This tour became a battle with Joop Zoetemelk, Hinault taking the yellow jersey after the final time trial.
In the final stage, the riders traditionally keep a slow pace, because the winner is already known, but in 1979 this was not the case, and Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk were still battling for the overall victory.
His range of styles and subjects is wide, including love poetry, religious poems, and occasional poetry (notably celebrating sportsmen Ard Schenk, Joop Zoetemelk and Johan Cruijff).
By the 1970s famous riders were regularly participating and sometimes winning the race: riders such as Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk added celebrity and allure to the race.
However, Hincapie was removed for three of his 17 starts for his part in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, giving O'Grady the outright record over Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk (16 starts from 1970 – 1986).
Joop Zoetemelk | Joop van Oosterom | Joop van den Ende | Joop Doderer | Joop den Uyl | Wolfgang Joop | Joop Wijn | Joop van Wijk | Joop ter Heul | Joop Glimmerveen | Joop Boutmy |