Friday, April 25, 2025

Bernard Thévenet – the Man who Ended Eddy Merckx’s Reign at the Tour de France

-

HomeInterviewsBernard Thévenet - the Man who Ended Eddy Merckx's Reign at the...
Bernard Thévenet
Bernard Thévenet.

By the mid-70’s Belgian, Eddy Merckx was well established as the “Cannibal”, an insatiable creature for whom only victory satisfied the hunger.

In 1975 a handsome, smiling Frenchman ended Merckx’s reign of fear in one of the all-time great Tours.

Bernard Thévenet is older now, but still handsome and affable, he took time-out from his role as “chef de piste” at the Grenoble Six Day race a year or two ago to talk to VeloVeritas.

The interview was conducted in his office, he brought his chair round the desk so there were no barriers between us; I couldn’t help but notice that he had his shoes off…

Did you have a successful amateur career, Bernard?

“Yes, I was amateur from 1966 until 1969, I rode the Tour de l’Avenir twice and won a stage.

“I was also French national champion in 1968.

“I turned pro in 1970 and retired in 1981.”

You were fourth in Le Tour in 1971, did you think then that you could win one day?

“I actually won a Tour stage in 1970 and another in ’71.

“I didn’t think about winning, it’s a very long road from thinking and hoping about victory to actually winning.”

Bernard Thévenet
Bernard made a wonderful Tour de France debut in 1970 – here he’s riding up the Tourmalet during the mountainous 135km stage 18 (Saint Gaudens-La Monique) which he would go onto win. Bernard finished his first Tour at a more than respectable thirty-fifth place overall.

In ’73 you had a good year.

“I was third in the Vuelta and won the French championships. I was second in the Tour but still didn’t think I could win, rather I hoped that I might, someday.

“There were two very strong riders in the way, Merckx and Ocana who won that Tour in ’73.”

What happened in ’74, your Tour progress derailed, didn’t it?

“I started the year well and won the Criterium International but I was ill at the Tour.

“I finished the season strongly though with a good ride in the World Championships and I won the Tour of Catalonia in September.”

Bernard Thévenet
Bernard during his 93km solo break in the 1974 World Championships in Montreal, he was caught by group containing eventual winner Eddy Merckx and finished fifth. Photo©Ken30684

The big year was 1975 wasn’t it?

“I arrived at the Tour in good condition. I had won the Dauphine; it’s like a small Tour de France, it has the same mountains, some flat stages and time trials and it’s very important to your preparation for the Tour.

“I had a new sport director, Maurice de Muer and he said to me that if I arrived at the Pyrenees within three minutes of Merckx, then I could win.

“I thought it was possible but wasn’t sure.”

Your tactics in that Tour?

“The strategy was simple – attack Merckx in the mountains. When we arrived in the Pyrenees the gap to Merckx was 2-20.

“On stage 11 to Saint Lary-Soulan I was second to Zoetemelk (1980 Tour winner, Joop of Holland) but ahead of Merckx, I reduced the lead he held on me to 1-31.

“On stage 14 to Puy-de-Dome I was second again, this time to Van Impe (1976 Tour winner, Lucien of Belgium) and took more time on Merckx, reducing the gap to 58 seconds.

“On stage 15 to Pra-Loup I punctured at a bad time and it looked for a moment that I had lost the Tour.

“But I came back and with six kilometres to go I attacked.

“I caught Gimondi (Italy), who was alone in the lead, dropped him and took the stage. I also took the yellow jersey by 58 seconds but against a man like Merckx that was nothing, not nearly enough.”

Bernard Thévenet
Bernard on Merckx’s wheel on stage 14 (Aurillac – Puy de Dôme) of the 1975 Tour de France. Bernard was clear off the front with Lucien van Impe when, with only a handful of km’s to go Merckx was punched in the liver by a spectator.

And then, on Bastille Day…

“Bastille Day is a special day in France of course; there was just one thought in my mind – attack!

“On the climb to the finish at Serre-Chevalier I went, I won the stage and increased my overall lead to 3-20. This made me less nervous and more confident.

“I was afraid of Merckx though, I watched him constantly, he was such a strong personality, he did not allow you to relax for one moment. I was always alert, always thinking, ‘what will he do next?’

“The last stage was the first time that the finish was on the Champs Élysées in Paris, even then he attacked me, but it was magical to win in Paris.”

[It should be noted that Merckx crashed on stage 17, finishing second in Paris with a broken cheek bone despite having been advised by the race doctor to abandon – editor.]

Bernard Thévenet
Bernard is in yellow on stage 17 of the ’75 Tour de France (Valloire – Morzine Avoriaz) – 225 km of mountain climbs including La Madeleine, Aravis, La Colombiere and the Avoriaz.

The next year, 1976 was not so good for you in the Tour…

“I still don’t understand ’76; I won the Dauphine and was in really good shape for the start of the Tour.

“In fact, I was third in the prologue, a type of race at which I am not a specialist. I was filled with confidence and thinking – ah! I can win again.

“Unfortuanately, I crashed in Normandy and after that I just was not myself: eventually I had to abandon.”

You were back to winning ways in 1977.

“I was in good form coming in to the Tour. I had already finished second in the Dauphine and Midi-Libéré, beaten by very narrow margins in both races.

“I was lucky in a way in that Tour because when the Raleigh rider Didi Thurau (Germany) took the yellow jersey, Peter Post their Dutch team manager decided to defend it.

“I think Thurau held the jersey for two weeks or so but it meant that the team was burned-out when it came to helping Hennie Kuiper (Holland) in the finale; he was their designated team leader before the Tour.

“If Kuiper’s team had not worked so hard for Thurau perhaps he could have won instead of being second behind me.

“Post was a very good manager but that time I think he made a mistake.”

Bernard Thévenet
Bernard flows beautifully in the Stage 20 ITT of the 1977 Tour de France, sealing his second Tour career victory, completing the 50km in 1:1’0’45”.

Your palmarès is strongest in stage racing.

“In the era I grew-up in France the Tour was everything, since I was a child I wanted to ride the Tour.

“Also at that time your programme as an amateur contained many stage races, so I was used to that type of race; as espoirs we all dreamed of competing in the Tour.

“In addition I was never a good sprinter but I was strong in the mountains and against the watch, these are qualities which are very useful for a stage race rider.”

You won the Grenoble Six Day twice, did you ever consider a career on the winter boards?

“The indoor tracks are comfortable, there is no rain, no wind.

“But it is difficult to do the training you need to do for the road and ride the Six Days. It is also hard to maintain your form in the summer and the winter.”

You had a spell in team management after you retired as a rider.

“Yes, but I think it was something that I did not particularly enjoy.

“I work in public relations now with ASO, the organisation behind the Tour and I enjoy it very much.”

Any regrets?

“It would have been nice to make more money! But I have no regrets about my career, I do not live in the past.”

Bernard Thévenet
Race Director Bernard says hi at the Grenoble Six Day. Photo©Ed Hood

What was the worst moment of your career?

“Abandoning the Tour in 1976, it was very bad, it took me a long time to get over it.

“Thevenet is still active in many different roles throughout cycling.”

And the best moment?

“There are two, in 1975 during the Tour I was alone in the lead on the Izoard. It was Bastille day and huge numbers of people were there, all shouting for me.

“It made me feel so motivated and emotional because I was giving so many of my countrymen reason to feel proud to be French on such a special day.

“Also on l’Alpe d’Huez in 1977 there were so many people there to encourage me, it was another very wonderful moment.”

VeloVeritas would like to thank a very special champion for his time and courtesy.

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed was involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he was a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He was also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months often worked in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed was a highly respected journalist, his tales of chasing the Giro, Tour, Vuelta, Classics and World Championships - and his much-loved winter Six Days - are legendary, never the same twice, they gave our site an edge other cycling media could never duplicate or challenge. Sadly Ed passed away in January 2025, two years after suffering a devastating stroke.

Related Articles

Paul Double – from the Zappolino to Dartmoor

Paul Double raced with his Italian Colpack team, one of Italy’s strongest continental teams, and yet here he was on Dartmoor securing the silver medal in the British Hill Climb Championship. We heard the story...

Kyle Gordon – Scottish 25 Mile Time Trial Champion

If you ask Italian riders which one race they'd want to win above all others, nine times out of 10; Milan-Sanremo; for Belgian guys it's De Ronde, 19 times out of 20, but that man Kyle Gordon is making his own dreams come true; a ride in the Commonwealth Games and now, the 'Blue Riband,' joining Billy Bilsland, Sandy Gilchrist, Graeme Obree and Jason Macintyre's names on the roll of honour as winners of the '25'  Champs and breaking through the magical 50 minute barrier in the process.

Ronie Keisse – “I watched what went wrong with a lot of the promising young riders – their parents”

If there’s a rider more closely associated with a city than Iljo Keisse is with Gent then I can’t think of it. Born and bred in the capital of East Flanders, raised on the boards of the Blaarmeersen velodrome, the Gentenaars love him and he loves them. Iljo's dad, Ronie Keisse owns the legendary Café de Karper, a favourite student haunt in Gent, just a five minute walk from the Kuipke and the only place to be on a November Sunday evening when the Six Day finishes, so we sat down with Ronie on the Monday morning after the Six to discuss the life and times of his boy, one of the very last real ‘vedettes’ – star Six Day men.

John Archibald – 12 seconds off a podium spot at the British 25 Mile TT Championships

It’s not a lot of time is 12 seconds; around 250 metres at the speeds they go at these days; but that’s what separated Scottish 25 Mile Time Trial Champion, John Archibald from the podium of the CTT National 25 mile championship in Wales on Sunday. That had to be the first question VeloVeritas asked; "Could you have found those seconds, John?"

At Random

Just a typical Wednesday afternoon in Kermis Belgium

172 starters on a Wednesday afternoon... only in Kermis Belgium. This was a hard race from the off, again typical of Belgium. With only one amateur race taking place on this day it meant this race was full-on. A couple of crashes in the peloton on the same corner on consecutive laps didn't help matters...

Giro d’Italia 2012 – Second Rest Day, Time for Interviews

'Mission accomplished' with Ryder: Dave rattled us through dire weather up to the Garmin Hotel, just over 100 miles away. The Liquigas guys were on their turbos when we arrived - lean, cut looking men. Before the start, I wasn't sure Basso could win, but his policy of loss limiting has taken him to third on GC @ 1:22 on Rodriguez and 52 seconds behind Hesjedal.

Keith Mernickle – British Cyclo-Cross Champion in 1976

‘When I were lad,’ the ‘Comic’ (Cycling Weekly) was different – come the winter there was proper coverage of the Six Days and cyclo-cross. It was hard to be unaware of what was happening in the ‘cross’ world – even 40 years later, I can remember John Atkins, Barry Davies, Chris Dodd, Ian Jewell and – Keith Mernickle.

Keep Racing on the Roads. Please

There is no doubt that British cycling is alive and well at the highest echelons of performance - Britons won the Tour, the world champs and pretty much the entire velodrome; there's also no doubt that British cycling is alive and kicking at the grass roots level too - membership has doubled since 2007. It makes sense to assume that all is well in between, too, right? Unfortunately not; BC is the governing body for beginner’s racing, Regional racing (2nd and 3rd cats), all levels of women's road racing, National level racing (Elites and 1st cats) and the semi professional/professional teams below Sky. All of these parts of the sport are in trouble - but particularly at the higher end.