The Tour de France is full of stories. Every day we highlight a historical moment that can be linked to the upcoming stage. This time stage 10: the day the Tour had three winners on Quatorze Juillet, but no Frenchman.
The eighteenth stage of the 1976 Tour is remarkable, as it consists of three parts. First, the peloton rides 86 kilometers from Auch to Langon. Then a 123-kilometer ride from Langon to Lacanau is on the program. And finally, the riders travel 71 kilometers from Lacanau to Bordeaux.
For the French, it is an important day, because it is Quatorze Juillet: the national holiday. They can’t wait to cheer for men like Bernard Thévenet and Raymond Poulidor. A year earlier, Thévenet brought the spectators into ecstasy by triumphing in a tough mountain stage on July 14.
In 1976, the riders start as early as 7:00 AM for the first part of the eighteenth stage. In the early morning there is not a soul on the road as the Tour caravan sets in motion. The French people are apparently already fast asleep in anticipation of the party in the evening. Meanwhile, the peloton is heading towards Langon, where the Belgian Freddy Maertens trumps the Dutchman Gerben Karstens in the sprint.
In temperatures of no less than 36 degrees, the riders continue their way to Lacanau in the afternoon. There Maertens sprints to victory again and plunges the French into mourning by staying ahead of Jacques Esclassan. The Belgian is going for a unique trilogy, but in Bordeaux Karstens – who wins on the Champs Élysées a few days later as the first Dutchman – throws a spanner in the works.
At that moment it is already 8:15 PM. Despite the lack of a winning compatriot, the French people are already celebrating. A year later, the French can cheer again when Jean-Pierre Danguillaume wins in Besançon. After that, they see a compatriot win eight more times. In 2017, Warren Barguil let the French cheer for the last time on Quatorze Juillet.
