1972 Tour de France
Route and stages
For the first time since 1947, the Tour de France was entirely in France. Three days before the Tour started on 1 July, the schedule was changed: the final time trial was split, with the first 42 km as a time trial in the morning, and the last 89 km as a mass-start stage in the afternoon.

1972 Tour de France

Section Title: Route and stages
Table Section Text: For the first time since 1947, the Tour de France was entirely in France. Three days before the Tour started on 1 July, the schedule was changed: the final time trial was split, with the first 42 km as a time trial in the morning, and the last 89 km as a mass-start stage in the afternoon.

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type	Winner

P	1 July	Angers	7.2 km (4.5 mi)	Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)

1	2 July	Angers to Saint-Brieuc	235.5 km (146.3 mi)	Plain stage	Cyrille Guimard (FRA)

2	3 July	Saint-Brieuc to La Baule	206.5 km (128.3 mi)	Plain stage	Rik Van Linden (BEL)

3a	4 July	Pornichet to Saint-Jean-de-Monts	161.0 km (100.0 mi)	Plain stage	Ercole Gualazzini (ITA)

3b	Merlin-Plage	16.2 km (10.1 mi)	Team time trial	Molteni

4	5 July	Merlin-Plage to Royan	236.0 km (146.6 mi)	Plain stage	Cyrille Guimard (FRA)

5a	6 July	Royan to Bordeaux	133.5 km (83.0 mi)	Plain stage	Walter Godefroot (BEL)

5b	Bordeaux	12.7 km (7.9 mi)	Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)

6	7 July	Bordeaux to Bayonne	205.0 km (127.4 mi)	Plain stage	Leo Duyndam (NED)

8 July	Bayonne	Rest day

7	9 July	Bayonne to Pau	220.5 km (137.0 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Yves Hézard (FRA)

8	10 July	Pau to Luchon	163.5 km (101.6 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Eddy Merckx (BEL)

9	11 July	Luchon to Colomiers	179.0 km (111.2 mi)	Hilly stage	Jos Huysmans (BEL)

10	12 July	Castres to La Grande-Motte	210.0 km (130.5 mi)	Plain stage	Willy Teirlinck (BEL)

11	13 July	Carnon-Plage to Mont Ventoux	207.0 km (128.6 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)

12	14 July	Carpentras to Orcières	192.0 km (119.3 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Lucien Van Impe (BEL)

15 July	Orcières	Rest day

13	16 July	Orcières to Briançon	201.0 km (124.9 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Eddy Merckx (BEL)

14a	17 July	Briançon to Valloire	51.0 km (31.7 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Eddy Merckx (BEL)

14b	Valloire to Aix-les-Bains	151.0 km (93.8 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Cyrille Guimard (FRA)

15	18 July	Aix-les-Bains to Le Revard	28.0 km (17.4 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Cyrille Guimard (FRA)

16	19 July	Aix-les-Bains to Pontarlier	198.5 km (123.3 mi)	Hilly stage	Willy Teirlinck (BEL)

17	20 July	Pontarlier to Ballon d’Alsace	213.0 km (132.4 mi)	Hilly stage	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)

18	21 July	Vesoul to Auxerre	257.5 km (160.0 mi)	Plain stage	Marinus Wagtmans (NED)

19	22 July	Auxerre to Versailles	230.0 km (142.9 mi)	Plain stage	Joseph Bruyère (BEL)

20a	23 July	Versailles	42.0 km (26.1 mi)	Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)

20b	Versailles to Paris	89.0 km (55.3 mi)	Plain stage	Willy Teirlinck (BEL)

Total	3,846 km (2,390 mi)

Sentence(s)

1972 Tour de France took place from 1 July, covering a distance of 3,846 km (2,390 mi).

final_sentence: 1972 Tour de France took place from 1 July, covering a distance of 3,846 km (2,390 mi).