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By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian |
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Merckx Dominates from Day 1
These are the Golden Years of 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 victory.
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. The Belgian’s dominance with 6 stage wins 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 (Lux), 227 km |
Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 3 Luxembourg (Lux) -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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Points Classification |
 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 |
GdI 1974
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