Toward the beginning of stage 14a (Briançon - Valloire) in the 1972 Tour de France, Raymond Delisle can be seen here riding just ahead of Eddy Merckx (...wearing the Maillot Jaune) followed by Luis Ocana with the field strung out behind in anticipation of the mountainous Lautaret and Galibier. Merckx had dealt a decisive blow to the peloton the previous day during stage 13 (Orcières - Briançon) by opening a 4 minute and 43 second lead over second place Ocana. And in fact, Luis Ocana would abandon with a lung infection at the end of stage 14b (Vallorie - Aix les Bains) later this very day, leaving Cyrille Guimard to inherit the mantle of second place contender. Raymond Delise would mark this day by coming home tenth for stage 14a and ninth for stage 14b - and he would eventually finish the 1972 Tour de France in eleventh place - some 46 minutes and 27 seconds back of the general classification winner Eddy Merckx, and 9 minutes and 16 seconds behind teammate Bernard Thevenet who would finish ninth overall.
