Pra Loup - stage 17
Pra Loup - stage 17
Even though it hasn’t been a popular location for the Tour – this year will be only the third visit – the finishing climb of Pra Loup did host a pivotal moment in cycling history.
In 1975, Eddy Merckx had won five Tours de France in a row and cemented his place as the finest rider in history. But the Cannibal’s powers were on the wain and a host of riders were waiting in the wings eager to wrestle a Tour victory from Merckx’s hands.
The 15th stage of the 1975 Tour was a brute, 217km taking in five climbs, and Merckx, suffering after being punched by a spectator the stage before on the Puy du Dôme, had already been attacked multiple times by Bernard Thévenet on the Col des Champs. But Merckx launched an attack of his own on the Col d’Allos, dropping Thévenet and leading him until the final climb of Pra Loup.
Here, Merckx cracked spectacularly, spurring Thévenet on as he heard news of the Belgian’s struggles. He caught Merckx just two kilometres from the top and went straight by, turning what had been a one-minute deficit at the bottom into a two-minute gain by the time the struggling Merckx finally crossed the line.
The following day, Thévenet put another two minutes into Merckx on the Col d’Izoard to pretty much sew up overall victory and, despite Merckx continuing to attack, the Frenchman did eventually take victory in Paris by 2:47 minutes.
This year Pra Loup marks the conclusion of stage 17, a 161km route which scales two category three climbs, a category two ascent and the category one Col d’Allos before the 6.2km category two finishing climb, which averages 6.5 per cent.