1973 Tour of Flanders

Last updated
Race details
Dates1 April 1973
Stages1
Distance263 km (163.4 mi)
Winning time6h 17'
Results
  WinnerFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Eric Leman  (BEL) (Peugeot–BP)
  SecondFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Freddy Maertens  (BEL) (Flandria-Shimano)
  ThirdFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Eddy Merckx  (BEL) (Molteni)
  1972
1974  

The 57th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 1 April 1973. Belgian Eric Leman won the classic ahead of Freddy Maertens and Eddy Merckx. [1] [2] The race started in Ghent and finished for the first time in Meerbeke (Ninove). 37 out of 174 riders arrived.

Contents

Course

Cycling icon Eddy Merckx was the pre-race favourite, but despite several attempts, he failed to distance Leman, Maertens and De Geest on the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the run-in to the finish. In a four-man sprint Eric Leman narrowly beat Freddy Maertens. Merckx was third. [3] Leman became the third rider to win the Tour of Flanders three times, equalling the previous record of Achiel Buysse and Fiorenzo Magni. [4]

Climbs

There were six categorized climbs:

Results

CyclistTeamTime
1Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Eric Leman  (BEL) Peugeot–BP 6h 17' 00"
2Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Freddy Maertens  (BEL) Flandria-Shimano s.t.
3Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Eddy Merckx  (BEL) Molteni s.t.
4Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Willy De Geest  (BEL)Rokados.t.
5Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Joop Zoetemelk  (NED) Gitane + 45"
6Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Walter Godefroot  (BEL) Flandria-Shimano + 51"
7Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Frans Verbeeck  (BEL)Watneys–Maess.t.
8Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Herman Van Springel  (BEL)Rokados.t.
9Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Patrick Sercu  (BEL) Brooklyn + 1'20"
10Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Willy In't Ven  (BEL) Molteni s.t.

References

  1. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN   90-73322-02-2, p168
  2. McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol. "1973 Ronde van Vlaanderen results". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, Arkansas: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN   90-73322-02-2, p172
  4. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN   90-73322-02-2, p169-173

Further reading