tour de france 1978 route

2-FOR-1 GA TICKETS WITH OUTSIDE+

Don’t miss Thundercat, Fleet Foxes, and more at the Outside Festival.

GET TICKETS

BEST WEEK EVER

Try out unlimited access with 7 days of Outside+ for free.

Start Your Free Trial

Powered by Outside

Tour de France

Freddy maertens, the 1978 tour de france, and his irrepressible, irresistible style, paul maunder is diving into the history and culture of the tour de france. today is freddy maertens..

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

If the Champs-Elysees is the palace of the Tour sprinters, Bordeaux is their country retreat.

The port city in the Garonne region, famous to non-cyclists for its red wine, has been a staple on the Tour throughout the history of the race.

With 81 appearances on the route, it is the second most-visited city in France, though there has been a 13 year interval since the Tour’s last visit. To win in Bordeaux means a lot to a sprinter; André Darrigade, Walter Godefroot, Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Erik Zabel and Mark Cavendish have all won here. Cavendish, the greatest sprinter of all time, will be hoping to book-end that thirteen year gap with another victory.

Some 45 years ago the Tour started in Leiden, Netherlands, with a prologue run off in such wet and slippery conditions that the officials declared the time gaps would not count towards the general classification. The race then rumbled across Belgium towards Normandy, before heading south towards Poitiers and Bordeaux.

That 1978 edition of the Tour was notable for a number of reasons. It was the first overall win for Bernard Hinault, a debutant and just 23 at the time. Sean Kelly took his first stage win, also on debut. Michel Pollentier was infamously thrown off the race – while wearing the yellow jersey – for trying to cheat a drugs test. And Stage 12a had to be annulled because of a strike by the peloton.

1978 also saw the second of Freddy Maertens’ three green jersey wins.

Maertens opened his account that year with a win on stage five, to Mazé Montgeoffroy. Kelly’s sprint win came the next day, in Poitiers. Then the race headed to Bordeaux, where Maertens reasserted his authority on the unruly mob of sprinters snapping at his back wheel, beating Jacques Esclassan and Walter Planckaert to the line. It was to be one of sixteen Tour stage wins in his fourteen year professional career.

By 1978 Maertens’ star was beginning to wane, though he still had a very successful season by anyone else’s standards, with victories in Omloop Het Volk, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen and the Four Days of Dunkirk, as well as stages of the Dauphine and the Tour de Suisse.

When Maertens made his professional debut in 1973 he was a force of nature. Like a more disruptive version of Remco Evenepoel. Most riders take a while to adjust to professional racing. Not Freddy.

From the start he was in the mix, competing for wins, and in the process angering more established riders around him. Maertens ignored the unwritten rule that neo-pros should not show their elders up.

In 1973 cycling was dominated by the imperious figure of Eddy Merckx and both fans and journalists were excited to see a young rider come along who seemingly had no respect for Merckx’s palmares. Maertens’ riding style was exciting too – he could win a bunch sprint but also punchy classics. He was pugnacious, brutally fast and loved to attack.

While he could not stay with the pure climbers in the high mountains, Maertens was capable of winning almost any kind of race. In the 1977 Vuelta Espana he won the prologue then went on to win an astonishing thirteen stages, leading the race from start to finish. He won Paris-Nice in 1977. The year before he won the World Road Race Championship, the Tour de France points classification, the Belgian Championship road race, Amstel Gold Race and Gent-Wevelgem.

After the 1978 Tour, however, Maertens’ form disappeared. For two years he was a shadow of himself. He was frequently dropped by the peloton. There were rumors of doping, financial problems, alcohol abuse. It seemed his career was over, destined to be played out along the same sad trajectory that cycling fans have become familiar with.

Then there was a kind of miracle. In 1981 he burst out of the pack to win the first road stage of the Tour de France in Nice, stunning the cycling world who had written him off. He went on to win a further four stages, including two stages in Belgium, and the final stage in Paris.

A few weeks later he became world champion again. Freddy Maertens was irrepressible, and irresistible.

Popular on Velo

>", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/key-takeaways-amstel-gold-race-2024/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "key takeaways: amstel gold race 2024"}}'> key takeaways: amstel gold race 2024, >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-culture/tour-de-scottsdale-gran-fondo-report-2024/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "i’m a retired pro cyclist. here’s why i still return to gran fondos like the tour de scottsdale."}}'> i’m a retired pro cyclist. here’s why i still return to gran fondos like the tour de scottsdale., >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/thumbs-up-jonas-vingegaard-cleared-to-leave-hospital-12-days-after-brutal-basque-crash/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "jonas vingegaard cleared to leave hospital 12 days after brutal basque crash"}}'> jonas vingegaard cleared to leave hospital 12 days after brutal basque crash, >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-racing/garmin-gravel-worlds/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "garmin gravel worlds announces $30k pro prize purse and dfl party for the last finisher"}}'> garmin gravel worlds announces $30k pro prize purse and dfl party for the last finisher, an american in france.

What’s it like to be an American cyclist living in France? Watch to get professional road cyclist Joe Dombrowski’s view.

Related content from the Outside Network

One way south, mountain bikers react to their first taste of non-alcoholic craft beer, video review: bmc urs 01 two gravel bike, kiel reijnen vuelta video diary: the painful decision to abandon.

• Season Calendar 1978
• Tour de France

Search Rider

Search team, search race, tour de france 1978  |  stage overview.

65th edition 29 June 1978 - 23 July 1978

• General Classification
• Tour de France History
• Previous year

Category : Tour de France 1978

Subcategories.

This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total.

• Prologue du Tour de France 1978 ‎ (15 F)
• 1re étape du Tour de France 1978 ‎ (17 F)

Media in category "Tour de France 1978"

The following 5 files are in this category, out of 5 total.

• 1978 sports events in France
• 1978 in cycling (sport)
• Tour de France by year
• Uses of Wikidata Infobox

Navigation menu

37. Tour de France Automobile 1978

Final results.

1988 Tour de France

75th edition: july 4 - july 24, 1988, results, stages with running gc, map, photos, video and history.

1987 Tour | 1989 Tour | Tour de France database | 1988 Tour Quick Facts | 1988 Tour Final GC | Stage results with running GC | The Story of the 1988 Tour de France | Video

Map of the 1988 Tour de France route

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus is available as an audiobook here .

1988 Tour de France quick facts

The 1988 Tour had 22 stages plus a prologue that totaled 3281.5 kilometers.

It was ridden at an average speed of 38.909 km/hr.

198 riders started and there were 151 classified finishers.

Stephen Roche was unable to defend his 1987 Tour championship, having to undergo two knee operations in the off-season.

Giro winner Andy Hampsten was exhausted after riding the Giro.

That made Pedro Delgado who was never really outclassed by Roche in the 1987 edition, the favorite. Delgado easily won. But not without scandal.

Late in the race Delgado was found positive for Probenicid, a steroid masking agent. The drug was banned by the Olympic committee, but the UCI wasn't going to add it to the list of banned drugs for professional racers until after the Tour.

At the time Delgado was found to have the drug in his system, it wasn't against the rule. So, Delgado gets his Tour victory while the rest of the world holds its nose.

1988 Tour de France complete final General Classification:

• Steven Rooks (PDM) @ 7min 13sec
• Fabio Parra (Kelme) @ 9min 58sec
• Steve Bauer (Weinmann) @ 12min 15sec
• Eric Boyer (Système U) @ 14min 4sec
• Luis Herrera (Cafe de Colombia) @ 14min 36sec
• Ronan Pensec (Z) @ 16min 52sec
• Alvaro Pino (BH) @ 18min 36sec
• Peter Winnen (Panasonic) @ 19min 12sec
• Denis Roux (Z) @ 20min 8sec
• Gert-Jan Theunisse (PDM) @ 22min 46sec
• Erik Breukink (Panasonic) @ 23min 6sec
• Laudelino Cubino (BH) @ 23min 46sec
• Claude Criquielion (Hitachi) @ 24min 32sec
• Andrew Hampsten (7-Eleven) @ 26min 0sec
• Marino Lejaretta (Caja Rural) @ 26min 36sec
• Pascal Simon (Système U) @ 28min 39sec
• Eric Caritoux (KAS) @ 29min 4sec
• Jérôme Simon (Z) @ 30min 55sec
• Raúl Alcalá (7-Eleven) @ 31min 14sec
• Gerhard Zadrobilek (Weinmann) @ 32min 9sec
• Roberto Visentini (Carrera) @ 33min 23sec
• Thierry Claveyrolat (RMO) @ 37min 49sec
• Jaanus Kuum (ADR) @ 38min 53sec
• Federico Echave (BH) @ 29min 17sec
• Jørgen Pedersen (BH) @ 29min 24sec
• Jörg Müller (PDM) @ 40min 53sec
• Frédéric Vichot (Weinmann) @ 42min 0sec
• Peter Stevenhaagen (PDM) @ 45min 27sec
• Eduardo Chozas (Kelme) @ 45min 45sec
• Samuel Cabrera (Cafe de Colombia) @ 46min 6sec
• Philippe Bouvatier (BH) @ 48min 14sec
• Marc Sergeant (Hitachi) @ 49min 24sec
• Dag-Otto Lauritzen (7-Eleven) @ 50mn 8sec
• Jesus Blanco (Teka) @ 55min 28sec
• Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (Z) @ 57min 21sec
• Jean-Philippe Vandenbrande (Hitachi) @ 57min 57sec
• Guy Nulens (Panasonic) @ 59min 13sec
• Jean-Claude Bagot (Fagor) @ 59min 47sec
• Charly Berard (Fagor) @ 1min 0min 8sec
• Edgar Corredor (Cafe de Colombia) @ 1hr 1min 20sec
• Julio César Cadena (Cafe de Colombia) @ 1hr 1min 28sec
• Niki Rüttimann (Weinmann) @ 1hr 1min 43sec
• Henrie Abadie (Z) @ 1hr 1min 59sec
• Gerard Veldscholten (Weinmann) @ 1hr 2min 32sec
• Sean Kelly (KAS) @ 1hr 2min 32sec
• Miguel Indurain (Reynolds) @ 1hr 3min 15sec
• Dominique Arnaud (Reynolds) @ 1hr 7min 31sec
• Isreal Corredor (Cafe de Colombia) @ 1hr 7min 50sec
• Michael Wilson (Weinmann) @ 1hr 9min 31sec
• José Patrocinio Jiménez (Cafe de Colombia) @ 1hr 9min 55sec
• Jesús Rodriguez (Reynolds) @ 1hr 11min 17sec
• Jon Unzaga (KAS) @ 1hr 12min 17sec
• Johnny Weltz (Fagor) @ 1hr 12min 49sec
• Jean-Claude Colotti (RMO) @ 1hr 15min 0sec
• Jos Haex (Hitachi) @ 1hr 15min 16sec
• Mariano Sánchez (Teka) @ 1hr 16min 6sec
• Jean-Claude Leclercq (Weinmann) @ 1hr 17min 21sec
• Sean Yates (Fagor) @ 1hr 17min 25sec
• Julián Gorospe (Reynolds) @ 1hr 17min 33sec
• Jan Nevens (Sigma) @ 1hr 18min 11sec
• Gianni Bugno (Chateau d'Ax) @ 1hr 19min 9sec
• Jokin Mujika (Caja Rural) @ 1hr 19min 15sec
• Enrique Aja (Teka) @ 1hr 19min 52sec
• Philippe Leleu (Toshiba) @ 1hr 21min 51sec
• Marc Madiot (Toshiba) @ 1hr 22min 34sec
• Christophe Lavainne (Système U) @ 1hr 22min 34sec
• Tony Rominger (Chateau d'Ax) @ 1hr 23min 41sec
• Ron Kiefel (7-Eleven) @ 1hr 23min 58sec
• Roland Le Clerc (Caja Rural) @ 1hr 25min 17sec
• Martial Gayant (Toshiba) @ 1hr 25min 30sec
• Jacques Decrion (Système U) @ 1hr 26min 44sec
• Marco Antonio Leon (Cafe de Colombia) @ 1hr 26min 58sec
• Eric Van Lancker (Panasonic) @ 1hr 28min 37sec
• Vicente Belda (Kelme) @ 1hr 29min 29sec
• Marc can Orsouw (PDM) @ 1hr 30min 36sec
• Bruno Leali (Carrera) @ 1hr 30min 50sec
• Patrice Esnault (RMO) @ 1hr 30min 59sec
• Alessandro Pozzi (Chateau d'Ax) @ 1hr 32min 19sec
• Dirk de Wolf (Hitachi) @ 1hr 33min 25sec
• Frédéric Brun (Z) @ 1hr 33min 32sec
• Luis Javier Lukin (Reynolds) @ 1hr 34min 0sec
• Raimund Dietzen (Teka) @ 1hr 34min 25sec
• Adrie van der Poel (PDM) @ 1hr 34min 43sec
• Massimo Ghirotto (Carrera) @ 1hr 35min 2sec
• Enio Vanotti (Chateau d'Ax) @ 1hr 36min 3sec
• Rudy Dhaenens (PDM) @ 1hr 36min 16sec
• Michel Bibollet (RMO) @ 1hr 38min 14sec
• Ludo Peeters (Cuperconfex) @ 1hr 42min 47sec
• Malcom Elliott (Fagor) @ 1hr 44min 27sec
• Rolf Gölz (Superconfex) @ 1hr 44min 47sec
• Acácio da Silva (KAS) @ 1hr 45min 26sec
• Dominique Garde (Système U) @ 1hr 46min 44sec
• Régis Clère (Teka) @ 1hr 47min 13sec
• Hennie Kuiper (Sigma) @ 1hr 49min 37sec
• Jan Wynants (Hitachi) @ 1hr 49min 56sec
• Arsenio Gonzalez (Teka) @ 1hr 50min 13sec
• Thierry Marie (Système U) @ 1hr 51min 11sec
• Søren Lilholt (Sigma) @ 1hr 51min 58sec
• Dante Rezze (RMO) @ 1hr 53min 3sec
• Stefan Morjean (Hitachi) @ 1hr 54min 56sec
• Alfons de Wolf (ADR) @ 1hr 55min 56sec
• Etienne de Wilde (Sigma) @ 1hr 57min 17sec
• Roque de la Cruz (Caja Rural) @ 1hr 57min 52sec
• Davis Phinney (7-Eleven) @ 1hr 58min 8sec
• Guido Bontempi (Carrera) @ 1hr 59min 7sec
• Vicente-Juan Ridaura (Caja Rural) @ 2hr 1min 31sec
• Frédéric Garnier (Toshiba) @ 2hr 2min 52sec
• Marco Bergamo (Carrera) @ 2hr 5min 53sec
• Andreas Kappes (Toshiba) @ 2hr 6min 2sec
• José Salvador Sanchis (Caja Rural) @ 2hr 7min 0sec
• Iñaki Gaston (Kelme) @ 2hr 7min 49sec
• Jens Veggerby (7-Eleven) @ 2hr 9min 27sec
• Javier Murguialday (BH) @ 2hr 9min 32sec
• Eddy Planckaert (ADR) @ 2hr 9min 34sec
• Angel Camarillo (Teka) @ 2hr 10min 29sec
• Celestino Prieto (KAS) @ 2hr 11min 16sec
• Heminio Diaz (Reynolds) @ 2hr 11min 42sec
• Jacques Hanegraaf (Toshiba) @ 2hr 12min 11sec
• Joël Pelier (Système U) @ 2hr 13min 28sec
• Francisco-José Antequera (BH) @ 2hr 13min 55sec
• Jelle Nijdam (Superconfex) @ 2hr 15min 59sec
• Régis Simon (RMO) @ 2hrb18min 18sec
• Frank Hoste (ADR) @ 2hr 18min 50sec
• Alfred Achermann (KAS) @ 2hr 19min 26sec
• Frans Maassen (Superconfex) @ 2hr 19min 43sec
• Twan Poels (Superconfex) @ 2hr 20min 43sec
• Manuel Jorge Domínguez (BH) @ 2hr 20min 59sec
• Philippe Casado (Z) @ 2hr 21min 31sec
• Johan Lammerts (Toshiba) @ 2hr 23min 17sec
• René Martens (ADR) @ 2hr 24min 52sec
• Gerrit Solleveld (Superconfex) @ 2hr 26min 56sec
• Michel Vermote (RMO) @ 2hr 27min 0sec
• Juan Martinéz (Kelme) @ 2hr 27min 44sec
• Andy Bishop (PDM) @ 2hr 29min 0sec
• Erich Mächler (Carrera) @ 2hr 29min 37sec
• Rik van Slycke (Sigma) @ 2hr 33min 3sec
• Jean-Paul van Poppel (Superconfex) @ 2hr 35min 9sec
• Milan Jurco (Chateau d'Ax) @ 2hr 35min 45sec
• Hartmut Bölts (RMO) @ 2hr 36min 26sec
• Walter Magnago (Carrera) @ 2hr 37min 52sec
• Stefano Zanatta (Chateau d'Ax) @ 2hr 38min 23sec
• Nico Verhoeven (Superconfex) @ 2hr 42min 20sec
• Nathan Dahlberg (7-Eleven) @ 2hr 42min 46sec
• Gert Jakobs (Superconfex) @ 2hr 45min 28sec
• Marco Tabai (Carrera) @ 2hr 46min 16sec
• Mathieu Hermans (Caja Rural) @ 2hr 48min 53sec
• Jean-Pierre Heynderickx (Sigma) @ 2hr 54min 7sec
• Dirk Demol (ADR) @ 2hr 55min 18sec
• John Talen (Panasonic) @ 3hr 5min 2sec
• Dirk Wayenberg (ADR) @ 3hr 28min 41sec

Climbers Competition:

• Gert-Jan Theunisse (PDM): 248
• Pedro Delgado (Reynolds): 223
• Ronan Pensec (Z): 130
• Jérôme Simon (Z): 127
• Fabio Parra (Kelme): 123
• Laudelino Cubino (BH): 101
• Alvaro Pino (BH): 98
• Samuel Cabrera (Cafe de Colombia): 82
• Luis Herrera (Cafe de Colombia): 80

Points Competition:

• Davis Phinney (7-Eleven): 193
• Sean Kelly (KAS): 183
• Steven Rooks (PDM): 154
• Mathieu Hermans (Caja Rural): 153
• Jean-Paul van Poppel (Superconfex): 141
• Etienne de Wilde (Sigma): 133
• Adrie van der Poel (PDM): 132
• Manuel Jorge Domínguez (BH): 114
• Steve Bauer (Weinmann): 108
• PDM: 253hr 57min 58sec
• BH @ 12min 32sec
• Z @ 14min 43sec
• Weinmann @ 31min 23sec
• Système U @ 32min 43sec

Team Points:

• PDM: 1,028 points
• 7-Eleven: 1,713
• Weinmann: 1,737
• Système U: 1,787
• Erik Breukink (Panasonic) 84hr 50min 59sec
• Raúl Alcalá (7-Eleven) @ 8min 8sec
• Jaanus Kuum (ADR) @ 15min 47sec
• Peter Stevenhaagen (PDM) @ 22min 21sec
• Philippe Bouvatier (BH) @ 25min 8sec

Content continues below the ads

1988 Tour de France stages and results

Prologue: Sunday, July 3, Pornichet - La Baule 1-km Team/Individual Time Trial (Rider was launched with a flying start by his team). Stage and GC places and times are the same.

Stage 1: Monday, July 4, Pontchateau - Machecoul, 91.5 km

GC after Stage 1:

Stage 2: Monday, July 4, La Haye Fouaddiere - Ancenis 48 km Team Time Trial

GC after Stage 2:

Stage 3: Tuesday, July 5, Nantes - Le Mans, 213.5 km

GC after Stage 3:

Stage 4: Wednesday, July 6, Le Mans - Evreux, 158 km

GC after Stage 4:

Stage 5: Thursday, July 7, Neufchatel en Bray - Liévin, 147.5 km

GC after stage 5:

Stage 6: Friday, July 8, Liévin - Wasquehal 52 km Individual Time Trial

GC after stage 6:

Stage 7: Saturday, July 9, Wasquehal - Reims, 225.5 km

GC after Stage 7:

Stage 8: Sunday, July 10, Reims - Nancy, 219 km

GC after Stage 8:

Stage 9: Monday, July 11, Nancy - Strasbourg, 160.5 km

GC after Stage 9:

Stage 10: Tuesday, July 12, Belfort - Besançon, 149.5 km

GC after Stage 10:

Stage 11: Wednesday, July 13, Besançon - Morzine, 232 km

GC after Stage 11:

Stage 12: Thursday, July 14, Morzine - L'Alpe d'Huez , 227 km

GC after Stage 12:

Stage 13: Friday, July 15, Grenoble - Villard de Lans 38 km Individual Time Trial

GC after Stage 13:

Stage 14: Sunday, July 17, Blagnac - Guzet Neige, 163 km

GC after stage 14:

Stage 15: Monday, July 18, St. Girons - Luz Ardiden, 187.5 km

GC after Stage 15:

Stage 16: Tuesday, July 19, Luz Ardiden - Pau, 38 km.

GC after Stage 16:

Stage 17: Tuesday, July 19, Pau - Bordeaux, 210 km

GC after Stage 17:

Stage 18: Wednesday, July 20, Ruelle sur Touvre - Limoges, 93.5 km

GC after stage 18:

Stage 19: Thursday, July 21, Limoges - Puy de Dôme, 188 km

GC after Stage 19:

Stage 20: Friday, July 22, Clermont Ferrand - Chalon sur Saône, 223.5 km

GC after Stage 20:

Stage 21: Saturday, July 23, Santenay 48 km Individual Time Trial

GC after Stage 21:

22nd and Final Stage: Sunday, July 24, Nemours - Paris (Champs Elysées), 172.5 km

Complete Final 1988 Tour de France General Classification

The Story of the 1988 Tour de France:

This excerpt is from "The Story of the Tour de France", Volume 2. If you enjoy it we hope you will consider purchasing the book, either print, eBook or audiobook. The Amazon link here will make the purchase easy.

Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet was replaced by his brother-in-law Xavier Louy as the Tour Director. Naquet-Radiguet was thought to be a bit too independent and made too many important decisions on his own that seemed to reflect poor judgment, including a planned Montreal, Canada start for the 1992 Tour.

This Tour smells. As exciting and competitive as the 1987 Tour was, the developments in the 1988 Tour will always leave a lingering bad aftertaste. It was also a warning of big problems to come.

Roche had two knee operations between his World Championship win and the start of the new season. He was quite unable to race the Tour. I remember seeing him on TV in 1988 undergoing therapy for his knee as he voiced his terrible frustration at not being able to race in his rainbow jersey.

LeMond was still recovering from his hunting accident.

As far as major Tour General Classification contenders, that left Pedro Delgado, second the previous year, as the man to beat. He lost the 1987 Tour by only 40 seconds. At no time did Roche, the winner, significantly outclass him.

Andy Hampsten and the American 7-Eleven team were entered. But Hampsten had just won the Giro a few weeks before and the team had buried itself to keep him in the lead when he took the Pink Jersey after a remarkable ascent—and a frightening descent—over a freezing Gavia Pass. Would they recover enough to vie for the Tour?

Luis Herrera won the Dauphiné in early June by bounding up the Col de Porte on the final stage, taking the lead from Acacio Da Silva. Charly Mottet had led in the early stages but had tired. Herrera showed superb form, but winning the Dauphiné is tough, draining work and often leaves its winner flat for the Tour. It would turn out to be true for Herrera in the 1988 Tour.

The 1988 Tour was the shortest since Henri Desgrange recast the race in 1906. At only 3,286 kilometers, it was even shorter than almost all of the Tours of the past decade. With 22 stages, the average stage length was only 149 kilometers. This held out the promise of a super-fast race.

The Tour was scheduled to open with a 6-kilometer Prologue. To comply with UCI rules, it was shortened to a "Prelude" that was run according to some rather odd rules. The teams rode a team time trial and let a single rider go with a flying start to ride the final kilometer, the only part that counted toward the General Classification. Guido Bontempi won with a time of 1 minute, 14 seconds. Bontempi's hold on the Yellow Jersey was almost as short as his Prelude. Canadian Steve Bauer managed to beat the pack home on the first stage by 8 seconds. It was enough to put him in Yellow.

Then it was Bauer's turn to give up the lead the next day. The heir and sponsors of the old TI-Raleigh squad, Panasonic, narrowly beat Bauer's Weinmann team, earning the Yellow Jersey for Teun van Vliet. None of this mattered much to the overall lead. Even the stage 6, 52-kilometer individual time trial didn't really smoke out the leaders. What the time trial did do was eliminate several riders from probable contention. Fignon and Kelly, each losing about 2 minutes, displayed lackluster form. Sprinter Jelle Nijdam held the lead.

In stage 8, the ever-attentive Steve Bauer got into a 16-man break initiated by Herrera that beat the pack by 23 seconds, giving Bauer the Yellow Jersey. The Tour remained a simmering cauldron of hot competitors. The race was turning out to be a fast one, setting a new record so far for average speed.

It was in stage 11, from Besançon to Morzine that the Tour boiled over. Stage 11 had 2 highly rated climbs, the first category Pas de Morgins and the category 2 Le Corbier. On the Morgins, French hopes Laurent Fignon and Jean-François Bernard lost contact with the leaders after Urs Zimmermann opened the day's hostilities. Steve Bauer was able to maintain contact with the front group and stayed with them for the rest of the stage, preserving his lead. The real contenders finished together with the exception of Colombia's Fabio Parra who soloed in 20 seconds ahead of the others. Fignon's Tour hopes were dashed when he lost 19 minutes.

Stage 12 was 227 kilometers, going from Morzine to L'Alpe d'Huez, crossing along the way, the Pont d'Arbon, the Madeleine, and the Glandon before finishing at the top of L'Alpe d'Huez. Bauer had kept his Yellow Jersey after the hilly stage 11. Stage 12 would be a tougher test for the Canadian. Fignon abandoned the Tour that morning before even starting the stage.

Delgado signaled his determination to shake things up when he attacked 2 kilometers from the summit of the Glandon, and only Steven Rooks could stay with him. In the final kilometers of the L'Alpe d'Huez's steep slopes they were caught by Fabio Parra and Gert-Jan Theunisse, but the chasing pack couldn't close the gap.

Things had exploded on the final run up the 21 hairpin turns of the Alpe. Fabio Parra repeatedly tried to get away, but he couldn't get through the crowds that blocked the leading motorcycles. Dutchman Steven Rooks managed (or was allowed) to escape, closely followed by Delgado and Rooks' good friend Theunisse. Parra finished 6 seconds behind Delgado. The rest of the field, including all of the erstwhile contenders, were scattered down the mountain. Luis Herrera was only 1 minute, 6 seconds behind, but Hampsten was tenth, 4 minutes, 21 seconds back. Pedro Delgado had established himself as the clear leader of the Tour as he donned the Yellow Jersey. Theunisse, in one of his many run-ins with doping controls during his career, was found positive. He had 10 minutes added to his time. Bauer finished 2 minutes, 34 seconds behind Rooks and had to cede his Yellow Jersey to Delgado.

The General Classification now stood thus:

The next day (stage 13), Delgado nailed the box shut with his victory in the 38-kilometer uphill individual time trial. Bernard was second at 44 seconds and Rooks was third at 1 minute, 9 seconds. Steve Bauer lost his second place in the overall to Steven Rooks, who was now 2 minutes, 47 seconds behind the Spaniard.

Now came a rest day that was also a transfer day to the Pyrenees.

Delgado rode carefully, yet masterfully in the Pyrenees. Stage 14, with several tough climbs at the end, wasn't contested by the men seeking Yellow. It did show that even the Tour de France could have organizational snafus. A kilometer from the end the follow cars were supposed to go straight and the riders were to bear left. In the confusion, the day's likely winner, Philippe Bouvatier, went with the cars. The stage winner, Massimo Ghirotto, recognizing Bouvatier's likely victory, offered Bouvatier the stage prize, a new Peugeot car. The Tour organization came up with a second car so that Ghirotto could keep his prize. In those days, a domestique's income was very poor and this was a tremendous act of generosity on Ghirotto's part.

Stage 15 was the 1988 Tour's Queen Stage, with some of the great cols of the Tour: Portet d'Aspet, the Col de Menté, the Peyresourde, the Aspin, the Tourmalet and Luz-Ardiden. Delgado had let Laudelino Cubino and Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, non-contenders, get away. In the final rush to the finish Delgado bolted, leaving such vaunted climbers as Parra, Theunisse and Rooks to do what they could to limit the damage. Generously, he eased before the line to let Duclos-Lassalle take second place in the stage, Cubino having finished 6 minutes before. With the Pyrenees finished, Delgado had a 4 minute, 6 second lead on second place Rooks. With a stage up to Puy de Dôme, where he should do well, and a 46-kilometer individual time trial looming as the only obstacles, he should have been able to feel that the Tour was his.

The standings after the Pyrenees:

After the finish of stage 15 to Bordeaux a rumor started that ended up on television that evening: Delgado had tested positive for a banned drug. The journalists knew about the positive before Delgado did. The next day Tour officials confirmed that Delgado had tested positive for Probenecid. We'll stop here for just a second. Probenecid turns up every so often in dope tests. It is unusual that a healthy person would ever need Probenecid since it is rarely dispensed even to sick people. It acts as a diuretic and helps some people with gout. It can also increase the potency of antibiotics. Victims of drug-resistant gonorrhea are given Probenecid to increase the efficacy of their regimen of antibiotics. It is also called for in some AIDS cases. But Probenecid was found to have another effect. It drastically slows the urinary excretion of the metabolites of steroids. When an athlete pees into a bottle for a drug test, the testing scientist is often not looking for the drug itself. He is looking for the by-products that the body produces as it metabolizes the drug. This is how steroids are detected, by looking for the chemicals the body produces in eliminating the drug.

Probenecid keeps these telltale chemicals from being present in urine, thus circumventing the drug test; the Probenecid itself, however, is present. And Delgado had it in the sample that he gave for the stage 13 time trial.

Here's where it gets interesting. Probenecid was on the Olympic Committee's list of banned drugs. The UCI (the governing body ruling cycling) was going to ban the drug after the Tour. It was not on the list of banned drugs during the 1988 Tour. Technically, Delgado had committed no offense in using Probenecid as it was not yet a banned drug. Two days after the positive test, the second sample (there is always an "A" and "B" sample tested independently for the protection of the racer) was tested and confirmed the positive for the drug. The Spanish government sent sports ministers and lawyers to France to argue Delgado's case. They were not going to surrender a third Spanish Tour winner (after Bahamontes and Ocaña) without a fight. Because there was no actual offense Delgado could continue the Tour without penalty. The day of the announcement that Delgado was clear was also the day Theunisse received his 10-minute penalty for his doping positive. Ironically, it was steroids that showed up in Theunisse's test sample, the same class of chemicals that Delgado was thought to be hiding with Probenecid.

To this day, Delgado maintains his innocence and acts as if his continuing the Tour under the drug cloud was an act of heroism. He said he took the Probenecid to take care of problems with his legs. He later said that he was given a drink by a spectator on the route. Merckx thought the conflicting stories reflected poorly on the man, calling the defense Delgado offered, "rubbish". If he was innocent, then he competed under very tough emotional conditions. He was tested over and over again during the Tour and came up positive only once. But barring evidence to the contrary, I tend to believe that mass spectrographs are more reliable than racers caught with a positive sample. Delgado is a genuinely nice man. The racers and the fans liked him. Because of this geniality, Delgado was able to elicit a great deal of sympathy from the fans. The riders staged a 10-minute strike the next day in sympathy for Delgado and against the inept handling of his case. It should also be noted that Delgado had been tested at least 10 times during the 1988 Tour and only this one time had he turned up positive for Probenecid.

On the stage 19 ascent up Puy de Dôme Johnny Weltz and Rolf Golz had a substantial lead, 15 minutes with 50 kilometers to go. But then things stirred in the peloton. On the climb Delgado demonstrated his complete mastery by easily dropping all the others and finishing third, 5½ minutes behind Weltz. Delgado was now almost 5 minutes ahead of second-place Rooks.

Delgado wanted to win the 46-kilometer individual time trial to make a clean win of it all. Held on rolling terrain near Dijon, Delgado was able to come close to winning the stage. He was ahead at every checkpoint but the finish line. The wind had become strong during the day and finally it was too much for Delgado to overcome. His fourth place at 11 seconds to the winner Juan Martinez-Oliver was still the best time of any of the top men. Rooks finished twentieth, 2 minutes, 26 seconds behind.

Hampsten and his team were indeed shot after the Giro. The Giro winner never was able to display his normal brilliance in the high mountains. The 7-Eleven team was dogged by misfortune that started even before the race had started. Bob Roll crashed before the "Prelude" and had to be replaced at the last minute. During the second stage team time trial Dag-Otto Lauritzen crashed. Roy Knickman failed to make the time cutoff on the eighteenth stage to Limoges and that day, Jeff Pierce, who had been struggling, was also eliminated.

Final 1988 Tour de France General Classification:

Climbers' Competition:

The 1988 Tour did live up to its expectation as a fast race. The average speed was 38.909 kilometers per hour, the fastest Tour so far. And it was a strange Tour for Belgium. For the first time since 1910, not 1 rider from the bike-mad country won a stage.

Epilogue to the 1988 Tour. In 2000 Steven Rooks admitted to taking amphetamines and testosterone during his racing career. He just didn't get caught.

Video of Stage 12 to l'Alpe d'Huez

© McGann Publishing

Coupe de France de cyclisme sur route Tour du Doubs 2024

• tous publics

Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) remporte la 39e édition du Tour du Doubs, devant Clément Berthet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) et José Manuel Díaz Gallego (Burgos) après une montée du Larmont intense. C'est la deuxième victoire de Martinez, après son succès le 12 avril sur la Classic Grand Besançon.

• Tour de France
• Giro d'Italia
• La Vuelta ciclista a España
• World Championships
• Amstel Gold Race
• Milano-Sanremo
• Tirreno-Adriatico
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège
• Il Lombardia
• La Flèche Wallonne
• Paris - Nice
• Paris-Roubaix
• Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
• Critérium du Dauphiné
• Tour des Flandres
• Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields
• Clásica Ciclista San Sebastián
• INEOS Grenadiers
• Groupama - FDJ
• EF Education-EasyPost
• Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
• BORA - hansgrohe
• Bahrain - Victorious
• Astana Qazaqstan Team
• Intermarché - Wanty
• Lidl - Trek
• Movistar Team
• Soudal - Quick Step
• Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
• Team Jayco AlUla
• Team Visma | Lease a Bike
• UAE Team Emirates
• Arkéa - B&B Hotels
• Alpecin-Deceuninck
• Grand tours
• Countdown to 3 billion pageviews
• Favorite500
• Profile Score
• Stage winners
• All stage profiles
• Race palmares
• Complementary results
• Finish photo
• Contribute info
• Contribute results
• Contribute site(s)
• Results - Results
• Info - Info
• Live - Live
• Game - Game
• Stats - Stats
• More - More
•   »  

Sprint | Pléaux (97.0 km)

Sprint | besse-en-chandesse (214.5 km), points at finish, kom sprint (4) côte de nozière (91.0 km), kom sprint (4) côte de jalliac (131.0 km), kom sprint (2) côte de saint-anastaise (206.5 km), kom sprint (3) super-besse (221.5 km), race information.

• Date: 13 July 1978
• Start time: -
• Avg. speed winner: 32.84 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 221 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
• Parcours type:
• ProfileScore: 304
• Vert. meters: 5174
• Departure: Figeac
• Arrival: Superbesse
• Race ranking: 0
• Startlist quality score: 1241
• Won how: ? - let us know!
• Avg. temperature:
• Côte de Nozière
• Côte de Jalliac
• Côte de Saint-Anastaise
• Super-Besse

Grand Tours

• Vuelta a España

Major Tours

• Volta a Catalunya
• Tour de Romandie
• Tour de Suisse
• Itzulia Basque Country
• Milano-SanRemo
• Ronde van Vlaanderen

Championships

• European championships

Top classics

• Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
• Strade Bianche
• Gent-Wevelgem
• Dwars door vlaanderen
• Eschborn-Frankfurt
• San Sebastian
• Bretagne Classic
• GP Montréal

Popular riders

• Tadej Pogačar
• Wout van Aert
• Remco Evenepoel
• Jonas Vingegaard
• Mathieu van der Poel
• Mads Pedersen
• Primoz Roglic
• Demi Vollering
• Lotte Kopecky
• Katarzyna Niewiadoma
• PCS ranking
• UCI World Ranking
• Points per age
• Latest injuries
• Youngest riders
• Grand tour statistics
• Monument classics
• Latest transfers
• Favorite 500
• Points scales
• Profile scores
• Reset password
• Cookie consent

About ProCyclingStats

• Cookie policy
• Contributions
• Pageload 0.0558s

Official games

2023 Edition

• Stage winners
• All the videos

Tour Culture

• Commitments
• key figures
• Sporting Stakes
• "Maillot Jaune" Collection
• The jerseys

TOTAL: 3492 km

This will be the first Grand Départ in Italy and the 26th that’s taken place abroad  First finale in Nice. Due to the Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in Paris, the race will not finish in the French capital for the first time.

Two time trials. 25 + 34 = 59km in total, the second of them taking place on the final Monaco>Nice stage. This will be the first time the race has seen a finale of this type for 35 years, the last occasion being the famous Fignon - LeMond duel in 1989.

Apennines (Italy), the Italian and French Alps, Massif Central and Pyrenees will be the mountain ranges on the 2024 Tour route.

The number of countries visited in 2024: Italy, San Marino, Monaco and France. Within France, the race will pass through 7 Regions and 30 departments.

The number of bonus points 8, 5 and 2 bonus seconds go to the first three classified riders, featuring at strategic points along the route (subject to approval by the International Cycling Union)these will have no effect on the points classification. Bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds will be awarded to the first three classified riders at road stage finishes.

Out of a total of 39, the locations or stage towns that are appearing on the Tour map for the first time . In order of appearance: Florence, Rimini, Cesenatico, Bologna, Piacenza, Saint-Vulbas, Gevrey-Chambertin, Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, Évaux-les-Bains, Gruissan, Superdévoluy, Col de la Couillole.

The number of sectors on white roads during stage nine, amounting to 32km in total .

The number of stages: 8 flat, 4 hilly, 7 mountain (with 4 summit finishes at Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet, Plateau de Beille, Isola 2000, Col de la Couillole), 2 time trials and 2 rest days.

The number of riders who will line up at the start of the Tour, divided into 22 teams of 8 riders each.

The height of the summit of the Bonette pass in the Alps, the highest tarmac road in France, which will be the “roof” of the 2024 Tour.

The total vertical gain during the 2024 Tour de France.

PRIZE MONEY

A total of 2,3 million euros will be awarded to the teams and riders including € 500,000 to the final winner of the overall individual classification .

Receive exclusive news about the Tour

Accreditations

Privacy policy, your gdpr rights.