1981 Tour de France

The 1981 Tour de France was the 68th edition, held from 25 June to 19 July over 24 stages and 3,753 km. Bernard Hinault dominated, leading from the sixth stage and extending his advantage almost daily to take his third title. Only Phil Anderson could stay close until stage 16, where he lost about seven minutes, and another seventeen the next day; only Lucien Van Impe, Robert Alban and Joop Zoetemelk finished within twenty minutes. Freddy Maertens won the points classification with five stage wins, Van Impe the mountains, Peter Winnen the young rider prize and Peugeot the team classification. A plan to open the race to amateur teams, which would have allowed Eastern European squads to enter, came to nothing.