January 2017 | 41
When the Tour was won by someone who didn ’ t want to win it
Can someone win a race by accident ? A bizarre question but a reluctant cyclist did triumph in the Tour de France .
Lucien Van Impe had never really been an ambitious cyclist and was happy enough to register some small victories , considering himself unworthy when facing the big generals – at least until he crossed paths with Guimard . The Frenchman convinced him that his physique of an agile climber contained something more : the seed of a great champion . The Belgian believed his director and started the Tour with the intention of conquering it .
But Guimard ' s indications didn ’ t stay in his head for long . Van Impe was faltering in France , losing faith in his own strength , the race becoming more favourable for Joop Zoetemelk before the Pyrenees . And then , in the queen stage at Pla d ' Adet , one of the most peculiar episodes in the history of cycling occurred .
There , on Col du Portillon , Guimard ordered van Impe to attack but the Belgian refused . Van Impe ignored Guimard ’ s commands as if he was deaf . And deaf he was until the Frenchman harassed him with the car , struck his bicycle and threatened to stop him from racing . At that moment , oppressed , van Impe launched his attack , chasing down Ocaña who was riding ahead with Walter Riccomi .
Ocaña had never forgiven Zoetemelk for causing him to abandon the Tour in 1971 on the descent of the Col de Mente . It was an accident in an apocalyptic storm , but Ocaña , with his passion and impetuosity , still bore a grudge . So on that day in 1976 , Ocaña and madman van Impe rode together at a ferocious pace distancing Zoetemelk . It was a decisive move : van Impe won the stage , donned yellow and kept it until the Champs-Élysées .
Van Impe won in Paris , but all was not good . At the end of the year he quit the team as he couldn ’ t put up with the ‘ dictator ’
- Lucien van Impe , the man who didn ´ t want to win ( Bastien Milanese )
Guimard anymore . For his part , Guimard accused van Impe of being a money-grabbing egoist who didn ’ t bear the mark of a real champion . Their ways parted .
Gimondi and Ocaña , the end of a golden generation
The 1976 editions of Vuelta a España and Giro d ’ Italia showcased the last displays of the era ’ s two cycling legends , Luis Ocaña and Felice Gimondi . And while the Italian got the victory in his home country , the Spaniard of Mont-de-Marsan could only write a new page in his tale of misfortune .
The number one album in 1976 was The Eagles ´ ‘ Hotel