65th Tour de France 1978

The Cannibal Retires, the Badger Shines

The celebrated 75th Anniversary Edition of the Tour de France saw a substantial changing in the peloton. Eddy Merckx, Luis Ocana and Raymond Poulidor had all retired. The 1978 TdF was wide open for the debut of new stars. Renault team director Cyrille Guimard introduced his newest star Bernard “the Badger” Hinault to the TdF. Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk was the main obstacle to Hinault’s hopes. Can the climber beat the time trialer?

The contenders began to take control of the General Classification on the 59 km individual time trial (ITT) on stage 8. The time trialer Bernard Hinault excelled at his specialty and dominated the “race against the clock.” Round one of the Hinault/Zoetemelk battle went to the Badger. 

The Tour entered the “Circle of Death” (the hardest day in the Pyrenees) on stage 11. The stage from Pau to St. Lary Soulan finished on the climb of the formidable Pla d’Adet. The leaders were together over the Col du Tourmalet and Col d’Aspin and at the base of the Pla d’Adet, Michel Pollentier and Zoetemelk broke away from the peloton. Mariano Martinez and Hinault quickly joined the breakaway. Near the summit Martinez increased the tempo and moves ahead. The increase caused the Dutch climber Zoetemelk to fade, but Hinault and Pollentier held the pace. Martinez surged again to win the stage by 5 second on Hinault and Pollentier. Zoetemelk rode in solo, 19 seconds behind. The group of Joseph Bruyere (Bel) in the Maillot Jaune finished 2’31” behind the stage winner. 

SPECIAL NOTE: In Tarbes for stage 12a, the riders considered the early morning start to be unreasonable. At the start line of the stage, the peloton revolted. The entire group leisurely rode over the first 157 kilometers of the stage at 20 km/h (12.5 miles/hour). Upon reaching the final kilometer in Valence d’Agen, the riders dismounted and walker to the finish line. Tour officials were forced to cancel the stage.

The Mayor of Valence d’Agen, who invested a large amount of money to host the Tour stage finish, was irate. The protesting riders came into his City so far behind schedule that the planned festival for the riders was wasted because the next section of the stage was ready to start. The sympathetic riders did make amends by promising to hold a post-Tour Criterium in Valence d’Agen.

The second section of stage 12 was run as normal and was raced hard. Sprinter Jacques Esclassan beat Jan Raas and Freddy Maertens for the stage win. 

The Tour scheduled an individual time trial (ITT) on stage 14 that finished at the top of the fabled climb of the Puy de Dome (14 km, ave. 7.5%, max. 12.5%).  Joop Zoetemelk still trailed the surprising race leader Joseph Bruyere by 1’58”, and second placed Bernard Hinault by 50 seconds. The Dutchman needed a huge effort on this ITT climb to gain time in the General Classification. On the slope of the climb, the Dutch star hammered the pace and significantly gained the stage win. He beat overall race leader Bruyere by 55 seconds and beat his main challenger Hinault by 1’40”. Zoetemelk, with the time gain, jumped over Hinault into second place in the overall classification. He seemed poised to move into the race lead in the Alps. 

Drama in the Alps occurred on the stage 16, mountaintop finish at Alpe d’Huez. Talented climber Michel Pollentier (Bel) attacked the race leader on the climb to Chamrousse. A tired Bruyere was feeling the effects of the ITT up the Puy de Dome two stages earlier and could not match the pace of the Belgian. Pollentier’s escape continued and at the foot of Alpe d’Huez he had a 2-minute lead on the chase pack. An elite chase group of Zoetemelk, Hinault, and Kuiper had closed the time gap to 50 seconds at 4 km to go. Zoetemelk fell off the aggressive pace and lost time. Pollentier won the stage by 37 seconds over Kuiper. Hinault finished third 45 seconds behind. Zoetemelk was a further 1’18” behind the stage winner. Jubilantly, Pollentier puts on the Maillot Jaune at the awards ceremony, but following the great action of the day’s stage the post-race drama started at doping control.

SPECIAL NOTE: Pollentier was supposed to report directly to doping control after the awards ceremony. He did not present himself immediately, preferring to quickly go to his hotel for a rigged fake urine sample. With a small rubber bladder under his arm, Pollentier arrived at doping control.  When the device malfunctioned, the race doctor administering the urine-test discovered the fraud. Michel Pollentier was immediately dismissed from the Tour and handed a two-month suspension. A surprised Joop Zoetemelk was awarded the race lead.

For the next three stages, Zoetemelk and Hinault matched each other pedal stroke for pedal stroke. The final selection of the year’s Tour champion would happen during the 72 km individual time trial (ITT) from Metz to Nancy. The Badger, trailing Zoetemelk by 14 seconds, stepped to starting line ready for the challenge. He set a pace no one could match. Hinault beat the race leader, Zoetemelk by 4’10”. He put on the Maillot Jaune for the first time and cruised into Paris for a 3’56” Tour de France victory. 

Bernard Hinault’s victory captured the interest of all France. French supporters on the Champs Elysees celebrated the birth of a new grand TdF champion.

TdF 1977

TdF 1979

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