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By Barry Boyce,
CyclingRevealed Historian
 Eddy Merckx
VaE April 26 - May 13, 1973 |
3,060.8 Km |
Starters: 80 |
Finishers: 62 |
Average Speed: 36.098 km/h x
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A Springtime Vuelta/Giro Double: MERCKX!!
For years, the promoters of the Vuelta a Espana have tried to attract superstar Eddy Merckx to Spain. Since the Vuelta victory was missing from Merckx’s Grand Tour victories, the generous offer from the promoters brought Merckx to the 1973 Vuelta. The race was being hyped as a showdown between Merckx and Spanish star Luis Ocana.
1973 Vuelta a Espana Race Route Details |
Teams:
A total of eight teams came to participate in the 1973 Vuelta a Espana. Each team sent a squad of ten riders.
- Bic
- Coelima-Benfica (MIX)
- KAS
- La Casera-Bahamontes
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- Molteni
- Monteverde
- Peugeot-BP-Michelin
- Rokado
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Race Summary:
Prologue: Merckx started strong by winning the 5 km prologue in Calpe.
Stage 5: 191 km from Cuenca to Teruel, saw aggressive racing. La Casera’s Andres Oliva escaped and opened a 3’55” lead before the peloton chased him down. A massive crash happened 50 km from the finish, which took former Vuelta champion Roger Pingeon out of the race. Dutchman Gerben Karstens won the stage, and Jose Pesarrodona retained his 1’15” lead.
Stage 8: Merckx wins the eighth stage with an eventful sprint against Belgian rival Eric Leman. This stage win increased Merckx’s lead over Ocana but trailed the race leader by 29”.
Stage 10: The tenth stage saw Merckx continue to gain time on Pesarrodona. He trailed the race leader by only 6”.
Stage 11: The eleventh stage featured three tough climbs. An eight-rider group of elites formed and contested the final sprint. Frenchman Bernard Thevenet won the sprint with Merckx second. The second-place finish gave Merckx a time bonus and the Belgian moved into the race lead by 17”. Ocana trailed by 1’58”.
Stage 16: The race did not begin until the three category one climbs of Stage 16 from Torrelavega to Miranda. With a 1973 Vuelta course almost complete absence of hard mountains, the sixteenth stage was critical to Ocana’s hopes for the overall victory. The fiery Spanish climber would not give up without a fight. He attacked early on the stage with only Merckx and Frenchman Bernard Thevenet able to follow the move. Ocana attacked again and escaped the breakaway group on the climb of the Puerto de Orduña. He went over the summit alone, 27” ahead Merckx and Thevenet. There were still 27 km between the summit and the finish, which allowed Merckx and Thevenet to bridge the gap to Ocana. The Belgian sprinted to the stage win and crushed the Spaniard’s chances at the overall victory.
Brreakaway on the Puerto de Orduna, Ocana (L) race leader Merckx (C), Thevenet (R)
Stage 17: At the finish in San Sebastian Eddy Merckx gained his missing Vuelta a Espana victory. The Belgian also had six stage wins and easily won the PointsClassification. Merckx, second placed Luis Ocana and third placed Bernard Thevenet, which made up one of the best podiums in the history of Vuelta a Espana.
SPECIAL NOTE 1: With the Vuelta victory Merckx became only the third rider after Frenchman Jacques Anquetil and Italian Felice Gimondi to have won all three Grand National Tours.
SPECIAL NOTE 2: When the Vuelta ended on May 13th Merckx went directly to Italy for the Giro d’Italia (starting May 18th). He will be the first rider in history to win a very difficult springtime Vuelta/Giro double in the same year.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Prologue Calpe, 5 km ITT |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 1 Calpe-Murcia, 187 km |
Peter Nassen (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 2 Murcia-Albacete, 156 km |
Gerben Karstens (Ned) |
Gerben Karstens (Ned) |
Stg 3 Albacete-Alcazar/San Juan, 146 km |
Peter Nassen (Bel) |
Gerben Karstens (Ned) |
Stg 4 Alcazar de San Juan-Cuenca, 169 km |
Jos Deschoenmaecker (Bel) |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 5 Cuenca-Teruel, 191 km |
Gerben Karstens (Ned) |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 6a Teruel-Puebla de Farnals, 150 km |
Roger Swerts (Bel) |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 6b Puebla de Farnals, 5 km TTT |
MOLTENI |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 7 Puebla/Farnals-Castellon, 165 km |
Gerben Karstens (Ned) |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 8 Castellin-Calafell, 245 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 9a Calafell-Barcelona, 80 km |
Juan-Manuel Santisteban (Spa) |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 9b Montjuich, 37.9 km ITT |
Jacques Esclassan (Fra) |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 10 Barcelona-Ampuriabrava, 171 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Stage 11 Ampuriabrava-Manresa, 225 km |
Bernard Thevenet (Fra) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 12 Manresa-Zaragoza, 259 km |
Gerben Karstens (Ned) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 13 Mallen-Irache, 175 km |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 14 Irache-Bilbao, 182 km |
Juan Zurano (Spa) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 15a Bilbao-Torrelavega, 154 km |
Eddy Peelman (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 15b Torrelavega, 17.4 km ITT |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 16 Torrelavega-Miranda, 203 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 17a Miranda de Ebro-Tolosa, 127 km |
Eddy Peelman (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stg 17b Hernani-San Sebastian, 10.5 km ITT |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
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BEST CLIMBER PRIZE |
 Jose-Luis Abilleira (Spa)
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POINTS COMPETITION |
 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
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General Classification:
Final General Classification |
Rank |
Name |
Team |
Time |
1 |
Eddy MERCKX (Bel) |
Molteni |
84h 40' 50" |
2 |
Luis Ocana (Spa) |
Bic |
3'46" |
3 |
Bernard Thevenet (Fra) |
Peugeot-BP-Michelin |
4'16" |
4 |
Jose Pesarrodona (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
5'54" |
5 |
Pedro Torres (Spa) |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes |
7'29" |
6 |
Joaquim Agostinho (Por) |
Bic |
8'15" |
7 |
Agustin Tamames (Spa) |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes |
9'15" |
8 |
Luis Balague (Spa) |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes |
12'26" |
9 |
Roger Swerts (Bel) |
Molteni |
13'27" |
10 |
Jesus Manzaneque (Spa) |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes |
15'01" |
11 |
Herman Van Springel (Bel) |
15'06" |
37 |
Joseph Huysmans (Bel) |
29'50" |
12 |
Jose Catieau (Fra) |
15'15" |
38 |
Jose Martins (Por) |
30'23" |
13 |
Victor Van Schil (Bel) |
15'31" |
39 |
Jean-Pierre Parenteau (Fra) |
30'46" |
14 |
Bernard Labourdette (Fra) |
15'56" |
40 |
Juan-Manuel Valls (Spa) |
30'47" |
15 |
Jose-Luis Abilleira (Spa) |
16'17" |
41 |
Willy In't Ven (Bel) |
31'05" |
16 |
Juan Zurano (Spa) |
17'07" |
42 |
Jose Casas (Spa) |
31'12" |
17 |
Vicente Lopez-Carril (Spa) |
17'08" |
43 |
Piet Nassen (Bel) |
31'20" |
18 |
Jose-Luis Uribezubia (Spa) |
17'43" |
44 |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
31'32" |
19 |
Antonio Martos (Spa) |
17'58" |
45 |
Carlos Melero (Spa) |
31'59" |
20 |
Ventura Diaz (Spa) |
18'51" |
46 |
Javier Elorriaga (Spa) |
34'45" |
21 |
Wenceslo Fernandes (Por) |
19'22" |
47 |
Felix Gonzalez (Spa) |
34'54" |
22 |
Fernando Ferreira (Spa) |
20'57" |
48 |
Juan-Manuel Santisteban (Spa) |
35'20" |
23 |
German Martin (Spa) |
21'26" |
49 |
Joseph Spruyt (Bel) |
35'27" |
24 |
Manuel Blanco (Spa) |
21'31" |
50 |
Frans Mintjens (Bel) |
35'50" |
25 |
Edouard Janssens (Bel) |
22'13" |
51 |
Manuel Andrade (Spa) |
38'21" |
26 |
Angel Barrigon (Spa) |
23'53" |
52 |
Jan Van de Wiele (Bel) |
47'40" |
27 |
Fernando Mendes (Por) |
24'46" |
53 |
Segundo Goicoechea (Spa) |
48'38" |
28 |
Jacques Esclassan (Fra) |
25'31" |
54 |
Ferdinand Bracke (Bel) |
49'47" |
29 |
Jose-Luis Galdamez (Spa) |
25'36" |
55 |
Eric Leman (Bel) |
52'54" |
30 |
Joseph Bruyere (Bel) |
26'07" |
56 |
Claude Aiguesparses (Fra) |
52'58" |
31 |
Roger Rosiers (Bel) |
26'23" |
57 |
Jose Pereira (Por) |
54'54" |
32 |
Andres Oliva (Spa) |
27'47" |
58 |
Christian Palka (Fra) |
57'06" |
33 |
Jose-Luis Viejo (Spa) |
27'48" |
59 |
Jaime Huelamo (Spa) |
57'07" |
34 |
Johnny Schleck (Lux) |
28'58" |
60 |
Jean-Pierre Guitard (Fra) |
57'24" |
35 |
Pierre Martelozzo (Fra) |
29'31" |
61 |
Eddy Peelman (Bel) |
58'45" |
36 |
Nemesio Jimenez (Spa) |
29'40" |
62 |
Ferdinand Peersman (Bel) |
1h05'34" |
Final Mountains Classification |
Rank |
Name |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Jose-Luis ABILLEIRA (Spa) |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes |
97 |
2 |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Molteni |
83 |
3 |
Luis Balague (Spa) |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes |
60 |
4 |
Pedro Torres (Spa) |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes |
50 |
Final Points Classification |
Rank |
Name |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Eddy MERCKX (Bel) |
Molteni |
215.5 |
2 |
Roger Swerts (Bel) |
Molteni |
162.5 |
3 |
Pieter Nassen (Bel) |
Rokado-De Gribaldy |
154.5 |
VaE 1972
VaE 1974
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