1982 Tour de France
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The 1982 Tour de France was the 69th edition of the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
, taking place from 2 to 25 July. The total race distance was 22 stages over . It was won by
Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...
, his fourth victory so far.


Teams

In response to the finish of the
1981 Tour de France The 1981 Tour de France was the 68th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 19 July. The total race distance was 24 stages over . It was dominated by Bernard Hinault, who led the race from the sixth stage on, increasing h ...
, French minister of sports
Edwige Avice Edwige Avice (born 13 April 1945 in Nevers, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlan ...
objected to the amount of advertising in the race, and suggested the Tour to return to the national team format. The Tour organisation needed the money brought in by the sponsors, and no changes were made to the team structure. The Tour organisation decided to start with 17 teams, each with 10 cyclists, for a total of 170, a new record. Tour director
Félix Lévitan Félix Lévitan (12 October 1911 in Paris – 18 February 2007 in Cannes), a sports journalist, was the third organiser of the Tour de France, a role he shared for much of the time with Jacques Goddet. Lévitan is credited with looking after ...
suggested to reduce the number of cyclists by starting with teams of 9 cyclists, but this was rejected. Teams could submit a request to join until 15 May 1982. To promote cycling in the United States of America, the American national cycling team would automatically be accepted, but the American team made no request. The teams entering the race were: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Pre-race favourites

Hinault, who had won the Tour in 1978, 1979 and 1981, and left the 1980 Tour in leading position, was the clear favourite for the victory. In those other years, Hinault had won several races before the Tour, but in 1982 he had only won one major race, the 1982 Giro d'Italia. Hinault tried to be the fourth cyclist, after
Fausto Coppi Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...
,
Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the y ...
and
Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...
, to win the Giro-Tour double. Notable absent was
Lucien Van Impe Lucien Van Impe (; born 20 October 1946) is a Belgian cyclist, who competed professionally between 1969 and 1987. He excelled mainly as a climber in multiple-day races such as the Tour de France. He was the winner of the 1976 Tour de France, ...
, who was second in the
1981 Tour de France The 1981 Tour de France was the 68th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 19 July. The total race distance was 24 stages over . It was dominated by Bernard Hinault, who led the race from the sixth stage on, increasing h ...
, winning the mountains classification. Since the
1969 Tour de France The 1969 Tour de France was the 56th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 28 June and 20 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of . The participant teams were no longer national teams, but were onc ...
, Van Impe had started each edition, winning the general classification in the 1976 Tour and the mountains classification five times. Van Impe wanted to join, but his team Metauro was not invited, as the organisation considered it not strong enough to ride both the Giro and the Tour. Van Impe tried to find a team to hire him only for the 1982 Tour, but was not successful. Even though
Joop Zoetemelk Hendrik Gerardus Joseph "Joop" Zoetemelk (; born 3 December 1946) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. He started and finished the Tour de France 16 times, which were both records when he retired. He also holds the distance record in T ...
was 35 years old and no longer considered a favourite, he still managed to finish in second place, for the sixth time and final time.


Route and stages

The 1982 Tour de France started on 2 July, and had two rest days, in Lille and Martigues. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the
Alpe d'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Western Alps, in the commune of Huez, which is part of the department of Isère in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is part of th ...
climb on stage 16.


Race overview

The Prologue was won by Hinault who finished seven seconds faster than
Gerrie Knetemann Gerard Friedrich "Gerrie" Knetemann (6 March 1951 in Amsterdam – 2 November 2004 in Bergen, North Holland) was a Dutch road bicycle racer who won the 1978 World Championship. He wore the Yellow Jersey early in each Tour de France for four ...
. In stage 1
Ludo Peeters Ludo Peeters (born 9 August 1953) is a former Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He was professional from 1974 to 1990. He rode ten editions of the Tour de France and won 3 stages, one in 1980, one in 1982 and one in 1986. He also wore the ...
escaped to win the stage by 0:38 over the main field leaving Sean Kelly and
Jan Raas Jan Raas (born 8 November 1952) is a Dutch former professional cyclist whose 115 wins include the 1979 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, World Road Race Championship in Valkenburg aan de Geul, Valkenburg, he also won the Tour of Fl ...
to sprint for 2nd place and in conjunction with the time bonus for winning the stage, Peeters moved into the overall lead by 0:14 over Hinault. Stage 2 included a rare climb up the
Ballon d’Alsace The Ballon d'Alsace german: Elsässer Belchen (el. 1247 m.), sometimes also called the Alsatian Belchen to distinguish it from other mountains named " Belchen" is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, vi ...
in northeastern
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, which was a popular climb in the 1930s TDF editions, but this was only the 3rd time it had been included in the route since
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Bernard Vallet Bernard Vallet (born January 18, 1954 in Vienne, Isère) is a French former road bicycle racer who won the mountains classification in the 1982 Tour de France. From 2003 to 2011, Bernard Vallet was the analyst of the Tour de France on Canal Ev ...
would attack the climb for the KOM points but Phil Anderson would win the stage and for the second year in a row don the
Yellow Jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...
for at least a day. Vallet moved into 2nd 0:38 behind Anderson as Peeters fell to third and Hinault ended up in 7th nearly a minute down strangely setting the stage for a repeat of the surprise from the year before, when Anderson became a challenger to Hinault in a similar manner to
Cyrille Guimard Cyrille Guimard (born 20 January 1947) is a French former professional road racing cyclist who became a directeur sportif and television commentator. Three of his riders, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, and Lucien Van Impe, won the Tour de Franc ...
becoming the only realistic challenger to
Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...
during the 1972 Tour de France. Stage's 3 and 4 were won by
Daniel Willems Daniel Willems (16 August 1956 – 2 September 2016)Gerrie Knetemann Gerard Friedrich "Gerrie" Knetemann (6 March 1951 in Amsterdam – 2 November 2004 in Bergen, North Holland) was a Dutch road bicycle racer who won the 1978 World Championship. He wore the Yellow Jersey early in each Tour de France for four ...
who would each win the final two stages of their TDF careers in 1982. In the Points Competition Sean Kelly took command of the
Green Jersey In road bicycle racing (e.g. Grand Tour stage races) the green jersey is a distinctive racing jersey worn by the most consistent highest finisher in the competition. While the overall race leader in the Tour de France will wear the yellow jer ...
having been competitive in the sprints, would not relinquish it the rest of the Tour and due to time bonuses he moved into 2nd place overall. Stage 5 was a TTT that began no different than any other Team Time Trial but during the stage angry ironworkers from the
Usinor Usinor was a French steel making group formed in 1948. The group was merged with Sacilor in 1986, becoming Usinor-Sacilor and was privatised in 1995, and renamed Usinor in 1997. In 2001 it merged with Arbed (Luxembourg) and Aceralia (Spain) to for ...
steel company blocked the road and interrupted the stage to the point it had to be postponed. Stage 6 was won by Raas handily, leaving
Jos Jacobs Jos Jacobs (born 28 January 1953 in Vosselaar) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer. Major results ;1973 :Petegem-aan-de-Leie ;1974 :Heist-op-den-Berg :Omloop der Grensstreek :Grote 1-Mei Prijs :Noorderwijk ;1975 :Omloop van Mi ...
and Pierre La Bigaut to sprint for 2nd five seconds later and Stage 7 was decided in a sprint finish by
Pol Verschuere Pol Verschuere (Kortrijk, 18 January 1955) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. Verschuere won a stage in the 1980, 1982 and the 1986 Tour de France. Major results ;1975 : National Amateur Road Race Championship ;1978 :Izegem :Kortrij ...
. Stage 8 was a circuit finish with fifteen laps of a 6 km course planned in the city of Chateaulin. French rider
Régis Clère Régis Clère (15 August 1956 – 9 June 2012) was a French professional road bicycle racer. Clère was born in Langres. During his career, he won three stages in the Tour de France. He won one of these stages, in the 1987 Tour de Franc ...
devised a plan to escape the
Peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reductio ...
and arrive in town far ahead of the other riders in an attempt to question whether or not it would be legally within the rules to arrive on the circuit and complete the first lap and then follow in the
slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term slip ...
of the main field once they arrived on the circuit and coast his way to victory riding at the back of the pack. Unfortunately for Clère, even though at one point he had built up about a ten-minute gap, he would end up getting a flat tire and then suffer a mechanical costing him so much time that the main field would catch him before he reached town and following the laps around the circuit
Frank Hoste Frank Hoste (born 29 August 1955, in Ghent) is a retired Belgian racing cyclist, who won the points classification in the Tour de France in 1984 as well as three stage victories. Hoste was a professional cyclist from 1977 to 1991, then he start ...
would end up out sprinting
Claude Criquielion Claude Criquielion (11 January 1957 – 18 February 2015) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who raced between 1979 and 1990. In 1984, Criquielion became the world road race champion in Barcelona, Spain on a gruelling course. ...
and
Bruno Leali Bruno Leali (born 6 March 1958 in Roe Volciano) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist. He rode in 14 editions of the Giro d'Italia, six editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a España. After retiring from cycl ...
in a bunch finish. Stage 9A was the TTT originally scheduled as stage 5 and Tour organizers decided to have the riders actual times only count towards the general classification in the overall team race as individually riders were awarded time bonuses. As a result Anderson remained in the overall lead but due to the strong 2nd place finish of Team
Renault-Elf-Gitane Renault () was a French professional cycling team that existed from 1978 to 1985. The team cycled on and promoted Gitane racing bikes. History The team was created in 1978 after the Renault auto group purchased the Gitane bicycle manufacturer a ...
Hinault was now in 2nd place just 0:28 off the lead. Winning the stage was the consistently dominant Ti Raleigh-Campagnolo-Merckx squad who caused Kelly, Clére, Willems and Vallet to each drop in the standings as Raleigh now had four riders in the Top 10 overall with
Johan Van der Velde Johan van der Velde (born 12 December 1956 in Rijsbergen) is a former Dutch cyclist. In the 1980 Tour de France, he won the young rider classification, also placing 12th in the general classification that year. He had been a racing cyclist for ...
being their primary GC contender now sitting in 8th place at 1:53 behind. The originally scheduled Stage 9 was now Stage 9B and was won by Stefan Mutter who crossed the line 0:58 ahead of 2nd place
Pierre-Raymond Villemiane Pierre-Raymond Villemiane ( Pineuil, 12 March 1951) was a French professional road bicycle racer. During his professional career, Villemiane won three stages in the Tour de France. Major results ;1973 :Lubersac ;1975 :Prueba Villafranca de Ordi ...
and had more than a minute advantage over the main field. In Stage 10 Villemiane would win the stage, besting the likes of Kelly, Raas and
Eddy Planckaert Eddy Planckaert (born 22 September 1958 in Nevele) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium. In 1988, Planckaert enjoyed perhaps his best year by capturing the green jersey (points competition) at the 1988 Tour de France and w ...
by two seconds as the overall situation remained the same going into the ITT prior to the start of high mountain stages in the
Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
. The individual time trial in Stage 11 was won by Gerrie Knetemann who beat Hinault by 0:18. The last time Knetemann had beaten Hinault in a TDF ITT was in the Prologue of the 1979 Tour de France, although since that time Knetemann was among the very few riders able to ride individually at the same level as Hinault having come within 0:30 of The Badger of five occasions and just ten seconds on three occasions. Aside from Hinault out of the 125+ riders still in the Tour at this point only Jan van Houwelingen,
Joop Zoetemelk Hendrik Gerardus Joseph "Joop" Zoetemelk (; born 3 December 1946) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. He started and finished the Tour de France 16 times, which were both records when he retired. He also holds the distance record in T ...
and Daniel Willems finished within 2:30 of Knetemann’s time. Phil Anderson finished more than 3:00 back falling to 3rd place in the overall standings meaning he was now more than 2:00 behind the new overall leader Hinault. The sportswriters were correctly beginning to fear that Hinault was going to run away with his 4th Tour victory as 2nd place Knetemann was not considered an overall threat to the yellow jersey and aside from Anderson in 3rd the only other rider remotely close to Hinault was the now 7th placed Zoetemelk, who might have given Hinault one of his only serious challenges between 1978-1980, but at this point Zoetemelk was pushing 36 years old, was one of the oldest riders in the peloton and admitted, just as he had in his very first Tour back in the
1970 Tour de France The 1970 Tour de France was the 57th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 27 June and 19 July, with 23 stages covering a distance of . It was the second victory for Belgian Eddy Merckx, who also won t ...
against Merckx, that he was up against the greatest rider in the world and was only riding to beat everybody else. Stage 12 would be the first high mountain and therefore bring clarity to the overall situation, which included a climb of the Col d'Aubisque. Sean Kelly survived with the elite riders and was therefore able to win the stage by out sprinting Anderson and Van de Velde at the finish. Zoetemelk, Vallet and Hinault also came across in good order with Hinault leading 2nd place Anderson by 2:03, Zoetemelk by 4:26 and everybody else by well over 5:00. Stage 13 included the Col d'Aspin and was won by Swiss rider
Beat Breu Beat Breu (born 23 October 1957, in St. Gallen) is a Swiss former road bicycle racer. In 1982 Tour de France he won the prestigious stage on Alpe d'Huez, as well as another mountain stage finishing in Saint-Lary-Soulan, and finished sixth ove ...
who soloed across the finish ahead of the GC riders by 0:35 starting with
Robert Alban Robert Alban (9 April 1952) was a French professional road bicycle racer. Alban won the stage 18 in the 1981 Tour de France, and finished third place in that year's overall classification. Alban was born in Saint-André-d'Huiriat. Major resul ...
in 2nd. Hinault kept Zoetemelk close all day and crossed five seconds ahead of him as Anderson and Van der Velde were each dropped and lost about a minute apiece. Following the rest day before immediately going to the French
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
was another individual time trial, which this time was won by
Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...
who only had Houwelingen, Vallet, Zoetemelk and
Daniel Gisiger Daniel Gisiger (born 9 October 1954, in Baccarat) is a retired Swiss road and track cyclist. He grew up in Bienne, in RC Olympia Biel-Bienne. One of his strongest disciplines was the road time trial where he twice won the prestigious Grand Pri ...
finish within a minute of him as he now lead everybody in the overall situation by more than 5:00. Stage 15 was won by
Pascal Simon Pascal Simon (born 27 September 1956) is a retired French road racing cyclist. A native of Mesnil St. Loup, he was a professional cyclist from 1979 to 1991. Pascal was the oldest of four brothers that all became professional cyclists: Régis, ...
who was just able to stay away from Pierre-Henri Menthéour to take the stage as Hinault, even though he finished outside the top 10 on the stage, now had everyone except for Zoetemelk getting close to, or already beyond a 10:00 deficit. Stage 16 included the famed climb Alp d’Huez and was almost a repeat in the top 5 from stage 13 with Beat Breu winning the day, and Alban,
Alberto Fernandez Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albert ...
and Raymond Martin being the next riders to cross the finish. Hinault came across comfortably in 5th with Zoetemelk and
Peter Winnen Peter Johannes Gertrudis Winnen (born 5 September 1957) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in road racing and finished in 26th place. After the Games he turned professional in 1981. Among his 14 vict ...
accompanying him. Stage 17 was won by Winnen, who moved into 3rd place overall 7:13 behind Hinault who kept Zoetemelk marked all day and lead the elite riders across the line some two and a half minutes after Winnen methodically hammering out the final kilometres in the mountains with his 4th Tour victory in five years all but assured. Also on this stage Bernard Vallet ended up being dropped by the GC favorites and fell out of the top 10 overall, but he had gained enough points in the
King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest po ...
competition to assure himself of the victory over
Jean-René Bernaudeau Jean-René Bernaudeau (born 8 July 1956) is a French former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally from 1978 to 1988. Bernaudeau currently works as the general manager for UCI ProTeam . In 1982, he said that dope controls in cycling wer ...
meaning as long as he finished the final few stages he would be wearing the Polka Dot Jersey on the podium in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. In stage 18 Adri van Houwelingen won the day by surviving a solo breakaway finishing 10:31 ahead of the rest of the field. Stage 19 was the final time trial of the Tour and without much drama in the air the stage was won by Hinault with
Gerrie Knetemann Gerard Friedrich "Gerrie" Knetemann (6 March 1951 in Amsterdam – 2 November 2004 in Bergen, North Holland) was a Dutch road bicycle racer who won the 1978 World Championship. He wore the Yellow Jersey early in each Tour de France for four ...
:09 behind him. As a result the final overall standings seemed to be in place with Anderson in 5th, Winnen falling back to 4th, Van der Velde jumping up to 3rd with Hinault and Zoetemelk remaining 1st and 2nd respectively. Stage 20 was a sprint finish won by
Daniel Willems Daniel Willems (16 August 1956 – 2 September 2016)Champs Elysees Champs may refer to: Music * The Champs, a U.S. instrumental music group * Champs (Brazilian band), a Brazilian boy band * Champs (British band), a British folk- and indie rock-influenced band * The Fucking Champs, a U.S. progressive heavy metal ...
many in the press had accused Hinault of riding a boring race, even though he was about to become a four time Tour de France champion. Hinault responded by risking crashing and getting injured by getting to the front of the pack once the race hit the circuit finish on the Champs Elysees where he was able to out sprint the likes of
Yvon Bertin Yvon Bertin (born 9 April 1953 in Nantes, France) is a former French professional road bicycle racer. He was professional from 1975 to 1982 where he won 11 victories. He wore the yellow jersey for one day in the 1980 Tour de France. Victories ...
, former Green Jersey winner
Rudy Pevenage Rudy Pévenage (15 June 1954) is a former Belgian cyclist, and later in his career team coach of cycling teams such as , , , and . Pévenage was a professional cyclist from 1976 until 1988. His largest success was in the 1980 Tour de France: h ...
, a surprising
Paul Sherwen Paul Sherwen (7 June 1956 – 2 December 2018) was an English professional racing cyclist and later a broadcaster on cycling, notably the Tour de France. He raced in seven editions of the Tour, finishing five, and gained a reputation for his abi ...
,
Fons de Wolf Alfons ("Fons") De Wolf (born 22 June 1956 in Willebroek) is a retired Belgian road race cyclist, a professional from 1979 to 1990. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was forecast, with Danie ...
and everybody else dreaming of glory to seize the biggest sprinter's stage of them all. On the final podiums in Paris the Most Combative Rider award went to
Régis Clère Régis Clère (15 August 1956 – 9 June 2012) was a French professional road bicycle racer. Clère was born in Langres. During his career, he won three stages in the Tour de France. He won one of these stages, in the 1987 Tour de Franc ...
, the Polka Dot Jersey was won by
Bernard Vallet Bernard Vallet (born January 18, 1954 in Vienne, Isère) is a French former road bicycle racer who won the mountains classification in the 1982 Tour de France. From 2003 to 2011, Bernard Vallet was the analyst of the Tour de France on Canal Ev ...
, the Points Competition was won by Sean Kelly, which he would win three more times in his career, the Best Young Rider was won by Phil Anderson ahead of Kim Andersen and
Marc Madiot Marc Madiot (born 16 April 1959) is a French former professional road racing cyclist and double winner of Paris–Roubaix. He also competed in the individual road race event at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Retired from racing in 1994, he is now be ...
and the Team Competition was won by Coop-Mercier-Mavic. In 3rd place on the overall podium was
Johan Van der Velde Johan van der Velde (born 12 December 1956 in Rijsbergen) is a former Dutch cyclist. In the 1980 Tour de France, he won the young rider classification, also placing 12th in the general classification that year. He had been a racing cyclist for ...
, in 2nd place for 6th and final time, setting a record that will likely never be equaled was
Joop Zoetemelk Hendrik Gerardus Joseph "Joop" Zoetemelk (; born 3 December 1946) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. He started and finished the Tour de France 16 times, which were both records when he retired. He also holds the distance record in T ...
, who also set a record for his 11th Top 5 finish and joining the likes of Coppi, Anquetil and Merckx by winning the Giro-Tour double was
Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...
.


Classification leadership and minor prizes

There were several classifications in the 1982 Tour de France, four of them awarding jerseys to their leaders. The most important was the
general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...
, 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. Additionally, there was a
points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...
, 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. There was also a
mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...
. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either ''
hors catégorie ''Hors catégorie'' (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization". The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is the ...
'', 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-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and wore a white jersey with red
polka dot Red polka dots on a yellow background Girl wearing polka dot dress Polish ceramics German ceramics Polka dot is a pattern consisting of an array of large filled circles of the same size. Polka dots are commonly seen on children's clothing, ...
s. Another classification was the
young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...
. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only cyclists under 24 were eligible, and the leader wore a white jersey. 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 1982, this classification had no associated jersey. For the
team classification The team classification is one of the different rankings for which competitors can compete in a multiple stage cycling race. It differs from the other usual rankings (general classification, points, king of the mountain and best young rider competi ...
, 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 led this classification were identified by yellow
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
. There was also a team points classification. Cyclists received points according to their finishing position on each stage, with the first rider receiving one point. The first three finishers of each team had their points combined, and the team with the fewest points led the classification. The riders of the team leading this classification wore green caps. In addition, there was a
combativity award The combativity award is a prize given in road bicycle racing to a stage's or the overall race's most aggressive rider. References {{cycling-stub Cycling jerseys ...
given after each mass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative. The split stages each had a combined winner. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification. Régis Clère won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award. The
Souvenir Henri Desgrange The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is an award and cash prize given in the yearly running of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. It is won by the rider that crosses a particular point in the race, mostly the summits of the highest a ...
was given in honour of Tour founder
Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France. Yo ...
to the first rider to pass the summit of the
Col d'Aubisque The Col d'Aubisque ( oc, Còth d'Aubisca) (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees south of Tarbes and Pau in the department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Aquitaine region of France.Chany, Pierre (1988), La Fabuleuse Histoire du T ...
on stage 12. This prize was won by
Beat Breu Beat Breu (born 23 October 1957, in St. Gallen) is a Swiss former road bicycle racer. In 1982 Tour de France he won the prestigious stage on Alpe d'Huez, as well as another mountain stage finishing in Saint-Lary-Soulan, and finished sixth ove ...
. In the
1981 Tour de France The 1981 Tour de France was the 68th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 19 July. The total race distance was 24 stages over . It was dominated by Bernard Hinault, who led the race from the sixth stage on, increasing h ...
, Urs Freuler,
Eddy Planckaert Eddy Planckaert (born 22 September 1958 in Nevele) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium. In 1988, Planckaert enjoyed perhaps his best year by capturing the green jersey (points competition) at the 1988 Tour de France and w ...
and
Walter Planckaert Walter Planckaert (born 8 April 1948 in Nevele) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist. He is the younger brother of Willy Planckaert, the older brother of Eddy Planckaert, and the uncle of Jo Planckaert. He had 74 victories in his ...
had left the race before the Alps. The Tour organisers did not want this to happen again, so in 1982, cyclists were not allowed to leave the Tour without a good reason. A cyclist that left the Tour unauthorized would lose all the prize money that he won so far, receive a fine, and would not be allowed to join the next year.


Final standings


General classification


Points classification


Mountains classification


Young rider classification


Combination classification


Intermediate sprints classification


Team classification


Team points classification


Aftermath

Hinault's victory in 1982 is considered as the most effortless Tour victory in his career. During the 1982 Tour de France, the Tour organisation was impressed by the global audience that the
1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...
reached, and they made plans to develop the Tour into a World Cup format, run every four years, where teams from all over the earth would compete against each other. The main part of the race would be in France, but more other countries would be visited; it was discussed to start the Tour in New York. The 1983 Tour de France was still run in the familiar format in France, but it was open to amateur teams, although only one Colombian accepted the invitation.


References


Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1982 Tour De France
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
Tour de France by year
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...