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By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian
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This Vuelta Belonged to Maertens!!!
"I come only to win!". These were the words of Belgium sprinter Freddy Maertens before the start of the 1977 Vuelta a Espana. The race marked the complete supremacy of Maertens.
After winning the 8 km Prologue time trial Maertens would crank-off 12 more stage wins and hold the overall lead in the General Classification for every stage.
Freddy Maertens winning the Prologue TT
The victory did not come without a minor scare on stage 4. In the 8.3 km individual time trial Maertens “over-cooked” a corner and crashed. He quickly remounted and started riding again, but the fall cost him 40”.
Freddy Maertens sprinted to his final stage win in Miranda de Ebro and claimed the 1977 Vuelta a Espana victory.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Vuelta organizers decided to finish the race in Miranda de Ebro instead of Guipuzcoa. Entry of the race into the Basque Country was considered dangerous because of on-going social and political protest events in the region.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Prologue Dehesa de Campoamor, 8 km ITT |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 1 Dehesa de Campoamor-La Manga, 115 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 2 la Manga del Mar Menor-Murcia, 161 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 3 Murcia-Benidorm, 200 km |
Fedor Den Hertog (Ned) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 4 Benidorm, 8.3 km ITT |
Michel Pollentier (Fra) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 5 Benidorm-El Saler, 159 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 6 Valencia-Teruel, 170 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 7 Teruel-Las Fuentes, 204 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 8 Las Fuentes-Tortosa, 141 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 9 Tortosa-Salou, 144 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 10 Salou-Barcelona, 144 km |
Cees Priem (Ned) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 11a Montjuich, 3.8 km ITT |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 11b Montjuich, 45 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 12 Barcelona-La Tossa de Montbui, 198 km |
Giuseppe Perletto (Ita) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 13 Igualada-Seo de Urgel, 135 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 14 Seo de Urgel-Monzon, 200 km |
Carlos Melero (Spa) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 15 Monzon-El Formigal, 166 km |
Pedro Torres (Spa) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 16 El Formigal-Cordovilla, 170 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 17 Cordovilla-Bilbao, 183 km |
Luis-Alberto Ordiales (Spa) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 18 Bilbao-Durango, 126 km |
Jose Nazabal (Spa) |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
Stage 19 Alto de Urquiola-Miranda de Ebro, 104 km |
Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
 Freddy Maertens (Bel)
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BEST CLIMBER PRIZE |
 Pedro Torres (Spa) |
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POINTS COMPETITION |
 Freddy Maertens (Bel) |
| VaE April 26 - May 15, 1977 |
| 2,785.1 km |
1.
Freddy MAERTENS (Bel) 78h54'36" |
2.
Miguel-Maria Lasa (Spa)+ 2'51" |
3.
Klaus-Peter Thaler (Ger) +3'23" |
Starters: 70 |
Finishers: 54 |
Average Speed: 35.294 km/h |
VaE 1976
VaE 1978
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32nd Vuelta a Espana 1977
