1972, Sport: Milan-San Remo

The 1972 Milan–San Remo was the 63rd edition of the cycle race and took place on Saturday 18 March 1972. The course was 288 kilometres long. The winner, Eddy Merckx, completed the distance in 6 hours, 33 minutes and 32 seconds, with an average speed of 43.91 km/h. There were 187 starters, and 90 riders reached the finish. 

Eddy Merckx

After his victories in 1966, 1967, 1969 and 1971, Eddy Merckx claimed his fifth Milan-San Remo title. Only Costante Girardengo had done better, with six wins. 

Eddy Merckx

Over the summit of the Turchino, Davide Boifava crested first with an advantage of 2 minutes 21 seconds over the bunch. On the descent, Michele Dancelli,  Gianni Motta and Roger De Vlaeminck launched a counter-attack, but the peloton gave them no leeway. The race came back together on the Piani d’Invrea. Felice Gimondi attempted a break, yet by the feeding zone in Savona all the main contenders were still together. After a series of attacks along the Capi, a leading group of around eighty riders reached the foot of the Poggio. There, Merckx made his move, but Gösta Pettersson closed the gap. With a sprint seemingly inevitable, “the Cannibal” attacked again on the descent of the Poggio, opening a gap of about ten seconds. On Via Roma, Merckx still held an advantage of roughly fifty metres, securing a decisive victory. Gianni Motta finished second, nine seconds behind, while Marino Basso took third place.

Eddy Merckx and Roger Swerts

Complete Results:

Rnk	Rider	Team	Time
1.	Eddy MERCKX (BEL)	Molteni	6h33'32"
2.	Gianni MOTTA (ITA)	Ferretti	9"
3.	Marino BASSO (ITA)	Salvarani	,,
4.	Frans VERBEECK (BEL)	Watney - Avia	,,
5.	Rolf WOLFSHOHL (GER)	Rokado	,,
6.	Michele DANCELLI (ITA)	Scic	,,
7.	Domingo PERURENA (ESP)	Kas - Kaskol	,,
8.	André DIERICKX (BEL)	Beaulieu - Flandria	,,
9.	Gösta PETTERSSON (SWE)	Ferretti	,,
10.	Tomas PETTERSSON (SWE)	Ferretti	,,
11.	Aldo MOSER (ITA)	G.B.C. - Sony	,,
12.	Roger DE VLAEMINCK (BEL)	Dreher	,,
13.	Gerben KARSTENS (NED)	Rokado	21"
14.	Rik VAN LINDEN (BEL)	Van Cauter - Magniflex	,,
15.	Miguel María LASA URQUÍA (ESP)	Kas - Kaskol	,,
16.	Daniel VAN RYCKEGHEM (BEL)	Sonolor - Lejeune	,,
17.	Guido REYBROUCK (BEL)	Salvarani	,,
18.	Emile BODART (BEL)	Watney - Avia	,,
19.	Willy PLANCKAERT (BEL)	Goldor - Ijsboerke	,,
20.	Noël VANCLOOSTER (BEL)	Watney - Avia	,,
21.	José Manuel LÓPEZ RODRÍGUEZ (ESP)	Werner	,,
22.	Jesús MANZANEQUE SÁNCHEZ (ESP)	Kas - Kaskol	,,
23.	Wilfried PEFFGEN (GER)	Rokado	,,
24.	Jürgen TSCHAN (GER)	Peugeot - BP - Michelin	,,
25.	Jean-Pierre BERCKMANS (BEL)	Rokado	,,
26.	Yves HÉZARD (FRA)	Sonolor - Lejeune	,,
27.	Patrick SERCU (BEL)	Dreher	,,
28.	Attilio BENFATTO (ITA)	Scic	,,
29.	Willy DE GEEST (BEL)	Van Cauter - Magniflex	,,
30.	Roger SWERTS (BEL)	Molteni	,,
31.	Albert VAN VLIERBERGHE (BEL)	Ferretti	,,
32.	Italo ZILIOLI (ITA)	Salvarani	,,
33.	José Antonio PONTÓN RUIZ (ESP)	Werner	,,
34.	Pieter NASSEN (BEL)	Watney - Avia	,,
35.	Vicente LÓPEZ CARRIL (ESP)	Kas - Kaskol	,,
36.	Roger PINGEON (FRA)	Peugeot - BP - Michelin	,,
37.	José CASAS GARCÍA (ESP)	Werner	,,
38.	José Manuel FUENTE LAVANDERA (ESP)	Kas - Kaskol	,,
39.	Franco BITOSSI (ITA)	Filotex	,,
40.	Tonnie HOUBRECHTS (BEL)	Salvarani	,,
41.	Davide BOIFAVA (ITA)	Zonca	,,
42.	Louis PFENNINGER (SWI)	Rokado	,,
43.	José CATIEAU (FRA)	Sonolor - Lejeune	,,
44.	Lucien AIMAR (FRA)	Rokado	,,
45.	Eric LEMAN (BEL)	Bic	,,
46.	Josef FUCHS (SWI)	Filotex	,,
47.	Vic VAN SCHIL (BEL)	Molteni	,,
48.	Giancarlo POLIDORI (ITA)	Scic	,,
49.	Ventura DÍAZ ARREY (ESP)	Werner	,,
50.	Alain SANTY (FRA)	Bic	,,
51.	Leif MORTENSEN (DEN)	Bic	,,
52.	Ottavio CREPALDI (ITA)	Ferretti	,,
53.	Ronny VAN DE VIJVER (BEL)	Goldor - Ijsboerke	,,
54.	Andrés GANDARIAS ALBIZU (ESP)	Werner	,,
55.	Roberto POGGIALI (ITA)	Salvarani	,,
56.	Giovanni CAVALCANTI (ITA)	Filotex	,,
57.	Daniel REBILLARD (FRA)	Sonolor - Lejeune	,,
58.	Michel COULON (BEL)	Watney - Avia	,,
59.	Ugo COLOMBO (ITA)	Filotex	,,
60.	Edward SELS (BEL)	Goldor - Ijsboerke	,,
61.	Herman BEYSSENS (BEL)	Van Cauter - Magniflex	,,
62.	Wim SCHEPERS (NED)	Rokado	,,
63.	Evert DOLMAN (NED)	Beaulieu - Flandria	,,
64.	Felice GIMONDI (ITA)	Salvarani	,,
65.	Walter PLANCKAERT (BEL)	Watney - Avia	,,
66.	Wladimiro PANIZZA (ITA)	Zonca	,,
67.	Roger ROSIERS (BEL)	Bic	,,
68.	Jos ABELSHAUSEN (BEL)	Watney - Avia	1'55"
69.	Celestino VERCELLI (ITA)	Scic	,,
70.	Dino ZANDEGU (ITA)	G.B.C. - Sony	,,
71.	Silvano SCHIAVON (ITA)	G.B.C. - Sony	,,
72.	Giuseppe ROSOLEN (ITA)	Filotex	,,
73.	Dirk BAERT (BEL)	Beaulieu - Flandria	,,
74.	Francis DUCREUX (FRA)	Bic	,,
75.	Franco MORI (ITA)	Scic	2'21"
76.	Erich SPAHN (SWI)	G.B.C. - Sony	,,
77.	Carlo CHIAPPANO (ITA)	Scic	,,
78.	Sture PETTERSSON (SWE)	Ferretti	,,
79.	Pietro DI CATERINA (ITA)	Dreher	,,
80.	Enrico MAGGIONI (ITA)	Dreher	,,
81.	Willy VANNESTE (BEL)	Beaulieu - Flandria	,,
82.	Englebert OPDEBEECK (BEL)	Watney - Avia	,,
83.	Herman VAN DER SLAGMOLEN (BEL)	Beaulieu - Flandria	,,
84.	Carmine PREZIOSI (ITA)	Watney - Avia	,,
85.	Claudio MICHELOTTO (ITA)	G.B.C. - Sony	,,
86.	Primo MORI (ITA)	Salvarani	,,
87.	Angelo BASSINI (ITA)	Scic	,,
88.	Giorgio FAVARO (ITA)	Ferretti	,,
89.	Jürg SCHNEIDER (SWI)	G.B.C. - Sony	5'10"
90.	Karl-Heinz MUDDEMANN (GER)	Rokado	,,

Video Clip

1967, Sport: UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race

The 1967 UCI Road World Championships for professional riders were held on 3 September in Heerlen, in the Dutch province of Limburg. The Bergseweg at Ubachsberg proved to be the decisive climb, which the riders had to tackle 20 times.

Eddy Merckx

Jan Janssen, Eddy Merckx and Ramón Saéz

Seventy professionals took the start on Sunday 3 September for a race covering 265.18 kilometres. At the age of 22, Eddy Merckx—world amateur champion in 1964—claimed his first world title among the professionals. He won at an average speed of 39.32 km/h, defeating Jan Janssen in a sprint finish by half a wheel.

Jan Janssen, Eddy Merckx and Ramón Saéz

Complete Results:

Rnk	Rider	Team	Time
1	Merckx Eddy	Belgium	6:44:42
2	Janssen Jan	Netherlands	,,
3	Saéz Ramón	Spain	,,
4	Motta Gianni	Italy	,,
5	Van der Vleuten Jos	Netherlands	,,
6	Lasa José Manuel	Spain	2:05
7	Van Ryckeghem Daniel	Belgium	,,
8	Dancelli Michele	Italy	,,
9	Boons Jos	Belgium	,,
10	Hagmann Robert	Switzerland	,,
11	Post Peter	Netherlands	,,
12	Foucher André	France	,,
13	Wolfshohl Rolf	Germany	8:03
14	Altig Rudi	Germany	8:25
15	Karstens Gerben	Netherlands	,,
16	Basso Marino	Italy	,,
17	Steevens Harry	Netherlands	,,
18	Riotte Raymond	France	,,
19	Leméteyer Paul	France	,,
20	Harings Jan	Netherlands	,,
21	López Rodríguez José Manuel	Spain	,,
22	Schepers Wim	Netherlands	,,
23	Momeñe José Antonio	Spain	,,
24	Poulidor Raymond	France	,,
25	Junkermann Hans	Germany	,,
26	Schleck Johny	Luxembourg	,,
27	Claes Jean-Baptiste	Belgium	,,
28	Santamarina Luis Pedro	Spain	,,
29	Gimondi Felice	Italy	,,
30	Balmamion Franco	Italy	,,
31	Hoban Barry	Great Britain	,,
32	Vifian Bernard	Switzerland	,,
33	Gabica Francisco	Spain	,,
34	Schutz Edy	Luxembourg	,,
35	Zandegù Dino	Italy	,,
36	Pingeon Roger	France	,,
37	Guyot Bernard	France	,,
38	Monty Willy	Belgium	,,
39	Stablinski Jean	France	,,
40	Abt Peter	Switzerland	,,
41	De Pra Tommaso	Italy	,,
42	Aimar Lucien	France	,,
43	Ritter Ole	Denmark	,,
44	In 't Ven Willy	Belgium	,,
45	Wilde Herbert	Germany	14:03
DNF	Panter Bob	Australia
DNF	Lawrie Bill	Australia
DNF	Vogels Henk	Australia
DNF	Puschel Dieter	Germany
DNF	Bölke Winfried	Germany
DNF	Wiedemann Dieter	Germany
DNF	Oldenburg Horst	Germany
DNF	Goodman Richard	Great Britain
DNF	Addy Robert Charles	Great Britain
DNF	Lewis Colin	Great Britain
DNF	Claridge Roger	Great Britain
DNF	Hitchen Albert	Great Britain
DNF	Wright Michael	Great Britain
DNF	Denson Vin	Great Britain
DNF	Maurer Rolf	Switzerland
DNF	Brand Karl	Switzerland
DNF	Pfenninger Louis	Switzerland
DNF	Binggeli René	Switzerland
DNF	Spuhler Willy	Switzerland
DNF	Vélez Eusebio	Spain
DNF	Gómez Antonio	Spain
DNF	Adorni Vittorio	Italy
DNF	de Roo Jo	Netherlands
DNF	Vandenberghe Georges	Belgium
DNF	Reybrouck Guido	Belgium

Jos Van der Vleuten was disqualified for a positive dope test. 

Video British Pathé, no sound