The 1967 Tour de France was the 54th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 29 June and 23 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of . Thirteen national teams of ten riders competed, with three French teams, two Belgian, two Italian, two Spanish, one each from Germany, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and a Swiss/Luxembourgian team. The Tour was marred by the fatal collapse of Tom Simpson on the slopes of Mont Ventoux. Teams The previous years, the Tour had been contested by trade teams. Tour director Félix Lévitan held the team sponsors responsible for the riders' strike in the 1966 Tour de France, and therefore the formula was changed, and the national teams returned. The Tour started with 130 cyclists, divided into 13 teams of 10 cyclists. The teams entering the race were: National teams France Germany Belgium Spain Great Britain Italy Netherlands Switzerland/Luxembourg Secondary national teams Red Devils (Belgium) Esperanza (Spain) Primavera (Italy) Bleuets de France Coqs de France Route and stages The 1967 Tour de France started on 29 June, and was the first to have a prologue, a short individual time trial prior to stage racing, held in the evening, adding to the occasion. There were had two rest days, in Belfort and Sète. Whereas in previous years the trend had been that the Tour became shorter, in 1967 it was longer, with 4779 km. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit tunnel of the Col du Galibier mountain pass on stage 10. Race overview The prologue was won by Spanish José María Errandonea, with Raymond Poulidor in second place, six seconds behind. In the next few stages, the lead in the general classification changed hands several times, but the margins between the top favourites were small. In the first part of the fifth stage, in Belgium, a group of fourteen cyclists including some Belgian cyclists escaped early in the stage. On the advice of his teammate Jean Stablinski, Roger Pingeon bridged the gap and joined the escaped group. The group stayed away, and Pingeon escaped 60 km before the finish, riding alone until the end of the stage. Pingeon won the stage, and also became the leader of the general classification. Pingeon's lead was not challenged in the sixth stage, but he lost it in the seventh stage to his