Cycling
Tour de France Winners: A Legacy of Cycling Greatness
In this blog we will look back at some of the greatest Tour de France winners of all time as well as taking a look at who could win this year. We also touch on some of the most memorable Tour de France moments and their significance.
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Introduction to Tour de France winners
Winning the Tour de France is seen as the pinnacle of a road cyclist’s career and can turn riders into household names as it did in Great Britain with 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, and with 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017 Tour de France winner Chris Froome.
The Prestige of the Yellow Jersey
The yellow jersey is worn by whoever is leading the General Classification, which is the Tour de France leaderboard, and is granted to the overall winner after the final stage.
It is said to be a symbol of excellence, prestige and victory, with the Yellow Jersey only attainable for the most complete, elite riders. It is a sign of a rider who can handle all that is thrown at them, whether it be time trials, the toughest test of endurance, or the most difficult terrains.
Key moments in Tour de France history
1903 – The first ever Tour de France was held, initially just to increase sales for French newspaper L’Auto
1906 – 1912 – Winner is judged by points accumulated throughout stages, rather than the original method of total accumulated time.
1922 – Firmin Lambot, the oldest Tour de France winner, wins aged 36 years and four months.
1947 – Tour de France returns after World War Two as a 20-25 stage race.
1953 – Introduction of the Green Jersey for the leader of the Points Classification
1962 – National teams replaced by trade teams
1975 – Polka Dot Jersey introduced for the winner of the Mountains Classification.
1975 – The finish of the Tour at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is introduced
1986 – Greg LeMond of the United States becomes the first non-European winner.
1988 – Beginning of the ‘Doping Era’
Legendary Tour de France winners
In this section we will take a deep dive into the early history of the Tour de France, as well as the general history of the race, noting the pioneers of the race, the most dominant performers, and those who achieved record-breaking success in cycling’s most prestigious event.
Early champions and pioneers
Here we take a look at some of the earlier winner of the race, many of whom were pioneers for the Tour de France, and road cycling as a whole.
Notable early champions:
1903 – Maurice Garin
1908 – Lucien Petit-Breton
1909 – François Faber
1920 – Phillipe Thys
1922 – Firmin Lambot
Pioneers:
1903 – Maurice Garin – Garin was the winner of the first ever Tour de France
1908 – François Faber – The first ever non-French winner of the race
1953-1955 – Louison Bobet – The first to complete a Tour de France Hat-trick
1986 – Greg LeMond – The first non-European winner
1991-1995 – Miguel Indurain – Five wins in a row
2012 – Bradley Wiggins – First British winner
Dominant era: The Five-Times Winners
There have been four riders to have won the race five times, and in this section we will take a look at all of them, and their teams.
1957, 1961-64 – Jacques Anquetil
Anquetil was a was a French rider who actually won his first two Tour de France titles representing his county, before the switch was made back to trade teams in 1962. He then went on to win three in a row representing French team Saint-Raphaël, which disbanded after Anquetil’s final win in 1964.
1969-72, 1974 – Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx, hailing from Belgium, was the first non-French rider to win five Tour de France titles. Merckx represented Belgian trade team Faema for his first two wins, before they disbanded in 1970. Merckx would then move to Italian team Molteni, winning three titles with them with back-to-back wins in 1971-72, with his fifth and final win coming in 1974.
1978-79, 1981-82, 1984 – Bernard Hinault
It was a return to French success as Bernard Hinault won consecutive titles in 1978-79, and 1981-82. He won both of these with infamous French team Renault, with these being their only four Tour de France titles. His final title came with another French team in La Vie Claire, who truly rose to fame as the team with the first non-European winner as American rider Greg LeMond won for them the next year.
1991-95 – Miguel Indurain
Indurain is the only rider ever to win five in a row, and the Spanish racing legend is the most recent example of five-time Tour de France success. He achieved all his wins with Banesto, now known as Movistar, a Spanish road-cycling team who had their only other win in 2006, under the name Caisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears.
Record breaking Achievements
Winning the Tour de France even once is an achievement in itself, but doing it multiple, or even a record breaking amount of times would write anyone into the cycling history books.
Most consecutive wins – 1991-95 – Miguel Indurain – Movistar
The aforementioned Miguel Indurain has the most consecutive Tour de France wins with five in a row. Five wins is also the joint most by any rider. Movistar, then under the name of Banesto, are also the only trade team to have won five in a row when Indurain won all of his titles with them.
Most trade team wins – 10 – Renault
Renault dominated the early years of the Tour de France trade team era, winning all four races from 1905-08, consecutive races in 1913 and 1914, as well as wins in 1922, 1967, 1975, and their most recent win in 1977 taking them to double figures.
Most national team wins – 12 – France
It is no surpprsie that France are the national team with the most wins, with five coming consecutively from 1953-57. Their most recent success came in the final year of national team representation in 1961.
Fastest winning time – 79h 32′ 29″ – Jonas Vingegaard
As the years go on the times get ever faster, with 2022’s winner Jonas Vingegaard setting the fastest ever winning time, becoming the only ever rider to complete the race in under 80 hours.
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Memorable victories and iconic figures in the Tour de France
The American Trailblazers
Here we will take a look at the American rider who paved the way for non-European success in the Tour de France.
1986, 1989-90 – Greg LeMond
Greg LeMond is the definition of a trailblazer and the American rider has his place firmly cemented in the history books. LeMond is the winning-most no-European rider in Tour de France history with three wins to his name, the first of which came in 1986 before he won back-to-back races in 1989-90.
The 1986 Tour de France winner was the first non-European winner of the race, and since his three titles the race has seen another two, with the 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans coming from Australia, and Colombian rider Egan Bernal winning in 2019.
The French Cycling Heroes
French cyclist have dominated their home race since it’s inception in 1903, where the race was won by French rider Maurice Garin. France has the highest number of wins with 36, coming from the highest number of different winning riders with 21. Here we will look at some of the heroes of French cycling.
André Leducq – 1930
Andre Leducq was not the first French winner, but he may well be the most important. Between 1912 and 1929 French road cycling hit a wall, with just one winner in that time, as the Tour de France was somewhat dying out in its home nation.
Leducq’s win was followed by five wins in the next seven years for French cyclists, including his second, before the race was stopped due to the breakout of World War Two. He will go down in the history books as one of the heroes of French Cycling.
Louison Bobet – 1953-55
Louison Bobet was riding in the middle period where national teams were re-introduced, and he became the first Frenchman to secure three Tour de France wins in a row when he took all three races by storm from 1952-55.
These three wins formed the middle three of a five-year winning streak for the France team, the most consecutive wins by any national team.
Jacques Anquetil – 1957, 1961-64
Jacques Anquetil was not only the first Frenchman to win five Tour de France titles, but the first rider ever. He not only won in the trade team era but was also a French National hero as his first two titles came when representing the French national team.
Bernard Hinault – 1978-79, 1981-82, 1984
Bernard Hinault is the most recent example of five-time Tour de France success, and is seen to have carried the baton from Jacques Anquetil. Hinault is also the last memory of success for France in their home race as his win in 1985 was the last time a French rider has won the race.
International Triumphs
International riders have won 66 Tour de France titles, from 43 riders, from 14 different countries.
Eddy Merckx – 1969-72, 1974
Belgium are the country outside of France with the most titles as they have 18 wins from 10 different riders. The most notable of these being Eddy Merckx who has five Tour de France wins to his name.
Notable Records and Achievements
Most Tour de France wins
Jacques Anquetil – 5 – 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
Eddy Merckx – 5 – 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974
Bernard Hinault – 5 – 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985
Miguel Indurain – 5 – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
Youngest and oldest winners
Henri Cornet – 1904 – 19 years, 352 days
Firmin Lambot – 1922 – 36 years, 131 days
Most consecutive wins
Miguel Indurain – 5 – 1991-95
Most stage wins
Mark Cavendish – 34 – 2008-2021
Eddy Merckx – 34 – 1969-1975
