1963 Tour de France
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The 1963 Tour de France was the 50th instance of that Grand Tour. It took place between 23 June and 14 July, with 21 stages covering a distance of 4,138 km (2,571 mi). Stages 2 and 6 were both two part stages, the first half being a regular stage and the second half being a team or individual time trial.
Rik Van Looy and the pre-race favourite Jacques Anquetil before the fifth stage
Riders during the fourth stage between Roubaix and Rouen
The yellow jersey worn by Gilbert Desmet as leader of the general classification
Grand Tour (cycling)
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In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours, and all three races are similar in format, being three-week races with daily stages. They have a special status in the UCI regulations: more points for the UCI World Tour are distributed in Grand Tours than in other races, and they are the only stage races allowed to last longer than 14 days, and these differ from major stage races more than one week in duration.
Image: Jacques Anquetil 1966
Image: Felice Gimondi 1966
Image: Eddy Merckx Molteni 1973
Image: Bernard Hinault 1978 (cropped)