1983 Tour de France

1983 Tour de France
Race details
Dates 1–24 July 1983
Stages 22+Prologue
Distance 3,862 km (2,400 mi)
Winning time 105h 07' 52" (35.915 km/h or 22.317 mph)
Palmares
Winner  Laurent Fignon (France) (Renault)
Second  Ángel Arroyo (Spain) (Reynolds)
Third  Peter Winnen (Netherlands) (TI-Raleigh)
Points  Sean Kelly (Ireland) (Sem)
Mountains  Lucien Van Impe (Belgium) (Metauromobili)
Youth  Laurent Fignon (France) (Renault)
Sprints  Sean Kelly (Ireland) (Sem)
Team TI-Raleigh
Team Points TI-Raleigh

The 1983 Tour de France was the 70th Tour de France, run from 1 to 22 July 1983 in 22 stages and a prologue, over a total distance of 3862 km.,[1] won by French rider Laurent Fignon. Sean Kelly of Ireland won the green jersey, and Lucien Van Impe of Belgium won the polka dot jersey. The race was run from July 1 to July 24, 1983, and measured 3809 kilometers in length, broken into 22 stages.

Differences from the 1982 Tour de France

The young rider classification rules changed: in 1983 the classification was open to only first time entrants of the Tour. The team classification also changed: in 1982 it was calculated with the times of the best four cyclists in every stage, and in 1983 this changed to the times of the best three cyclists. [2]

Participants

The Tour organisation wanted to globalize cycling by having cyclist from the Eastern Bloc in the Tour. Because they only rode as amateurs, the 1983 Tour was also opened for amateur teams. In the end, only the Colombian and Portuguese national amateur teams applied for a place,[2] and the Portuguese team later withdrew.

The 1983 Tour started with 140 cyclists, divided into 14 teams of 10 cyclists:[3]

  • Boule d'Or-Colnago-Campagnolo
  • J.Aernoudt-Hoonved-Marc Zeep
  • La Redoute-Motobecane
  • Wolber
  • Sem-Mavic-Reydel
  • Euro Shop-Mondial Moquette-Splendor
  • Metauromobili-Pinarello
  • Colombia-Varta
  • Reynolds

Race details

In 1983, Fignon was a part of the team that helped Bernard Hinault to win the 1983 Vuelta a España. Guimard did not want to send Fignon to the Tour de France, because two grand tours could be too much for a 22-year old rider.[4] When Hinault, winner of four of five previous Tours, announced that he would not start due to injury, the Renault team was without team captain. Fignon was added to the 1983 Tour de France selection for the Renault team, and the team decided to go for stage wins, with hopes of having Fignon or Marc Madiot compete for the best debutant category.[5] After stage nine, the first mountain stage, Fignon was in second place, behind Pascal Simon,[6] and he was allowed to be team leader.[7] In the eleventh stage, Simon crashed and broke his shoulder blade. Simon continued, and only lost little time the next stages. In the fifteenth stage, a mountain time trial, Fignon was able to win back so much time that he was within one minute of Simon.[8] In the seventeenth stage, Simon had to give up, and Fignon became the new leader. In the next stages, Fignon was able to answer all attacks from his opponents, and he even won the time trial in the 21st stage. At 22 years old, Fignon was the youngest man to win the Tour since 1933.

Fignon later said that he was lucky to have won the 1983 Tour: if Hinault would have been present, Fignon would have helped Hinault, as Hinault was the team leader.[9]

Stages

The 1983 Tour de France started on 1 July, and had one rest day, after the finish on the Alpe d'Huez.[10]

Stage results[3][11]
Stage Date Route Terrain Length Winner
P 1 July Fontenay-sous-Bois Individual time trial 6 km (3.7 mi)  Eric Vanderaerden (BEL)
1 2 July Nogent-sur-Marne – Créteil Plain stage 163 km (101 mi)  Frits Pirard (NED)
2 3 July Soissons – Fontaine-au-Pire Team time trial 100 km (62 mi) Mercier
3 4 July Valenciennes – Roubaix Hilly stage 152 km (94 mi)  Rudy Matthijs (BEL)
4 5 July Roubaix – Le Havre Plain stage 300 km (190 mi)  Serge Demierre (SUI)
5 6 July Le Havre – Le Mans Plain stage 257 km (160 mi)  Dominique Gaigne (FRA)
6 7 July Châteaubriant – Nantes Individual time trial 58 km (36 mi)  Bert Oosterbosch (NED)
7 8 July Nantes – Île d'Oléron Plain stage 216 km (134 mi)  Riccardo Magrini (ITA)
8 9 July La Rochelle – Bordeaux Plain stage 222 km (138 mi)  Bert Oosterbosch (NED)
9 10 July Bordeaux – Pau Plain stage 207 km (129 mi)  Philippe Chevallier (FRA)
10 11 July Pau – Bagnères-de-Luchon Stage with mountain(s) 201 km (125 mi)  Robert Millar (GBR)
11 12 July Bagnères-de-Luchon – Fleurance Plain stage 177 km (110 mi)  Régis Clère (FRA)
12 13 July Fleurance – Roquefort-sur-Soulzon Plain stage 261 km (162 mi)  Kim Andersen (DEN)
13 14 July Roquefort-sur-Soulzon – Aurillac Hilly stage 210 km (130 mi)  Henk Lubberding (NED)
14 15 July Aurillac – Issoire Hilly stage 149 km (93 mi)  Pierre Le Bigaut (FRA)
15 16 July Clermont-Ferrand – Puy de Dôme Individual time trial 16 km (9.9 mi)  Ángel Arroyo (ESP)
16 17 July Issoire – Saint-Étienne Hilly stage 144 km (89 mi)  Michel Laurent (FRA)
17 18 July La Tour-du-Pin – Alpe d'Huez Stage with mountain(s) 223 km (139 mi)  Peter Winnen (NED)
18 20 July Le Bourg-d'Oisans – Morzine Stage with mountain(s) 247 km (153 mi)  Jacques Michaud (FRA)
19 21 July Morzine – Avoriaz Individual time trial 15 km (9.3 mi)  Lucien Van Impe (BEL)
20 22 July Morzine – Dijon Plain stage 291 km (181 mi)  Philippe Leleu (FRA)
21 23 July Dijon Individual time trial 50 km (31 mi)  Laurent Fignon (FRA)
22 24 July Alfortville – Paris (Champs-Élysées) Plain stage 195 km (121 mi)  Gilbert Glaus (SUI)

Results

There were several classifications in the 1983 Tour de France, four of them awarding jerseys to their leaders. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour.[12]

Additionally, there was a points classification, where cyclists got points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.[12]

There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorized some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a polkadot jersey.[12]

Another classification was the debutant classification. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders that rode the Tour for the first time were eligible, and the leader wore a white jersey.[12]

The fifth individual classification was the intermediate sprints classification. This classification had similar rules as the points classification, but only points were awarded on intermediate sprints. In 1983, this classification had no associated jersey.[13]

For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. The riders in the team that lead this classification wore yellow caps.[14]

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)[3]
Rank Name Team Time
1  Laurent Fignon (FRA) Renault-Elf-Gitane 105h 07' 52"
2  Ángel Arroyo (ESP) Reynolds +4' 04"
3  Peter Winnen (NED) TI-Raleigh-Campagnolo +4' 09"
4  Lucien Van Impe (BEL) Metaurobili-Pinarello +4' 16"
5  Robert Alban (FRA) La Redoute +7' 53"
6  Jean-René Bernaudeau (FRA) Wolber +8' 59"
7  Sean Kelly (IRE) SEM-Mavic-Reydel +12' 09"
8  Marc Madiot (FRA) Renault-Elf-Gitane +14' 55"
9  Phil Anderson (AUS) Peugeot-Shell-Michelin +16' 56"
10  Henk Lubberding (NED) TI-Raleigh-Campagnolo +18' 55"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)[15][16]
Rank Name Team Points
1  Sean Kelly (IRE) SEM-Mavic-Reydel 360
2  Frits Pirard (NED) Metaurobili-Pinarello 144
3  Laurent Fignon (FRA) Renault-Elf-Gitane 126
4  Gilbert Glaus (SUI) Cilo-Aufina 122
5  Pierre Le Bigaut (FRA) Coop Mercier-Mavic 103
6  Henk Lubberding (NED) TI-Raleigh-Campagnolo 101
7  Phil Anderson (AUS) Peugeot-Shell-Michelin 97
8  Adrie van der Poel (NED) Aernoudt-Hoonved-Zeep-Marc 96
9  Kim Andersen (DEN) Coop Mercier-Mavic 93
10  Serge Demierre (SUI) Cilo-Aufina 84

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)[15][16]
Rank Name Team Points
1  Lucien Van Impe (BEL) Metaurobili-Pinarello 272
2  José Patrocinio Jiménez (COL) Colombia-Varta 195
3  Robert Millar (GBR) Peugeot-Shell-Michelin 157
4  Pedro Delgado (ESP) Reynolds 133
5  Jean-René Bernaudeau (FRA) Wolber 125
6  Ángel Arroyo (ESP) Reynolds 121
7  Jacques Michaud (FRA) Coop Mercier-Mavic 117
8  Edgar Corredor (COL) Colombia-Varta 110
9  Peter Winnen (NED) TI-Raleigh-Campagnolo 105
10  Laurent Fignon (FRA) Renault-Elf-Gitane 94

Team classification

Final team classification [16]
Rank Team Time
1TI-Raleigh-Campagnolo322h 39' 07"
2Coop Mercier-Mavic+4' 02"
3Peugeot-Shell-Michelin+9' 03"
4Renault-Elf-Gitane+36' 39"
5SEM-Mavic-Reydel+40' 13"
6Wolber+1h 01' 36"
7Reynolds+1h 19' 11"
8La Redoute+1h 56' 48"
9Cilo-Aufina+2h 04' 47"
10Colombia-Varta+2h 09' 16"
11Metaurobili-Pinarello+3h 11' 07"
12Aernoudt-Hoonved-Zeep-Marc+3h 31' 02"
13Splendor-Euro Shop-Mondial-Moquette+4h 05' 29"
14Boule d'Or-Colnago-Campagnolo+5h 08' 58"

Debutant classification

Debutant classification (1–5)[15]
Rank Name Team Time
1  Laurent Fignon (FRA) Renault-Elf-Gitane 105h 07' 52"
2  Ángel Arroyo (ESP) Reynolds +4' 04"
3  Stephen Roche (IRE) Peugeot-Shell-Michelin +21' 30"
4  Robert Millar (GBR) Peugeot-Shell-Michelin +23' 29"
5  Pedro Delgado (ESP) Reynolds +25' 44"

Intermediate sprints classification

Intermediate sprints classification (1–5)[15]
Rank Name Team Points
1  Sean Kelly (IRE) SEM-Mavic-Reydel 151
2  Pierre Le Bigaut (FRA) Coop Mercier-Mavic 77
3  Laurent Fignon (FRA) Renault-Elf-Gitane 54
4  Phil Anderson (AUS) Peugeot-Shell-Michelin 48
5  Frits Pirard (NED) Metaurobili-Pinarello 42

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ Augendre, Jacques (2009). "Guide Historique" (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Alleen Portugese en Colombiaanse amateurs in Ronde van Frankrijk". Amigoe (in Dutch) (Koninklijke Bibliotheek). 13 January 1983. p. 6. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "70ème Tour de France 1983" (in French). Memoire du cyclisme. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  4. ↑ McGann, p. 143–144
  5. ↑ McGann, p. 139
  6. ↑ McGann, p. 141
  7. ↑ "Rider biographies: Laurent Fignon". Cycling hall of fame. Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  8. ↑ McGann, p. 142
  9. ↑ Pickering, Edward (31 August 2010). "Laurent Fignon: My way or the fairway". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  10. ↑ Augendre, Jacques (2009). "Guide Historique, Part 4" (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  11. ↑ Zwegers, Arian. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCC. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved 15 Aug 2011.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Christian, Sarah (2 July 2009). "Tour de France demystified - Evaluating success". RoadCycling.co.nz Ltd. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  13. ↑ Mark, Eddy van der. "Tour Xtra: Intermediate Sprints Classification". Chippewa Valley Cycling Club. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  14. ↑ Chauner, David; Halstead, Michael (1990). The Tour de France Complete Book of Cycling. Villard. ISBN 0-679-72936-4. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "Clasificaciones". El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 25 July 1983. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "Eindklassement". Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). Regionaal Archief Leiden. 25 July 1983. p. 10. Retrieved 18 July 2013.

External links