54th Tour de France 1967

Pingeon Flies Away, Tragedy on Ventoux

SPECIAL NOTE: In 1967 Tour de France organizers re-instituted the National team format.

SPECIAL NOTE: Tour organizers also instituted the prologue time trial. The mini-stage, an individual time trial (ITT) prior to stage 1, was designed to assign the first Maillot Jaune (race leader's Yellow Jersey) of the Tour.

The 1967 Tour de France (TdF) race route was designed to be one of the toughest in race history. It covered 4,780 km and included the mountain top stage finishes on the Puy de Dome and Mont Ventoux. The demands of the 1967 TdF route seemed ideally suited for the Raymond “Pou Pou” Poulidor, France's "eternal second".

The fireworks started on stage 5a when Poulidor's teammate Roger Pingeon attacked the peloton on the steep, cobbled climbs between Roubaix and Jambes. Pingeon had a 1'24” stage win and more than 2-minute gain on the peloton by the finish in Jambes.

The finish of the stage 7 on the climb of the Ballon d'Alsace, helped determine the winner of this year's Tour. The downfall of Raymond Poulidor started with an untimely puncture on the next to last climb. The time lost with the puncture was minimal but with only remaining 50 km it was difficult to get back with the leaders. Over the summit of the Platzerwaesel, misfortune struck again when “ Pou Pou” fell heavily on the descent. By the beginning of the Ballon d'Alsace, Poulidor was exhausted and finished the stage +11 minutes behind the stage winner Lucien Aimar. A very discouraged Poulidor declares that he had just lost the Tour. He would put all his efforts into supporting teammate and race leader Roger Pingeon.

The test of Poulidor's resolve to help Pingeon came on stage 10, the always-brutal race to Briancon. Julio Jimenez (Spa) attacked on the Col du Galibier with Felice Gimondi (Ita) and Poulidor. The race leader Pingeon struggled and could not stay in the group. When Poulidor realized Pingeon was having a problem, he dropped back to pace his team leader up the climb. Poulidor drove the 4-rider Maillot Jaune group and held Pingeon's time losses to 2'54”. Pingeon retained his race lead. Poulidor's sacrifice did not go unnoticed. All of France watched their hero save another Maillot Jaune.

SPECIAL NOTE: Tragedy struck the Tour's stage 13 on July 13, when Tom Simpson lost consciousness and collapsed 3 km from the top of Mont Ventoux. The brutal climb is a TdF legend. The mountain commands respect from all that attempt the ascent.

Simpson was Britain's most talented rider. He had won countless Spring Classics and had gained the 1965 World Championship. He came to the TdF in 1967 with grand ambitions. Mont Ventoux was his planned springboard to the top of the General Classification. Simpson attacked hard and rode away solo from the peloton. The weather was brutally hot (45 C/110+F), which added to the severity of the climb. Three kilometers from the finish line at the top of Ventoux, Simpson began to weave and fell to the ground. Driven to finish the stage he remounted, helped by fans, and continued. Delirious, several meters later he collapsed again, falling unconscious. When the Tour doctor arrived, he quickly applied CPR, but could not revive Simpson. A med-flight helicopter was immediately called. He passed away at 17:30 (5:30 PM) that evening.

The peloton, with great respect to their fallen friend, offered the following stage to Simpson's British teammate Barry Hoban.

Stage 16 brought the Tour to the Pyrenees Mountains. Spanish climber Julio Jimenez knew his only chance to gain the Tour victory was in the Pyrenees.

Jimenez attacked and broke away from Pingeon. The Spaniard set out in pursuit of solo breakaway Fernando Manzaneque. Jimenez could not catch Manzaneque, but finished second on the stage and gained almost 3 minutes on Pingeon. Jimenez climbed into second place in GC just 2'03" behind Pingeon.

The final stage in the Pyrenees saw Jimenez attacked the race leader again. This time he was unable to shake the inspired Pingeon. At the finish Pingeon and Jimenez were together. The overall lead remained at 2'03”.

The race for the GC between Jimenez and Pingeon came down to one final climb on stage 20, the fabled Puy de Dome. Jimenez drove the pace up the climb. Poulidor was again towing his teammate up the final climb. At the stage finish Jimenez managed to gain only 23 seconds and still trailed by 1'39”. There was only one last test remaining, the 47 km ITT stage from Versailles to Paris on the final stage.

Raymond Poulidor had his own glory. He rode into Parc des Princes Velodrome for a great stage win and upon his entry into the velodrome, he receives a tremendous ovation. The very popular “Pou Pou” had brought his teammate and France a grand Tour de France victory.

Roger Pingeon rode into the velodrome to a huge winner's reception. The 1967 Tour de France championship belonged to Roger Pingeon.

SPECIAL NOTE: This year's finish at the Parc des Princes Velodrome in Paris was scheduled for the final time. This storied venue, the finish line of the TdF since 1903, was to be demolished after the Tour. History will record Raymond “Pou Pou” Poulidor as the final stage winner at the venerable Parc des Princes Velodrome. The City of Paris demolished the aging structure in 1967 for economic reasons. The Piste Municipale de Vincennes, which was built in 1963, was meant to replace the Parc des Princes as the finish for the Tour de France.

TdF 1966

TdF 1968

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