The 1972 Tour de France was the 59th Tour de France, taking place July 1 to July 22, 1972. It consisted of 20 stages over 3846.6 km, ridden at an average speed of 35.371 km/h. The long awaited clash between Eddy Merckx and Luis Ocaña after Ocaña crashed on Col de Menté in the 1971 Tour de France. After dominating the race, Luis Ocaña crashed once more, in the Pyrenees, and left Eddy Merckx to battle Cyrille Guimard for the win. Guimard, having won four stages, had to leave the race after stage 17 in second place (he already was 7:58 behind at that point), but was given the combativity award after the race.
Read more about 1972 Tour De France: Differences From The 1971 Tour De France, Participants, Race Details, Stages, Classification Leadership, Results, Aftermath
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