List of Tour de France general classification winners

General classification (GC)
at the Tour de France
A man with dark hair stood up, riding a bicycle, wearing a yellow jersey
Miguel Induráin, winner of five consecutive GC Tour titles from 1991 to 1995.
LocationSince 1975, finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris
DatesJuly annually

The Tour de France is an annual road bicycle race held over 23 days in July. Established in 1903 by newspaper L'Auto, the Tour is the best-known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the others being the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.[1] The race usually covers approximately 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi), passing through France and neighbouring countries.[2] The race is broken into day-long stages, and individual finishing times for each stage are totalled to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. The course changes every year, but has finished in Paris every year except 2024, when it finished in Nice. Since 1975, it has finished along the Champs-Élysées.[3]

The rider with the lowest aggregate time at the end of each day wears the yellow jersey, representing the leader of the general classification. There are other jerseys: the green jersey, worn by the leader of the points classification; the polka dot jersey, worn by the leader of the mountains classification; and the white jersey, worn by the leader of the young rider classification.[4]

Sixty-four individual cyclists from 15 countries have won a combined total of 106 Tours, the most recent winner being Slovenian Tadej Pogačar.[5] Pogačar, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin hold the record for the most victories at five each,[a] with Induráin being the only one to win five consecutive Tours. Winners have ranged in age from 19 (Henri Cornet, 1904) to 36 years (Firmin Lambot, 1922).[6] The most common nationality among winners is French (36 Tours won by 21 cyclists), followed by Belgian (18 Tours won by 10 cyclists) and Spanish (12 Tours won by 7 cyclists).[7]

History

The Tour de France was established in 1903 by the newspaper L'Auto, in an attempt to increase its sales. The first race was won by Frenchman Maurice Garin. He won again the next year, but was disqualified after allegations that he had been transported by car or rail. Henri Cornet became the winner after the dispute was settled, and is the youngest to win the Tour. Following the scandals in 1904, the scoring system was changed from being time-based to a point-based system, in which the cyclist who has the fewest points at the end of the race is victorious. This system lasted until 1912, when the time-based system was reintroduced. French cyclists won the first six Tours, before François Faber of Luxembourg won in 1909, the first non-Frenchman to win.[8]

Belgian riders were more successful before and after the First World War, which caused the Tour to be suspended from 1915 to 1918. In the 1920s, trade teams dominated the Tour, and cyclists such as Nicolas Frantz won the Tour with the Alcyon team. When Alcyon cyclist Maurice De Waele won the Tour in 1929 while ill, the organisers decided to introduce national teams the following year, to stop team tactics from undermining the race. Because of the Second World War, the Tour de France was suspended from 1940 to 1946.[9]

A woolen yellow jersey with writing on it
The yellow jersey (French: maillot jaune) of 1963, worn by general classification leader Gilbert Desmet of Wiel's–Groene Leeuw

After the Second World War, no one dominated the Tour until Louison Bobet, who won three consecutive Tours from 1953 to 1955—he was the first person to achieve this feat.[10] This was bettered by the French cyclist Jacques Anquetil, who won four successive Tours from 1961 to 1964. Anquetil, who also won in 1957, became the first to win five Tours.[11] Anquetil's five victories were matched when Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx won four successive Tours from 1969 to 1972 and the 1974 Tour. Merckx is the only person to have won the general, points and king of the mountains classifications in the same Tour, which he achieved in 1969.[12]

Merckx looked to be heading for a record sixth Tour victory in 1975, but Bernard Thévenet beat him, becoming the first French winner in seven years. Thévenet won again in 1977, but he was eclipsed in the following years by fellow Frenchman Bernard Hinault, who won consecutive Tours in 1978 and 1979. Hinault won the Tour at his first attempt in 1978, becoming one of 11 cyclists (including Anquetil, Merckx, Hugo Koblet and Fausto Coppi) who managed to do so.[13] In 1980, the Tour was won by Joop Zoetemelk, after Hinault had to pull out because of tendinitis.[14] Hinault returned and won in 1981 and 1982. Hinault sat out the Tour in 1983, and Laurent Fignon, another Frenchman, achieved victory. Fignon won again the following year, beating Hinault, before Hinault recovered in 1985 to win his fifth Tour.

American Greg LeMond became the first non-European to win the Tour in 1986. LeMond won again in 1989 to win the Tour by finishing eight seconds ahead of Fignon, the smallest winning margin in the Tour's history. LeMond also won in 1990.[15] In 1991, Spaniard Miguel Induráin won his first Tour. Induráin came to dominate the Tour, winning four more Tours consecutively—making him the first person to win five consecutive Tours.[16] He tried to win a record sixth Tour in 1996, but was beaten by Bjarne Riis, who later admitted to using Erythropoietin.[17] Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani won in 1997 and 1998, respectively, but Pantani's victory was overshadowed by doping scandals.[18]

The 1999 Tour saw the first of Lance Armstrong's seven consecutive victories.[19][20] He was stripped of his titles in October 2012, when it emerged he had used performance-enhancing drugs throughout much of his career, including the Tour de France victories.[21] Floyd Landis won the Tour in 2006, but was later stripped of his title after a failed drug test.[22] Óscar Pereiro was subsequently awarded the victory. Alberto Contador won the 2007 Tour with the Discovery Channel. The 2007 Tour was also marred by doping scandals, thus Contador was unable to defend his title in 2008, as his Astana team was banned for its part in the controversy. Fellow Spaniard Carlos Sastre of Team CSC won.[23] Contador and Astana returned in 2009 to regain the title. He won the Tour again in 2010, but was later stripped of his title after he was found guilty of doping. Runner-up Andy Schleck was awarded the victory.

Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour in 2011.[24] In 2012, Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour.[25] Chris Froome became the second successive British winner in 2013, which was the 100th edition of the race.[26] He could not defend his title the following year, as he crashed out in stage 5, with Vincenzo Nibali winning his first Tour.[27] Froome regained the title in 2015 and successfully defended it in 2016, the first rider in over 20 years to do so.[28] Froome won the Tour for a third consecutive year in 2017.[29] Froome's teammate, Geraint Thomas, was the winner of the 2018 race.[30] Egan Bernal won in 2019, becoming the first Colombian cyclist to win the Tour, finishing ahead of his teammate Thomas.[31]

The 2020 Tour was postponed, to start on 29 August, following the French government's extension of a ban on mass gatherings after the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak.[32] This was the first time since the end of World War II that the Tour was not held in July.[33] It was won by Tadej Pogačar, who became the first Slovenian rider to win the race as well as one of the youngest winners in Tour history. He repeated as champion in the 2021 edition. The following year, Jonas Vingegaard became the first Danish rider since 1996 to win the race. Vingegaard won again in 2023, by 7 minutes and 29 seconds from Pogačar.[34] Pogačar won again in 2024 and became the first person to win the Giro and Tour in the same year since Pantani in 1998.[35] Pogačar retained his title in 2025, beating Vingegaard by 4 minutes and 24 seconds.[36] Pogačar again retained his title in 2026, beating Remco Evenepoel by 6 minutes and 26 seconds.[5]

Winners

† Also won points classification in the same year
* Also won mountains classification in the same year
# Also won young rider classification in the same year
‡ Also won points and mountains classification in the same year
§ Also won the mountains and young rider classification in the same year
  • The "Year" column refers to the year the competition was held, and wikilinks to the article about that season.
  • The "Distance" column refers to the distance over which the race was held.
  • The "Margin" column refers to the margin of time or points by which the winner defeated the runner-up.
  • The "Stage wins" column refers to the number of stage wins the winner had during the race.

Multiple winners

The following riders have won the Tour de France on more than one occasion.

Alberto Contador won three Tours, but was stripped of one following an anti-doping violation.[D]

Lance Armstrong was removed from the head of the list after having all seven of his Tour victories stripped when he was found guilty of repeated doping offences.

Multiple winners of the Tour de France general classification
Cyclist Total Years
 Jacques Anquetil (FRA) 5 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
 Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974
 Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985
 Miguel Induráin (ESP) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
 Tadej Pogačar (SLO) 2020, 2021, 2024, 2025, 2026
 Chris Froome (GBR) 4 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017
 Philippe Thys (BEL) 3 1913, 1914, 1920
 Louison Bobet (FRA) 1953, 1954, 1955
 Greg LeMond (USA) 1986, 1989, 1990
 Lucien Petit-Breton (FRA) 2 1907, 1908
 Firmin Lambot (BEL) 1919, 1922
 Ottavio Bottecchia (ITA) 1924, 1925
 Nicolas Frantz (LUX) 1927, 1928
 André Leducq (FRA) 1930, 1932
 Antonin Magne (FRA) 1931, 1934
 Sylvère Maes (BEL) 1936, 1939
 Gino Bartali (ITA) 1938, 1948
 Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1949, 1952
 Bernard Thévenet (FRA) 1975, 1977
 Laurent Fignon (FRA) 1983, 1984
 Alberto Contador (ESP) 2007, 2009
 Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) 2022, 2023

By nationality

Tour de France general classification winners by nationality
Country Wins Winning cyclists
 France 36 21
 Belgium 18 10
 Spain 12 7
 Italy 10 7
 Great Britain 6 3
 Luxembourg 5 4
 Slovenia 5 1
 Denmark 3 2
 United States 3 1
 Switzerland 2 2
 Netherlands 2 2
 Ireland 1 1
 Germany 1 1
 Australia 1 1
 Colombia 1 1

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lance Armstrong won seven consecutive Tours from 1999 to 2005, but in 2012, he was stripped of all titles by the UCI because of his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The Tour director Christian Prudhomme had previously said that if this happened, there would be no alternative winners for those years.[41][42]
  2. ↑ Henri Cornet was declared the winner of the 1904 Tour de France after the disqualification of Maurice Garin for cheating.[39]
  3. ↑ Bjarne Riis admitted to doping during the 1996 Tour de France. The organizers of the Tour de France stated that they no longer consider him to be the winner, although Union Cycliste Internationale has so far refused to change the official status owing to the amount of time that has passed since his win. Jan Ullrich was placed second on the podium in Paris.[40]
  4. ↑ Floyd Landis was the winner at the podium ceremony in Paris on the last day of the 2006 Tour, but subsequently was found to have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during stage 17 of the race. The United States Anti-Doping Agency found him guilty of using synthetic testosterone during the race and stripped him of his title on 20 September 2007.[43]
  5. ↑ Alberto Contador was the winner at the podium ceremony in Paris on the last day of the 2010 Tour, but subsequently was found to have tested positive for the prohibited substance clenbuterol on a rest day. The Court of Arbitration for Sport found him guilty of using clenbuterol during the race and stripped him of his title on 6 February 2012.[44]

References

  1. ↑ FAQ. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 23 July 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  2. ↑ Dauncey, Hugh; Hare, Geoff (2003). Tour de France: 1903–2003. Routledge. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-7146-5362-4.
  3. ↑ "Tour de France Gallery: History on the Champs-Élysées". Cycling News. 21 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  4. ↑ Bonville-Ginn, Tom (24 August 2020). "Tour de France jerseys: Yellow, green, white and polka-dot explained". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  5. 1 2 Whittle, Jeremy (26 July 2026). "Relentless Tadej Pogacar wins fifth Tour de France to equal record". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Scholiansky, Christopher (6 July 2009). "Will He? Won't He? Can Armstrong Win Tour de France?". American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  7. ↑ "Guide Historique 2017" (PDF). Tour de France. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "1903–1914: Pioneers and 'assassins'". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  9. ↑ "1930–1939: Adapt to survive". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  10. ↑ "1947–1956: Post-war rivalries". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  11. ↑ "1957–1966: Anquetil 5–0 Poulidor". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  12. ↑ "1967–1977: Tragedy before a Cannibal's feast". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  13. ↑ "1978–1984: The Badger's golden era". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  14. ↑ Armijo, Vic (1999). The complete idiot's guide to cycling. Alpha Books. p. 28. ISBN 0-02-862929-9.
  15. ↑ "1985–1990: American, Irishman and Spaniard". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  16. ↑ "1991–1995: Big Mig's masterclass". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  17. ↑ Duff, Alex (25 May 2007). "Riis, Tour de France Champ, Says He Took Banned Drugs". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  18. ↑ "1996–2000: Doping and the great recovery". BBC Sport. 5 June 2001. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  19. ↑ "Overall standings 2002". BBC Sport. 28 July 2002. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  20. ↑ "Armstrong seals seventh Tour win". BBC Sport. 24 July 2005. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  21. ↑ "Armstrong stripped of all seven Tour de France wins by UCI". BBC Sport. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  22. ↑ Macur, Juliet (5 August 2006). "Backup Sample on Landis is positive". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  23. ↑ "Sastre wins Tour de France crown". BBC Sport. 27 July 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  24. ↑ "Tour de France: Cavendish wins historic green jersey". BBC Sport. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  25. ↑ "Bradley Wiggins wins Tour de France for Team Sky". BBC Sport. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  26. ↑ Thompson, Anna (22 July 2013). "Tour de France:Chris Froome wins 100th edition of race". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  27. ↑ "Tour de France: Vincenzo Nibali completes race victory". BBC Sport. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  28. ↑ "Tour de France 2016: Chris Froome completes third race victory". BBC Sport. 24 July 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  29. ↑ Fletcher, Paul (23 July 2017). "Tour de France 2017: Chris Froome wins yellow jersey for the fourth time". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  30. ↑ Scrivener, Peter (29 July 2018). "Geraint Thomas wins as Chris Froome finishes third". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  31. ↑ Whittle, Jeremy (29 July 2019). "Egan Bernal rides into history and puts Colombian cycling on the map". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  32. ↑ "Tour de France to go ahead at end of August after coronavirus delay". BBC Sport. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  33. ↑ Lindsey, Joe (29 June 2020). "The Tour de France Goes Virtual". Outside. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  34. ↑ Bevan, Chris (23 July 2023). "Tour de France 2023: Jonas Vingegaard retains title as Jordi Meeus claims surprise win in Paris". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  35. ↑ Rindl, Joe (21 July 2024). "Pogacar seals third Tour de France with stage 21 win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  36. ↑ Collins, Ben (27 July 2025). "Van Aert wins final stage as Pogacar seals Tour title". Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  37. ↑ Augendre, Jacques (2016). Guide historique [Historical guide] (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  38. ↑ "Tour de France" (in French). Mémoire du Cyclisme. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  39. ↑ Thomazeau, Francois (29 July 2007). "Plus ça change ... they started cheating in 1904". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  40. ↑ "Tour takes Riis off winners list". BBC Sport. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  41. ↑
  42. ↑
  43. ↑ "Oscar Pereiro winner of the 2006 Tour de France". Union Cycliste Internationale. 21 September 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  44. ↑ "CAS sanctions Contador with two year ban in clenbutorol case". Cyclingnews.com. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012.

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.