The 63rd edition of the Tour de France begins on June 24, 1976, in Saint-Jean-de-Monts, contested over 22 stages before concluding on July 18 in Paris. For the first time in nearly a decade, the Tour opens without Eddy Merckx. Struggling to find form in the spring and recovering from surgery to treat severe saddle sores, Merckx elects not to start, leaving the race without its dominant figure of the era. His absence creates one of the most open fields in years and shifts attention to a small cluster of credible successors.
The pre-race favorite is Joop Zoetemelk, whose remarkable consistency includes six Tours without finishing outside the top five. Backed by strong early-season results, he arrives as the rider most widely tipped to take control. Defending champion Bernard Thévenet presents the principal challenge, having won the Dauphiné Libéré and signaling readiness for the decisive mountain stages. Belgian climber Lucien Van Impe targets the high-altitude terrain with renewed ambition, while former winner Luis Ocaña seeks to reassert himself after a strong Vuelta campaign. Reigning world champion Hennie Kuiper adds further depth, and young Belgian Freddy Maertens brings sprinting firepower and early-season dominance into his Tour debut. Veteran Raymond Poulidor, now 40 and riding his final Tour, remains a respected presence in the peloton. With extended mountain sequences and substantial time-trial mileage shaping the route, the 1976 Tour de France begins as a rare moment of transition — not a defense of supremacy, but a contest to define what comes next.