1975 Tour de France

Lore & Background

By the summer of 1975, Eddy Merckx was already a monument. Four consecutive Tours from 1969 to 1972 had established a standard of dominance that seemed almost mythical, and the 1975 edition carried the weight of that legacy. The Belgian, now in his early thirties, entered the race knowing that this might be his final opportunity to add to the collection. The French peloton, meanwhile, had spent two years studying his patterns, and riders like Bernard Thévenet arrived with a specific game plan: to be patient, to attack at the precise moment Merckx's concentration wavered, and to make the mountains a crucible rather than a coronation.

The race delivered exactly that tension. Merckx's authority in the sprints and time trials remained formidable, but the mountain stages in the Pyrenees and the Alps revealed a rider who could still produce devastating, sustained efforts on the steepest gradients. Thévenet, the young Frenchman, matched him stage by stage, refusing to be pulled into a premature duel. The final weeks saw both men trading blows on the high passes, with the yellow jersey changing hands in the minds of the crowd even if the timesheets told a different story.

In the end, Merckx's sheer depth of talent—his ability to be the strongest rider in every discipline simultaneously—proved decisive. But the 1975 Tour is remembered as much for how close it was as for who won. It was the last time the world saw the full, unbroken Merckx, and the last time a rider of his generation defined the race so completely. After this, the Tour belonged to a new wave of French talent, and the Belgian era drew to a close.

In Their Own Story

The road climbed out of the village and the peloton thinned to a handful. Merckx's shoulders were broad against the grey sky, his hands white on the drops, the chain clicking in a rhythm that had become second nature over a thousand climbs. Behind him, two hundred metres back, Thévenet watched the Belgian's back and counted the seconds, knowing that if he attacked now, Merckx would turn and the race would be over. So he waited. The road crested, and for a moment the two men were separated by nothing but air and the long, thin shadow of the mountain. Merckx did not turn. He pedalled on, and the yellow jersey caught the wind like a flag no one had yet decided to lower.

Reader's Guide

What made the 1975 Tour unforgettable was the sense of a final act. Eddy Merckx, already the most decorated rider in the race's history, entered the three weeks with the quiet certainty of a man who knew this might be his last chance to add a fifth yellow jersey. The peloton, led by a hungry young Bernard Thévenet, had spent months preparing to break that record, and the race lived up to the anticipation.

The opening weeks saw Merckx assert his authority in the flat stages and time trials, building a cushion that felt comfortable but never invincible. Thévenet stayed in the red, absorbing the attacks, refusing to commit. The Pyrenean stages brought the first real test: long, grinding climbs where the race's hierarchy was rewritten in minutes. Merckx produced a sustained effort on the final gradient that silenced the French crowd, but the time gaps remained razor-thin.

The Alps delivered the climax. Stage after stage, the two men traded the initiative, with Merckx's all-round superiority—his sprint, his time trial, his climbing—giving him the edge in the aggregate. Thévenet's patience was admirable but ultimately could not match the depth of a rider who was the best in every single discipline. The final Paris finish saw Merckx cross the line in yellow for the last time, a quiet, almost private triumph that the crowd roared for as if it were the first.

Did You Know?

• Eddy Merckx's 1975 victory was his fifth and final Tour de France overall win, completing a tally that still stands as one of the sport's great records.
• Bernard Thévenet, who finished second in 1975, went on to win the Tour de France in 1977 and 1978, becoming the next great French champion of the race.
• The 1975 edition marked the transition between two eras: after Merckx's final Tour win, the race entered a period of French dominance that would last through the late 1970s.
• Merckx's dominance in the 1970s spanned not only the Tour but also the Giro d'Italia and the World Championship, making him the only rider to win all three major titles in the same year.