|
Stages:
|
Prol.+17 |
|
Kms:
|
3.061,8 |
|
Riders:
|
80 |
|
Teams:
|
8 |
|
Kms/hour:
|
36,098 |
|
Retired:
|
18 |
Eddy Merckx, one of the greatest cyclist in the
long history of cycling, had a complete control of the race in this edition
of Vuelta a España 1973 and it was completely worth paying the great amount
of money the organization had to pay to have him among the riders who took
part in this Vuelta; he was the winner in the Overall Standings, in five stages,
in the prologue, in the Per Point Overall Standings, in the Sprints Standings
and, finally, he was second in the Climbers Overall Standings. Apart from
achieving all that he had to fight against another of the best riders in the
world, Luis Ocaña, who did as much as he could to displace the so-called "cannibal"
from his position, something which was completely impossible.
The almost complete absence of mountains in this edition, nearly designed
to suit Merckx, a man who needed almost no help at all, made the work of Ocaña
even more difficult. He had to make good use of the few mountain passes existing
in the route. In that way, in Puerto de Orduña, the rider from Cuenca attempted
to breakaway, attack to which only Merckx and Thevenet reacted. Ocaña had
not had enough and in a second breakaway he pulled away from the rest of his
companions.
However, the great distance existing between the top of the pass and the finish,
allowed Merckx to bridge the Spanish rider up, who had to see how the few
posibilities he had of achieving the final victory vanished.
Merckx, Ocaña and Thevenet made up one of the best podiums in the history
of Vuelta a España, followed by the Spanish riders Pesarrodona and Torres
in the fourth and fifth positions respectively. Abilleira was the leader in
the Climbers Overall Standings, with 97 points, followed by Mercks with 83
and Luis Balagué with 60.
