1970 Tour of Spain - Luis Ocaña

Would Luis Ocaña be a real challenger to Eddy Merckx? It looked like it during the 1971 Tour, after he won the Orcières-Merlette stage, almost nine minutes ahead of Merckx. Ocaña took the yellow jersey but after a double collision with Zoetemelk and Agostinho on the way to Luchon, his Tour de France was over. He managed to win in 1973, but Merckx was not among the contenders. Nor did Eddy take part in the 1970 Vuelta. Ocaña picked up the first yellow leader's jersey with his prologue win. In the end, he started second in the final time trial. The struggle for the final victory was incredibly exciting: only a few seconds separated the leader Tamames, Ocaña and the Belgians In 't Ven and Van Springel in the ranking. Ocaña seized control in the time trial. And with flying colours, he was more than a minute faster than his opponents for the final win.