{"id":166520,"date":"2018-07-26T06:58:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-26T06:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=166520"},"modified":"2018-07-26T07:02:19","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T07:02:19","slug":"luis-ocana-was-the-only-one-who-didnt-fear-the-mighty-eddy-merckx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/07\/26\/luis-ocana-was-the-only-one-who-didnt-fear-the-mighty-eddy-merckx\/","title":{"rendered":"Luis Oca\u00f1a Was the Only One Who Didn\u2019t Fear the Mighty Eddy Merckx"},"content":{"rendered":"

History books may say that the 1971 Tour de France was won by the Cannibal. And Eddy Merckx was indeed the first rider to cross the finish line in Paris, for the third time in a row that year. But those who watched the race back in the day tell a different story. A story of a troubled man who beat Eddy and made it look easy. That man was Luis Oca\u00f1a.<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

The frail and always restless rider believed to be a victim of a curse. That was the only explanation the Spaniard could find for not being able to show the world the genius for cycling he was certain he had. To be fair, Oca\u00f1a faced all the troubles you could think of. He had loads of technical issues, health issues and unfortunately even mental health issues. In 1971, however, everything seemed to have fallen into place.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Luis Oca\u00f1a in 1973<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite Oca\u00f1a\u2019s triumph at La Vuelta the previous year, La Marca complained about the end of an era. The likes of Bahamontes and Jim\u00e9nez were thought to never appear again. And instead of focusing on their countryman, they considered Joop Zoetemelk, Bernard Th\u00e9venet and Lucien van Impe to be the biggest threat to Merckx\u2019s hattrick. The Cannibal, however, knew better.<\/p>\n

After Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9, it was Oca\u00f1a the Belgian was praising, claiming he was the only one who was there not just to try to beat him, but to try to win. That was a common problem of the Cannibal\u2019s generation. He won so many times (one in every three races he entered), that the opponents were simply content with fighting for second places..But that was not Oca\u00f1a\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I am afraid of Merckx? Why should I be? If I was afraid, I might just stop racing and go back home. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s unbeatable. Nobody is,\u201d Oca\u00f1a told the journalists defiantly when asked the about the Belgian.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Luis Ocana leads in front of Lucien Van Impe and Joop Zoetemelk on July 8, 1971 during the 11th stage of the Tour de France between Grenoble and Orci\u00e8res-Merlette. Ocana won the stage in front of Van Impe (5’52” behind) and Belgian Eddy Merckx and Zoetemelk (8’42”) and took the yellow jersey from the Dutchman as the overall leader.\u00a0\u00a9 Profimedia, AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 1971 Grand Boucl\u00e9 started in a fast and furious fashion. Stage 2 saw a group of 15 riders finish 10 minutes before the peloton. Eddy Merckx claimed the maillot jaune, and it was almost certain that the overall winner would come from that group. Oca\u00f1a\u00a0was there as well and used the Puy de Dome climb during stage 8 to attack the Belgian for the first time. The Cannibal did lose some time. That was, however, nothing in comparison with what happened on stage 11.<\/p>\n

Oca\u00f1a attacked on the Cote de Laffrey climb, and Merckx didn\u2019t find the strength to follow. Each time the motorbike would come down to the poursuivants, another minute would appear on the timer. None of the GC favourites could believe what they were seeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter he attacked, I told him to keep it steady, because he had 4 minutes on the others,\u201d Oca\u00f1a\u2019s team\u2019s GM Maurice de Muer recalled. \u201c\u2019Good, it will be five in a moment,\u2019 he yelled back at me. I came back to him shortly saying that he got those 5 minutes. And he would just yell back that now it\u2019s going to be six. It went on and on like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\u00a9 Profimedia, Album Premium<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was one of the most memorable stages in all of Tour de France history. Oca\u00f1a\u00a0crossed the finish line 8 minutes and 42 seconds ahead of Merckx. 61 riders didn\u2019t make the time cut because of the Spaniard\u2019s deadly pace. The organizers had to extend the limit so that there was someone to continue racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believed the Tour was lost. That thing Oca\u00f1a did, it was out of this world,\u201d Merckx admitted years after the race.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, he did not give up. In the very next stage Merckx cut down Oca\u00f1a\u2019s\u00a0lead by 2 minutes. The Cannibal rode so hard he crossed the finish line in Marseille an hour early, ruining the city\u2019s celebrations. The local mayor swore to never allow the Tour de France in his city again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Eddy Merckx (L) followed by Luis Ocana (2nd L) and Lucien Van Impe during the 14th stage of the Tour de France, shortly before Ocana crashed.\u00a0July 12, 1971\u00a0\u00a9 Profimedia, AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Belgian hoped to gain more time in the time trial, but Oca\u00f1a was just 11 seconds slower than him. That meant that after 13 days, he led the race by a hardly believable 7 minutes and 23 seconds. The peloton was off to the Pyrenees next, and the mountains greeted it with a particularly harsh weather. It was pouring down with rain. There was oil and sand on the road. But none of that mattered to the Cannibal. He rode at his very limit. Unfortunately, in one of the hairpins, he lost control of his bike and went down. Oca\u00f1a was right on his wheel and thus fell over him.<\/p>\n

Merckx jumped back on and continued. The Spaniard was ready to do the same, but at that moment, the curse struck. Zoetemelk came around the bend and hit Oca\u00f1a in the back, hard. The overall leader was taken to the hospital by a helicopter and his GC hopes were done. There is a memorial at the scene of the accident on the Col de Ment\u00e9 in the Pyrenees. Eddy Merckx refused to wear the yellow jersey the next day in tribute to Oca\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever happened, I lost this Tour. Because there will always be doubts,\u201d Merckx said after finishing in Paris.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Luis Ocana enjoying the triumph in the Parc des Princes in 1973\u00a0\u00a9 Profimedia, AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Oca\u00f1a had to wait till 1973 to enjoy his Tour de France triumph, but unfortunately Merckx wasn\u2019t there. The two never met again in the peak of their forms. The Spaniard continued to battle his curse, fighting with his health, team, opponents\u2026 Anyone who was available, really. Ultimately, he retreated to a vineyard in the south of France. Eddy Merckx even helped Oca\u00f1a find some customers. But eventually, the business went bust anyway.<\/p>\n

Then the depressions came. Then the hepatitis. The cancer. And then he pulled the trigger. The rider with no limits and no luck at all died on 19th May 1994. He was just 49 years old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

History books may say that the 1971 Tour de France was won by the Cannibal. And Eddy Merckx was indeed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":166522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[2143,2140,954,2139,2141,2138,2142,2064],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-166520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-1971-tour-de-france","tag-bernard-thevenet","tag-eddy-merckx","tag-joop-zoetemelk","tag-lucien-van-impe","tag-luis-ocana","tag-the-cannibal","tag-tour-de-france-2018"],"yoast_head":"\nLuis Oca\u00f1a Was the Only One Who Didn\u2019t Fear the Mighty Eddy Merckx - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"History books may say that the 1971 Tour de France was won by the Cannibal. 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