The 1973 Tour de France was the 60th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 22, 1973. It consisted of 20 stages over 4140.4 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.918 km/h. After winning the 1973 Vuelta a España and the 1973 Giro d'Italia, Eddy Merckx did not participate in the Tour to avoid angry French fans.
In 1973, there were two team classifications. The team classification based on the three best times per stage was still in use, and the team points classification, which was calculated by added the three best stage rankings, would be calculated until 1988.
Read more about 1973 Tour De France: Changes From The 1972 Tour De France, Participants, Race Details, Doping Cases, Stages, Results
Famous quotes containing the words tour and/or france:
“Left Washington, September 6, on a tour through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.... Absent nineteen days. Received every where heartily. The country is again one and united! I am very happy to be able to feel that the course taken has turned out so well.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“While learning the language in France a young man’s morals, health and fortune are more irresistibly endangered than in any country of the universe.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)