There were 14 teams participating in the 1975 Tour de France, with 10 cyclists each: Molteni Gan–Mercier Kas Jolly Ceramica Super Ser Peugeot Bianchi Gitane Filotex Flandria–Carpenter Sporting–Lejeune Miko–de Gribaldy Frisol–GBC Jobo–Sablière–Wolber

Eddy Merckx, who had won all five times that he participated, was again the big favourite. Merckx' first part of the season had been going well, winning Milan–San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. If Merckx would win again, he would beat Jacques Anquetil and become the first cyclist to win the Tour six times. Merckx did not care about that record: "The idea doesn't interest me very much because then people would want me to go for a seventh and then an eighth".

A few months before the race, Merckx was unsure if he would start the Tour. His race schedule had been very busy, and he thought to ride the Giro and the Tour in the same year would not work. Merckx preferred to ride the Tour, but his Italian team preferred the Giro. Bernard Thévenet contracted shingles during the 1975 Vuelta a España, but recovered and won the Dauphiné Liberé.

Start list

By team

+Molteni No. Rider Pos. 1 2 2 DNF 3 57 4 17 5 59 6 9 7 62 8 56 9 60 10 DNF+Gan–Mercier No. Rider Pos. 11 19 12 DNF 13 21 14 68 15 63 16 65 17 DNF 18 13 19 66 20 4+Kas No. Rider Pos. 21 DNF 22 DNF 23 DNF 24 58 25 5 26 DNF 27 29 28 DNF 29 34 30 DNF+Jolly Ceramica No. Rider Pos. 31 DNF 32 DNF 33 DNF 34 DNF 35 DNF 36 DNF 37 DNF 38 DNF 39 DNF 40 DNF+Super Ser No. Rider Pos. 41 DNF 42 DNF 43 26 44 36 45 DNF 46 DNF 47 DNF 48 10 49 44 50 25+Peugeot–BP No. Rider Pos. 51 1 52 78 53 40 54 DNF 55 DNF 56 16 57 DNF 58 28 59 52 60 DNF+Bianchi No. Rider Pos. 61 6 62 81 63 48 64 33 65 35 66 24 67 76 68 27 69 46 70 79+Gitane No. Rider Pos. 71 3 72 70 73 50 74 72 75 55 76 30 77 14 78 53 79 DNF 80 45+Filotex No. Rider Pos. 81 7 82 DNF 83 DNF 84 43 85 8 86 39 87 22 88 47 89 54 90 DNF+Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe No. Rider Pos. 91 23 92 DNF 93 DNF 94 77 95 42 96 37 97 51 98 DNF 99 31 100 80+Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune No. Rider Pos. 101 15 102 83 103 49 104 DNF 105 61 106 DNF 107 20 108 DNF 109 DNF 110 DNF+Miko-De Gribaldy No. Rider Pos. 111 DNF 112 DNF 113 69 114 DNF 115 DNF 116 41 117 DNF 118 32 119 75 120 DNF+Frisol–GBC No. Rider Pos. 121 11 122 85 123 67 124 18 125 84 126 DNF 127 DNF 128 DNF 129 DNF 130 82+Jobo–Sablière–Wolber No. Rider Pos. 131 12 132 86 133 DNF 134 DNF 135 DNF 136 73 137 70 138 74 139 38 140 64

By rider + Legend No. Starting number worn by the rider during the Tour Pos. Position in the general classification DNF Denotes a rider who did not finish

No. Name Nationality Team Pos. 1 Eddy Merckx Molteni 2 2 Herman Beysens Molteni DNF 3 Ludo Delcroix Molteni 57 4 Jos Deschoenmaecker Molteni 17 5 Jos Huysmans Molteni 59 6 Edward Janssens Molteni 9 7 Marc Lievens Molteni 62 8 Frans Mintjens Molteni 56 9 Karel Rottiers Molteni 60 10 Jozef Spruyt Molteni DNF 11 Raymond Poulidor Gan–Mercier 19 12 Jean-Pierre Genet Gan–Mercier DNF 13 Yves Hézard Gan–Mercier 21 14 Barry Hoban Gan–Mercier 68 15 Gerrie Knetemann Gan–Mercier 63 16 Jean-Claude Misac Gan–Mercier 65 17 Michel Périn Gan–Mercier DNF 18 Georges Talbourdet Gan–Mercier 13 19 Gerard Vianen Gan–Mercier 66 20 Joop Zoetemelk Gan–Mercier 4 21 Francisco Galdós Kas DNF 22 Gonzalo Aja Kas DNF 23 José Manuel Fuente Kas DNF 24 José Grande Kas 58 25 Vicente López Carril Kas 5 26 Antonio Martos Kas DNF 27 Carlos Melero Kas 29 28 Antonio Menéndez Kas DNF 29 José Pesarrodona Kas 34 30 Juan Zurano Kas DNF 31 Bruno Vicino Jolly Ceramica DNF 32 Alessio Antonini Jolly Ceramica DNF 33 Giovanni Battaglin Jolly Ceramica DNF 34 Emmanuele Bergamo Jolly Ceramica DNF 35 Giovanni Dalla Bona Jolly Ceramica DNF 36 Pierino Gavazzi Jolly Ceramica DNF 37 Donato Giuliani Jolly Ceramica DNF 38 Knut Knudsen Jolly Ceramica DNF 39 Giacomo Bazzan Jolly Ceramica DNF 40 Sandro Quintarelli Jolly Ceramica DNF 41 Luis Ocaña Super Ser DNF 42 Julián Andiano Super Ser DNF 43 Luis Balagué Super Ser 26 44 José Casas García Super Ser 36 45 Santiago Lazcano Super Ser DNF 46 Eddy Peelman Super Ser DNF 47 Roger Rosiers Super Ser DNF 48 Pedro Torres Super Ser 10 49 Sylvain Vasseur Super Ser 44 50 José Viejo Super Ser 25 51 Bernard Thévenet Peugeot–BP 1 52 Patrick Béon Peugeot–BP 78 53 Bernard Bourreau Peugeot–BP 40 54 José Catieau Peugeot–BP DNF 55 Jean-Pierre Danguillaume Peugeot–BP DNF 56 Raymond Delisle Peugeot–BP 16 57 Jacques Esclassan Peugeot–BP DNF 58 Régis Ovion Peugeot–BP 28 59 Charly Rouxel Peugeot–BP 52 60 Guy Sibille Peugeot–BP DNF 61 Felice Gimondi Bianchi 6 62 Luigi Castelletti Bianchi 81 63 Giovanni Cavalcanti Bianchi 48 64 Fabrizio Fabbri Bianchi 33 65 Simone Fraccaro Bianchi 35 66 Tony Houbrechts Bianchi 24 67 Serge Parsani Bianchi 76 68 Martín Rodríguez Bianchi 27 69 Giacinto Santambrogio Bianchi 46 70 Rik Van Linden Bianchi 79 71 Lucien Van Impe Gitane 3 72 René Dillen Gitane 70 73 Gerben Karstens Gitane 50 74 Maurice Le Guilloux Gitane 72 75 Guy Leleu Gitane 55 76 Raymond Martin Gitane 30 77 Mariano Martinez Gitane 14 78 Robert Mintkiewicz Gitane 53 79 Alain Santy Gitane DNF 80 Willy Teirlinck Gitane 45 81 Francesco Moser Filotex 7 82 Arnaldo Caverzasi Filotex DNF 83 Pietro Dallai Filotex DNF 84 Sigfrido Fontanelli Filotex 43 85 Joseph Fuchs Filotex 8 86 Renato Marchetti Filotex 39 87 Roberto Poggiali Filotex 22 88 Ole Ritter Filotex 47 89 Mauro Simonetti Filotex 54 90 Roberto Sorlini Filotex DNF 91 Michel Pollentier Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe 23 92 Eddy Cael Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe DNF 93 Wilfried David Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe DNF 94 Régis Delépine Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe 77 95 Marc Demeyer Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe 42 96 Ronald De Witte Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe 37 97 Walter Godefroot Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe 51 98 Daniel Verplancke Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe DNF 99 Herman Van Springel Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe 31 100 Gérard Moneyron Flandria–Carpenter–Confortluxe 80 101 Joaquim Agostinho Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune 15 102 José Amaro Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune 83 103 Francis Campaner Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune 49 104 Joaquim Carvalho Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune DNF 105 Fernando Ferreira Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune 61 106 Firmino Bernardino Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune DNF 107 Ferdinand Julien Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune 20 108 Bernard Labourdette Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune DNF 109 André Mollet Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune DNF 110 Manuel Silva Sporting–Sottomayor–Lejeune DNF 111 Michel Laurent Miko–de Gribaldy DNF 112 Lucien De Brauwere Miko–de Gribaldy DNF 113 André Doyen Miko–de Gribaldy 69 114 Antoine Gutierrez Miko–de Gribaldy DNF 115 Roger Loysch Miko–de Gribaldy DNF 116 Hubert Mathis Miko–de Gribaldy 41 117 Patrick Perret Miko–de Gribaldy DNF 118 Albert Van Vlierberghe Miko–de Gribaldy 32 119 Frans Van Vlierberghe Miko–de Gribaldy 75 120 Wilfried Wesemael Miko–de Gribaldy DNF 121 Hennie Kuiper Frisol–GBC 11 122 Donald Allan Frisol–GBC 85 123 José De Cauwer Frisol–GBC 67 124 Fedor den Hertog Frisol–GBC 18 125 Gérard Kamper Frisol–GBC 84 126 Ben Koken Frisol–GBC DNF 127 Fernando Mendes Frisol–GBC DNF 128 Cees Priem Frisol–GBC DNF 129 Theo Smit Frisol–GBC DNF 130 Henk Prinsen Frisol–GBC 82 131 André Romero Jobo–Sablière–Wolber 12 132 Jacques Boulas Jobo–Sablière–Wolber 86 133 Alain Cigana Jobo–Sablière–Wolber DNF 134 André Corbeau Jobo–Sablière–Wolber DNF 135 Bernard Croyet Jobo–Sablière–Wolber DNF 136 Joël Hauvieux Jobo–Sablière–Wolber 73 137 Roger Legeay Jobo–Sablière–Wolber 70 138 Claude Magni Jobo–Sablière–Wolber 74 139 Joël Millard Jobo–Sablière–Wolber 38 140 Richard Pianaro Jobo–Sablière–Wolber 64

References