 Route of the 1976 Tour de France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 24 June – 18 July 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 22 + Prologue, including three split stages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 4,017 km (2,496 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 116h 22' 23" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1976 Tour de France was the 63rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took between 24 June and 18 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 4,017 km (2,496 mi). It was won by mountain specialist Lucien Van Impe in a battle with the previous winner Bernard Thévenet and Joop Zoetemelk. Zoetemelk won three high mountain stages including Alpe d'Huez and Puy-de-Dôme but this Tour became known for when the young directeur sportif[1] of Van Impe, Cyrille Guimard, threatened to run Van Impe off the road with the Team Car if he didn't attack. Van Impe then attacked and won the Tour.
The revelation of the Tour however was Freddy Maertens, who in his first Tour won eight stages and the points classification, and led the general classification for ten days.
Five-time winner Eddy Merckx did not join in the 1976 Tour de France because he was injured. 1975 winner Bernard Thévenet left the race in the 19th stage, but at that point it was already clear that Van Impe would win the race.
The mountains classification was won by Giancarlo Bellini with 170 points, only one point ahead of Lucien Van Impe. The young rider classification was won by Enrique Martínez Heredia. Heredia had already won the Tour de l'Avenir in 1974, but never broke through after this win.[2]
- ^ "Cyrille Guimard: When Machiavelli meets Napoleon". Peloton Magazine.
- ^ "Witte trui geen garantie voor grootse Tourloopbaan" (in Dutch). tourdefrance.nl. 23 January 2006. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2009.