Roger Pingeon Photo Gallery
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Roger Pingeon (born August 28, 1940) was an enormously talented rider who generally lacked the force of will to win races. He had retired from racing in 1966 but decided to race the 1967 season. He retired again in the early spring, but returned, and by summer was showing good form.
He was a member of the Peugeot team, but for 1967 and 1968, the Tour de France organizers assembled the riders in national teams, as it had done in 1930 - 1961, and Pingeon was riding for France, along with Raymond Poulidor and 1966 winner Lucien Aimar.
In stage 5A of the 1967 Tour, the peloton arrived at the town of Thuin in Belgium. On the Muir de Thuin, a steep, cobbled climb, Pingeon simply rode away from his breakaway companions. Pingeon kept on going, riding sixty kilometers to victory in the city of Jambes. He beat the field, with all of the real contenders, by more than six minutes. No one had the ability to take that time back from Pingeon, making him the winner of the 1967 Tour de France. Like 1965 Tour winner Felice Gimondi, the Tour de France was Pingeon's first major professional victory.
Pingeon enjoyed a superb 1969 season, winning the Vuelta a España and coming in second to Eddy Merckx in the Tour de France.
Pingeon retired from racing for good in 1974. He passed away on March 19, 2017.
Major victories & high placings:
1965: 2nd Coppa Ugo Agostoni
1966: 2nd Critérium National, winning the second stage
1967: Tour de France, 2nd-place GP du Midi Libre
1968: 2nd French road championships, 5th Tour de France
1969: Vuelta a España (winning two stages), 2nd Tour de France, 3rd Critérium di Dauphiné Libéré
1970:
2nd Critérium di Dauphiné Libéré
1972: 2nd Tour de Suisse
1974: GP de Plumelec, 3rd Trophée des Grimpeurs
Professional Teams:
1959: Liberia-Hutchinson
1963-'65: raced as an independent
1965-'75: Peugeot-BP-Michelin
1973: Rokado-De Gribaldy
1974: Jobo-Lejeune
Nicknames: The Big Stork (Le Grand Echassier) The Plumber-Zinc Worker (Le Plombier-Zingueur)
Photos:
Roger Pingeon in yellow during the 1967 Tour de France on the cover of February, 1968 Zie magazine.
Raymond Poulidor leads Pingeon in the high mountains in what I believe is the 1967 Tour.
Pingeon making life hard for the others in the 1967 Tour.
Another shot of Pingeon in yellow in the 1967 Tour
Roger Pingeon has won the 1967 Tour de France.
July 1967 edition Le Miroir des Sports
Another Miroir des Sports from July, 1967.
Roger Pingeon's 1967 Tour de France bike: Reynolds 531 tubing, Nervex lugs, Stronglight 93 crankset with 52 x 45 rings, Lyotard pedals, Mafac Racer brakes, Simplex Luxe LJ derailleurs, Mavic Monthléry rims and an Ideale 90 leather saddle.
Pingeon wins stage 15 of the 1968 Tour. AFP photo
Another shot of Pingeon in the 1968 Tour. On his wheel is 1966 Tour winner Lucien Aimar. Two riders behind Aimar is Franco Bitossi and then Jan Janssen.
Roger Pingeon (center) at the 1968 World Championships at Imola, Italy. That should be French teammate Michel Perin closest to the camera.
Another shot of Pingeon at the 1968 world championships. I believe the rider he is following is Portugal's Fernando Mendes.
Pingeon in the 1969 Tour de France
Pingeon at the 2009 Tour de l'Ain. Jrjrcam photo