1976 Tour de France
Rank Rider Team Points
1 Freddy Maertens ( BEL ) Flandria-Velda-West Vlaams Vleesbedrijf 293
2 Pierino Gavazzi ( ITA ) Jollj Ceramica-Decor 137
3 Jacques Esclassan ( FRA ) Peugeot-Esso-Michelin 128
4 Enrico Paolini ( ITA ) Scic-Fiat 122
5 Gerben Karstens ( NED ) TI-Raleigh-Campagnolo 108
6 Michel Pollentier ( BEL ) Flandria-Velda-West Vlaams Vleesbedrijf 90
7 Régis Delépine ( FRA ) Gan-Mercier-Hutchinson 79
8 Joop Zoetemelk ( NED ) Gan-Mercier-Hutchinson 78
9 Wladimiro Panizza ( ITA ) Scic-Fiat 73
10 Raymond Poulidor ( FRA ) Gan-Mercier-Hutchinson 72
Points classification
The 1976 Tour de France was the 63rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took between 24 June and 18 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of . It was won by mountain specialist Lucien Van Impe in a battle with the previous winner Bernard Thevenet and Joop Zoetemelk. Zoetemelk won three high mountain stages including Alpe d'Huez and Puy de Dome but this Tour became known for when the young Directeur Sportif of Van Impe, Cyrille Guimard, threatened to run Van Impe off the road with the Team Car if he didn't attack. Van Impe then attacked and won the Tour. The revelation of the Tour however was Freddy Maertens, who in his first Tour won eight stages and the points classification, and led the general classification for ten days. Five-time winner Eddy Merckx did not join in the 1976 Tour de France because he was injured. 1975 winner Bernard Thévenet left the race in the 19th stage, but at that point it was already clear that Van Impe would win the race. The mountains classification was won by Giancarlo Bellini with 170 points, only one point ahead of Lucien Van Impe. The young rider classification was won by Enrique Martínez Heredia. Heredia had already won the Tour de l'Avenir in 1974, but never broke through after this win.