The Tour visits Mulhouse
- Merckx won in Mulhouse in 1971 as a member of the Molteni
TTT squad.
- Lance Armstrong has also tasted victory here, in the 2000
TT from Freiburg. That was the last time the Tour has finished
a stage here.
- Mulhouse boasts an impressive collection of stage winners.
Fignon (1992), Maertens (1976), Godefroot (1973), and
Geminiani (1952) all won here.
- And Hinault won in Mulhouse on July 10th, 1981.
This day in the Tour
- The Tour's first mountain king took the stage to Grenoble.
Rene Pottier had won his third of four consecutive stages,
which would provide the cusion to win the Tour.
- Young Rene Vietto also won in Grenoble on this date in
1934. It was his first ever stage win in a Tour that would
turn tragic for him. He was only 20. More on that later.
- Hugo Koblet only entered the Tour once, and he won it. He
would take his first stage today in a TT in Angers.
- Felice Gimondi, already clad in yellow, won a TT to Mont
Revard on this date in 1965. He would hold on to take his
only win in the Tour. He would also win on this date in
1967 and 1969, an unusual 2 year skip.
- But what about Merckx? The guy wins every day, and today
is no different. 1970 on Mont Ventoux and 1972 at Bagneres-
de-Luchon saw Merckx stage wins.
- Stephen Roche won the Futuroscope TT in 1987, his magic
season.
- Miguel Indurain provided a hint of the rider he was to become
by taking a stage to Le Cambasque. All eyes were on the battle
between Lemond and Fignon though.
- The giant climb of the Col du Galibier was first scaled on
this date in 1911. It must have been an awful stage, from
Chamonix to Grenoble, 366km. It took the winner, Emile Georget,
over 13 hours to complete.
- And since this day belongs to the climbers I will mention
that Victor Hugo Pena became the first Colombian to lead the
Tour on July 10th, 2003.
- Oh not just the climbers, I suppose. In 1999 Mario Cipollini
won his fourth consecutive stage, a modern record.
Bob Schwartz
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