for a banned substance after the stage and was subsequently disqualified from the race; to this day Merckx still proclaims his innocence. Felice Gimondi took the lead after Merckx's dismissal and held it all the way to the race's conclusion. Merckx came back the following year to liking of his sponsor. Merckx took the lead after stage five and never relinquished it; he dominated the lengthy stage nine time trial. Merckx went on to win the Tour de France and in doing so became the third rider to win two Grand Tours in a single calendar year. In 1971, reigning champion Merckx decided to ride the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré instead. Felice Gimondi lost substantial time early on in the race to put him out of contention, while fellow Italian and teammate Gianni Motta tested positive for banned substances and was dismissed from the Giro. Swedish cyclist Gösta Pettersson gained the lead after the race's eighteenth stage and held it all the way to the finish. Pettersson became the first Swedish cyclist to win a Grand Tour. Merckx returned to the Giro in 1972 and resumed his domination. He grabbed the lead after a long solo attack during the race's seventh stage and never let go of the lead. Merckx led the 1973 Giro d'Italia from start to finish; a feat that had not been done since Alfredo Binda did in 1927. José Manuel Fuente gained the lead early on in 1974 and held it all the way up to the Giro's fourteenth stage. Fuente had forgotten to eat properly during the fourteenth stage and suffered because of it; he lost over ten minutes to Merckx. Merckx would go on to win his fifth and final Giro d'Italia by just 12 seconds, joining the likes of Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi as the only five-time winners of the Giro d'Italia. Merckx success continued on into the season as he won the Tour de France and the men's road race at the World Championships and became the first rider to complete the Triple Crown of Cycling – which consists of winning two Grand Tours and the men's road race at the World Championships in one calendar year. With the absence of Merckx from the 1975 edition due to illness, the competition increased between the other riders. Fausto Bertoglio and Francisco Galdós battled during the latter half of the race. The final