Merckx and Ocaña’s battle

“I will win La Vuelta!” exclaimed a guy in a hair salon in Calpe (Alicante, Spain). The emphatic assertion echoed in the Rock of Ifach. He was Luis Ocaña, a Spanish cyclist well known as ‘the French’. The challenge was not easy: to beat Eddy Merckx at La Vuelta [Tour of Spain] in 1973, the only major in which they will see both faces –the Spaniard won’t be at the Giro and the Belgian won’t take part in the Tour of France. The confrontation generated such expectation than fans didn’t talk about 80 cyclists, just '78 and the two'.

Putting the best cyclists face to face was difficult to organize. But everything in life has a price. Merckx was rated in $24894 (3 million ‘pesetas’) and Ocaña in $8300 (1 million ‘pesetas’) –too much money according to La Vuelta’s organizers. “We made every effort to bring Merckx and you, the media, insisted on counting on Ocaña’s participation. Here are the two”, La Vuelta’s director, Luis Bergareche, and one of the organizers, José Luis Albéniz, said.

MERCKX, THE FAVOURITE ONE

Race organizers doted on Merckx. It was evident in ‘pesetas’ and in the route. Ocaña realized taht when he saw that the majority of the route –initiated in Calpe and finished in San Sebastián- was composed of flat stretches and just seven mountain passes.

Ocaña said he was convinced that La Vuelta 73’ was created to benefit the Belgian: “Merckx will never have a better route. There aren’t mountain passes and time trials are short, all are beneficial to him.”

The Spaniard was not wrong. Eddy Merckx wore the yellow maillot in the prologue and in the first stage, when he suffered a breakdown that forced him to break away from the pack during three kilometers. But ‘The Cannibal’ forgot two cyclists, who were going to put him in trouble and none of them was Ocaña.

The first who took the yellow maillot off Eddy’s body was Karstens. The Dutch man was the leader in the second stage, but he could he only managed to hold on to the jearsey for two days.. The next to light up with the sun color was José Pesarrodona (KAS team), becoming the first Spanish leader of La Vuelta. He grasped leadership with the same firmness as his handlebar. From Alcázar de San Juan to Empuriabrava, Pesarrodona was the undisputed leader during nine consecutive stages. But the yellow jersey came back to ‘The Cannibal’ in Manresa. He had as his single objective never to lose it again.

WHERE IS OCAÑA?

Karstens, Merckx, Abilleira, Pesarrodona…Different names sounded during La Vuelta; however, Ocaña was not in the list. What was the best Spanish cyclist doing? The same question was asked by all his fans. His lack of achievements caused some people to doubt his success in the competition.

If I don’t see him, I couldn’t believe it. But I am reading every day in the newspaper –a Biscay told, hidden under a huge ‘txapela’ [typical beret from the Basque Country, Spain], the newspaper Abc reporter in Areitio.

What are you reading every day in the newspaper and now, you believe that it is true? –the journalist asked.

What I am reading is that Ocaña is participating in La Vuelta, but if you don’t write anything more about him, I believed that it was a lie. Why do you detail all the Belgian steps? I don’t know what is his name because a surname with five consonants and just one vowel… you know, how can I pronounce it? In total his complete name has eight consonants and just one vowel! To sum up, why do you write everything about him and just say that Ocaña is in La Vuelta? –the fan asked after seeing the cyclists riding in front of his face.

Because the man of eight consonants, Eddy Merckx, is an incredible Belgian –the journalist answered.

Ocaña had two opportunities to demonstrate that he was in that competition: Torrelavega time trial and the most important stage, three first-category climb series (Alisas, Los Tornos y Orduña). If he wasted both, Biscay belief would be real: Ocaña was not in La Vuelta.

THE CRUCIAL STAGE

There were three witnesses to Merckx and Ocaña’s battle. Alisas, Los Tornos and Orduña. The three first-category climbs included the in most important stage left to prove  who would win, even before it was time to ride the last time trial.

The stage had no owner and, at the same time, was for the best two riders. While the Spaniard reached the leadership in Alto de Alidad, ‘The Cannibal’ waited for the perfect moment to attack. This moment arrived in Los Tornos, where he left his rival behind at the 5th position. Ocaña refused to give up because he knew that Alto de Orduña would be decisive to win the stage and La Vuelta.

Ocaña broke away from the rest of the cyclists descending Osma, Espejo and Bergenda, but it was not enough to open a gap between him and Merckx. The Belgian, accompanied by Thevenet, reached Ocaña creating an amazing front: first, third and fourth in the general classification.

Miranda de Ebro streets were the perfect scenery to stare at the handlebar battle. Just 100 meters away from the finish line, it was still difficult to proclaim a winner. Ocaña, Mercx and Thevenet were neck on neck fighting for the victory.

Although the last stage was not over, everything was settled in Miranda de Ebro. The podium showed the position in which each of the three sportsmen would be at the end. The next 127 kilometers from Miranda to Tolosa and the time trial did not change the general classification.

‘The Cannibal’ on two wheels was unstoppable. Besides winning La Vuelta, he achieved the first position at the sprint, at the point classification and combined rating. He just lost one of them: mountain classification. Abilleira was first and Merckx second.

The Belgian dazzled Spanish fans, they were stunned by the cycling prodigy who knows how to wait the perfect moment to attack without leaving enough time for his rivals to breathe. However, the desired battle between Mercx and Ocaña did not reach the expected level. Ocaña could not do anything to beat him as he had done a few weeks ago in Semana Catalana.

After riding the Spanish roads, the path branched off for the best two cyclists. Ocaña was focused on the Tour de France –still disappointed that he had to abandon in 1971 because of an accident in Col de Mente when he took nine minutes advantage over Merckx. On his behalf, ‘The Cannibal’ preferred to give his best at the Giro, after being on the podium of The Champs-Élysées for four consecutive years. Their ways were physically separated, but they will always be linked in the history of cycling.