The Joux-Plane was paved in 1976, and in 1978 the Tour
used it for the Stage 17 jaunt from Grenoble to Morzine.
The Tour had already seen it's share of drama that year.
Merckx had formed a new team and trained with the goal
of making the Tour a grand swan song. But his health and
form were not up to the task and he retired in May. The
mantle of race favorite went to Bernard Hinault, a new
face to the Tour but a rider that had taken everything
he has set his sights on.
Another favorite was Joop Zoetemelk, and he had lived up
to that designation in the Stage 14 Puy-de-Dome time trial.
He was a minute down on Pollentier and even with Hinault
at the base of the climb. In the last 6km he pulled back
Pollentier's minute and took one of his own. But the big
surprise was the 1:40 he took out of Hinault.
This set the stage for a battle of strategy and strength
in Stage 16 to Alpe d'Huez. Pollentier attacked from far
out and gained time while Kuiper, Zoetemelk, and Hinault
negotiated the terms of the chase. Kuiper had his eyes on
repeating the stage win he had taken the year before, and
he withheld the efforts of his Raleigh teammates. Eventually
the Mercier and Renault captains come to an agreement and
the gap to Pollentier begins to fall. But not so fast as
to prevent him from reaching Alpe d'Huez first and staking
a claim to the yellow jersey, a claim that is lost in an
incident at doping control after the race. As he wrote in
a letter to race directors Goddet and Levitan, "Believe me
when I say that what hurts the most is the accusation of
my having besmirched the Tour. You know and you have seen
the degree I have suffered along the roads of the Tour so
that this holiday might be the most beautiful day of my
career. Alas, I fear that it is going to remain my saddest."
What was lost in this affair was the weakness shown by
Zoetemelk on the slopes of the climb where he had been
dropped by Hinault. Pollentier's ejection had given the
yellow jersey to Zoetemelk, but with a mere 14 seconds
advantage. Ahead lay a 72 km time trial from Metz to Nancy,
and Zoetemelk knew 14 seconds would not cut it. Stage 17
was a nasty, 6 climb slog to Morzine. And it was Zoetemelk's
last chance to put time into Hinault.
The stage began straight up the Col de Porte, and Kuiper
and Hinault both began with an aggressive streak. Kuiper was
the runner-up the year before and was capable of exploding
the race. And this is just what he intended to do, taking
both the Porte and the Granier that followed. He was pushing
himself on the descent of the Granier when he made a mistake
that left him in a helicopter flying to Chambery with his
collarbone sticking out of his skin. Having lost Kuiper the
pace fell, and Bittinger and Seznec attacked in hopes of some
individual glory and perhaps to be available to assist their
captains, Agostinho and Zoetemelk respectively, should they
be able to slip Hinault. Bittinger and Seznec agree on a
plan to split the day's spoils and they ride away up the
road. Bittinger would later fade badly on the Joux-Plane and
only made it to the top after receiving food from a spectator.
Behind them Hinault thinks over his strategy. He is alone, the
early attacks have shelled his teammates. He decides to ride a
brutal pace on each of the day's climbs, preventing his rivals
from mounting an attack. In the end Zoetemelk is reduced to
clinging to Hinault's wheel. It is all he can do to stay with
him over the Joux-Plane into Morzine.
Zoetemelk left the day with the same 14 second lead that he
began it with. A few days later he would collapse in spectacular
fashion on the road to Nancy, losing 4:10 to Hinault and passing
the yellow jersey to his rival.
Bob Schwartz