | Saint-Etienne - L'Alpe d'Huez | 240.5 | Hennie Kuiper | Joop Zoetemelk |
| 17th stage | July 18th | Grenoble - Morzine | 225 | Christian Seznec | |
| 18th stage | July 19 | Morzine - Lausanne ( CH ) | 137.5 | Gerrie Knetemann | |
| 19th stage | 20th of July | Lausanne (CH) - Belfort | 181.5 | Marc Demeyer | |
| 20th stage | 21 July | Metz - Nancy | 72 (EZF) | Bernard Hinault | Bernard Hinault |
| 21st stage | 22nd of July | Épernay - Senlis | 207.5 | Jan Raas | |
| 22nd stage | July 23 | Saint-Germain-en-Laye - Paris | 161.5 | Gerrie Knetemann | |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Loose boar wedge. Der Spiegel, July 9, 1979, accessed on September 16, 2019 .
- ↑ «Tour Leader Disqualified» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna July 17, 1978, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ cyclisme-dopage.com: "Tour de France 1978: les vrais chiffres du dopage" (French)
Web links
- Tour de France 1978 in the ProCyclingStats.com database
- radsport-seite.de for the 1978 tour