The Tour visits Revel
The first rider to take a stage in Revel was Rudi Altig in
1966. Joaquim Agostinho and Merckx both took stages here
in 1969, Merckx in a TT. Erik 'Triple' Dekker took the
second of his three stage wins in 2000 here.
July 20th in the Tour
- The Tour finished in Paris on this date in 1924. Ottavio
Bottecchia was wearing yellow on that day and he won the
monster 443km stage as well.
- Pierre Brambilla started the day in yellow and headed
for Paris in 1947. But along the way a group escaped and
the Frenchman riding for an Italian team could not pull
them back. Briek Schotte took the stage. And Jean Robic,
riding for the Ouest regional team, put almost 13
minutes into Brambilla. Brambilla got no help at all from
the predominantly French peloton, and was bitter about
that all his life.
- Did Merckx win on this date? Please! Merckx won everything
in 1969, and he capped it off with a win on this date in
the final stage in Paris. And he also won in Orleans in 1972.
- But 1977 was different. Merckx was not the rider he was.
He led his Fiat team to victory in the TTT, but could not
find any more magic. On July 20th he came third across the
line in Saint Etienne. It was only after Agostinho and
Menendez came up positive that he was declared the winner.
It was an unsatisfying win, in an unsatisfying stage of
his career. It would be his final Tour stage win.
- The Tour did not go the way he had hoped in 1985. But
this day still meant something to Greg Lemond. He was a
member of the 1984 Renault TTT squad and also the La Vie
Claire unit in 1985, both stage winners. But the 20th was
when he got his first individual stage win, in the
Auphelle TT.
- And exactly one year later he became the first American
to wear yellow after the stage to Serre Chevalier.
- Jan Ullrich took his first stage in 1996 in the Saint
Emilion TT. He was only 22 years old.
Bob Schwartz
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