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By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian |
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Merckx Dominates from Day 1
These are the Golden Years of the Eddy Merckx. The Belgian already had won the Vuelta a Espana in early May and came to the 1973 Giro d’Italia to gain a rare springtime Vuelta/Giro double.
The Giro start in Vervies, Belgium gave Merckx a chance to begin his dominance. The Cannibal gain time on his main rivals on the first three stages and wore the Maglia Rosa from start to finish. With 6 stage wins the Belgian’s dominance was on the front page consistently throughout the race.
At the finish in Trieste Eddy Merckx claimed his fourth Giro d’Italia victory and completed a “Grand Tour Spring” to be remembered for a while.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Prologue Verviers (Bel), 5.2 km ITT |
Merckx (Bel) & Swerts (Bel)" |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 1 Verviers-Cologne (Ger), 137 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 2 Cologne (Ger)-Luxembourg, 227 km |
Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 3 Luxembourg-Strasbourg (Fra), 239 km |
Gustaaf Van Roosbroeck (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 4 Geneva (Sui)-Aosta, 163 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 5 St Vincent-Milan, 173 km |
Gerben Karstens (Ned) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 6 Milan-Iseo, 144 km |
Gianni Motta (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 7 Iseo-Lido Nazioni, 248 km |
Rik Van Linden (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 8 Lido Nazioni-Carpegna, 156 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 9 Carpegna-Alba Adriatica, 243 km |
Patrick Sercu (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 10 Alba Adriatica-Lanciano, 174 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 11 Lanciano-Bevenento, 230 km |
Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 12 Bevenento-Fiuggi Terme, 236 km |
Tullio Rossi (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 13 Fiuggi Terme-Bolsena, 215 km |
Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 14 Bolsena-Firenze, 202 km |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 15 Firenze-Forte dei Marmi, 150 km |
Martin Rodriguez (Col) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 16 F dei Marmi-Circ. Versilia, 37 km ITT |
Felice Gimondi (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 17 Forte dei Marmi-Verona, 244 km |
Rik Van Linden (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 18 Verona-Andalo, 173 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 19 Andalo-Auronzo di Cadore, 208 km |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 20 Auronzo di Cadore-Trieste, 197 km |
Marino Basso (Ita) |
 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
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Mountain Classification |
José-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
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Point's Jersey |
 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
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GdI May 18 - June 09, 1973 |
| 3,725 Km |
1. Eddy MERCKX (Bel) 106h54'41" |
| 2. Felice Gimondi (Ita) +7'42" |
| 3.
Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) +10'20" |
| Starters: 140 |
Finishers: 113 |
| Average Speed: 35.506 km/h |
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Return to the Race Snippets ToC |
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56th Giro d'Italia 1973 (Italy) 
