All this talk of Ocana and the Speedwell titanium bike reminded me of an old soft cover book I'd acquired, "1973 Tour de France" by David Saunders. Lots of illustrations, Ocana on the Speedwell titanium bike on the cover, and ads inside for 'Luis Ocana riding the TITALITE frame set. in Titanium by SPEEDWELL 40% Lighter - 3 times stronger.' Needless to say I pulled it out. I have to admit to only reading it back when I first got it around 1974 and remembering nothing about it. Back then the only tour information available was ABC's wide world of sports with Louis Prima talking about the wine country of France since after all, who would REALLY be interested in the Tour. ... I'll admit to being dissapointed that my hero Eddy wasn't riding that year. The book has some nice photos of the riders' bikes too, all of them Campagnolo equipped at the time, but the frames do show well. I 'googled' the book and found a dedication to David Saunders by Phil Liggett who was his codriver while covering the Tour that year, and who died in a car crash in 1978.
I thought at the time I bought it that this was a yearly publishing. Has anyone else seen this book or any others like it? Back then I was just a shop rat and just beginning my short (less than a year) foray into bike racing. I'll be re-reading it with a bit more perspective this time than originally. Thanks to all who've been describing this tour.
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In a Cycle Sport article about Ocana with a Speedwell sidebar several years ago, the author asserted that Ocana rode his Speedwell in the race's final time trial as well (stage 20). I've only seen one pic of Ocana from that stage, from which I could glean nothing, so I have no idea if the author of that piece was correct or not. Other pics?reveal that Ocana apparently did not use the Speedwell in all of the mountain stages, as you suggest.
Ed Granger
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA