Tour de France 1970

|} The 57e Tour de France is held of the June 27th at July 19th, 1970 on 23 stages for 4.369 km.

General information

In the 14 teams of 10 runners opposed to team FAEMINO, one seeks who will be able to clash successfully in Eddy MERCKX, victorious of Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix and the Turn of Italy. French PINGEON and POULIDOR do not appear as well as possible of their form (Poulidor, which recovers from a shingles, made a point of disputing this Turn which leaves Limoges) and the young people like OCANA, victorious of the Turn of Spain, VAN IMPE or ZOETEMELK, victorious of the Turn of the future 1969, still miss trade.

Eddy MERCKX will be indeed the absolute winner of this turn, starting to gain the prolog clm of 7,4 km in Limoges. It will not hide its disappointment when its fellow-member Italo ZILIOLI takes the yellow jersey at the conclusion of the 2nd stage, in Angers. MERCKX will recover the yellow jersey at the time of the 7th stage with Forest, ZILIOLI being delivered to itself. MERCKX will triumph with Divonne-the-baths, in Grenoble, at the top of the Ventoux mount (where he will disappear after the arrival and where he will be put under oxygen mask), and in the two last stages clm in Bordeaux and Paris.

Even if POULIDOR resists while being placed the 7th place the general classification, this Turn 1970 will be marked by the bankruptcy of the generation of thirty year (abstention from GIMONDI and MOTTA, abandonment of PINGEON at the beginning of Tour, places of 17th for AIMAR and 26e for JANSEN), supplanted by the arrival of a new generation (Dutch ZOETEMELK which finishes 2nd, Swedish Gosta PETTERSON, 3rd, Belgian VAN IMPE, 6th, Belgian PINTENS, Spanish OCANA, which, patient in medium of turn, gain the 17th stage with Saint-Gaudens, French Bernard THEVENET, which gains the 18th stage in Mongie).

This Turn will be marked by the victories of stages of young French runners. In addition to THEVENET, one attends indeed successes of the sprinter Cyrille GUIMARD with the La Rochelle, of Alain VASSEUR in Feldsberg at the conclusion of a long solitary escape, of Christian RAYMOND in Mourenx and Jean-Pierre DANGUILLAUME in Versailles. French cycling can consider with hope l" after-Merckx" who did not arrive yet…

Victorious of 8 stages (record of success of stages on only one Lathe), Eddy Merckx makes a success of doubled Tour of Italy-Turn of France which only before him Fausto COPPI and Jacques ANQUETIL made a success of. The " is greeted; bowl of air frais" brought by the young people, but it is estimated that MERCKX will be still unbeatable during several years.

E: Eliminated; A: Abandonment in the course of stage; HD: Except Time.

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