1973 Tour of Flanders

Race details
Dates	1 April 1973
Stages	1
Distance	263 km (163.4 mi)
Winning time	6h 17'
Results
Winner  Eric Leman (BEL) (Peugeot–BP)   Second  Freddy Maertens (BEL) (Flandria-Shimano)   Third  Eddy Merckx (BEL) (Molteni)

The 57th running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on Sunday 1 April 1973. Belgian Eric Leman won the classic ahead of Freddy Maertens and Eddy Merckx.^[1][2] The race started in Ghent and finished for the first time in Meerbeke (Ninove). 37 out of 174 riders arrived.

Course

Cycling icon Eddy Merckx was the pre-race favourite, but despite several attempts, he failed to distance Leman, Maertens and De Geest on the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the run-in to the finish. In a four-man sprint Eric Leman narrowly beat Freddy Maertens. Merckx was third.^[3] Leman became the third rider to win the Tour of Flanders three times, equalling the previous record of Achiel Buysse and Fiorenzo Magni.^[4]

Climbs

There were six categorized climbs:

Oude Kwaremont Nieuwe Kruisberg Edelareberg

Varent Valkenberg Muur of Geraardsbergen

Results

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Eric Leman (BEL)	Peugeot–BP	6h 17' 00"
2	Freddy Maertens (BEL)	Flandria-Shimano	s.t.
3	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	s.t.
4	Willy De Geest (BEL)	Rokado	s.t.
5	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)	Gitane	+ 45"
6	Walter Godefroot (BEL)	Flandria-Shimano	+ 51"
7	Frans Verbeeck (BEL)	Watneys–Maes	s.t.
8	Herman Van Springel (BEL)	Rokado	s.t.
9	Patrick Sercu (BEL)	Brooklyn	+ 1'20"
10	Willy In't Ven (BEL)	Molteni	s.t.

References

1. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p168
2. McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol. "1973 Ronde van Vlaanderen results". BikeRaceInfo. Cherokee Village, Arkansas: McGann Publishing. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
3. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p172
4. Vanwalleghem, Rik (1991), De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Pinguin, Belgium, ISBN 90-73322-02-2, p169-173

Further reading

• Saunders, David (May 1973). "Tour of Flanders 1973: April Fool – Eddy". International Cycle Sport. No. 60. Keighley, UK: Kennedy Brothers Publishing. p. 19. ISSN 0020-6504. Retrieved 10 April 2020 – via InternationalCycleSport.com.