by Roy Green » Wed Oct 18, 2006 8:53 pm
I think the rider in yellow was Luis Ocana. It was in the 1971 Tour. He crashed on the Col de Mente, while locked in a great battle with Eddie Merckx, Ocana defending the Maillot Jaune. It was in pouring rain; Ocana might have got back on, but was very badly injured when Zoetemelk crashed into him. At the stage finish, Merckx refused to wear the jersey he'd taken from Ocana, in this manner, very sporting.
The other rider is Stephen Roche, almost out through oxygen debt after chasing the M. J. Pedro Delgado up Alpe d'Huez in 1987. Roche had to wait 4 more days to win back the Jersey and take the Tour.