Grand Tour (cycling)

In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours, and all three races are similar in format being three week races with daily stages. They have a special status in the UCI regulations: more points for the UCI World Tour are distributed in Grand Tours than in other races,[1] and they are the only stage races allowed to last longer than 14 days.[2]

The Giro d'Italia is generally run in May, the Tour de France in July, and the Vuelta a España in late August and September. The Vuelta was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in the 1940s. In 1995, however, the race moved to September to avoid direct competition with the Giro d'Italia.

The Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious in terms of points accrued to racers of all three,[1] and is the most widely attended annual sporting event in the world.[3] The Tour, the Giro and the Road World Cycling Championship make up the Triple Crown of Cycling.

The three Grand Tours are men's events, and no three week races exist on the women's road cycling circuit. The Giro Rosa, the ten stage Italian road race for women is the only race on the current women's circuit treated as broadly equivalent to a Grand Tour, although the defunct women's Tour de France was, in its time, given similar status.

Description

In their current form, the Grand Tours are held over three consecutive weeks and typically include two rest days near the beginning of the second and third weeks. If the opening stages are in a country not neighboring the home nation of the race, there is sometimes an additional rest day after the opening weekend to allow for transfers. The stages are a mix of long massed start races (sometimes including mountain and hill climbs and descents; others are flat stages favoring those with a sprint finish) and individual and team time trials. Stages in the Grand Tours are generally under 200 kilometers in length.

Controversy often surrounds which teams are invited to the event. Typically, the Union Cycliste Internationale (International Cycling Union) prefers top-rated professional teams to enter, while operators of the Grand Tours often want teams based in their country or those unlikely to cause controversy. From 2005 to 2007, organisers had to accept all ProTour teams, leaving only two wildcard teams per Tour. However, the Unibet team, a ProTour team normally guaranteed entry, was banned from the three Grand Tours for violating gambling advertising laws. In 2008, following numerous doping scandals, some teams were refused entry to the Grand Tours: Astana did not compete at the 2008 Tour de France and Team Columbia did not compete at the 2008 Vuelta a España. Since 2011, under the UCI World Tour rules, all UCI WorldTeams are guaranteed a place in all three events, and obliged to participate, and the organisers are free to invite wild card teams of UCI ProContinental status to make up the 22 teams that usually compete.

The main competition is the individual general classification, decided on aggregate time (sometimes after allowance of time bonuses). There are also classifications for teams and young riders, and based on climbing and sprinting points, and other minor competitions. Three riders have won the three individual classifications open to all riders (general, mountains and points classifications) in the same race: Eddy Merckx in the 1968 Giro d'Italia and 1969 Tour de France, Tony Rominger in the 1993 Vuelta a España and Laurent Jalabert in the 1995 Vuelta a España.[4]

It is rare for cyclists to ride all grand tours in the same year; in 2004, 474 cyclists started in at least one of the grand tours, 68 of them rode two Grand Tours and only two cyclists started in all three grand tours.[5] It is not unusual for sprinters to start each of the Grand Tours and aim for stage wins before the most difficult stages occur. Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Cavendish started all three Grand Tours in 2010 and 2011, respectively, as did some of their preferred support riders. For both riders in both years, only the Tour de France was ridden to its conclusion.

Over the years, 34 riders have completed all three Grand Tours in one year: Adam Hansen did so six years in a row.

The only riders to have finished in the top 10 in each of the three tours during the same year are Raphaël Géminiani in 1955 and Gastone Nencini in 1957.

In cycling history riders from a single country won all three Grand Tours in a year on only three occasions. In 1964 with French riders Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor and in 2008 with Spanish riders Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre. 2018 marked the only time different riders from the same country won all three Tours and this was British riders Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates.

UCI rules

For the UCI World Tour, more points are given in grand tours than in other races; the winner of the Tour de France receives 1000 points, and the winners of the Giro and Vuelta receive 850 points. Depending on the nature of other races, points vary for the winner of the overall classification[1] The grand tours have a special status for the length: they are allowed to last between 15 and 23 days.[2]

Latest edition details

Grand Tour winners

Year Giro d'Italia Tour de France Vuelta a España
1903 started in 1909 Maurice Garin started in 1935
1904 Henri Cornet
1905 Louis Trousselier
1906 René Pottier
1907 Lucien Petit-Breton (1/2)
1908 Lucien Petit-Breton (2/2)
1909  Luigi Ganna (ITA)  François Faber (LUX)
1910  Carlo Galetti (ITA) (1/3)  Octave Lapize (FRA)
1911  Carlo Galetti (ITA) (2/3)  Gustave Garrigou (FRA)
1912  Team Atala (ITA) (Carlo Galetti (3/3),
Giovanni Micheletto & Eberardo Pavesi)
 Odile Defraye (BEL)
1913  Carlo Oriani (ITA)  Philippe Thys (BEL) (1/3)
1914  Alfonso Calzolari (ITA)  Philippe Thys (BEL) (2/3)
1915 Not contested during World War I
1916
1917
1918
1919 Costante Girardengo (ITA) (1/2) Firmin Lambot (BEL) (1/2)
1920 Gaetano Belloni (ITA) Philippe Thys (BEL) (3/3)
1921 Giovanni Brunero (ITA) (1/3) Léon Scieur (BEL)
1922 Giovanni Brunero (ITA) (2/3) Firmin Lambot (BEL) (2/2)
1923 Costante Girardengo (ITA) (2/2) Henri Pélissier (FRA)
1924 Giuseppe Enrici (ITA) Ottavio Bottecchia (ITA) (1/2)
1925 Alfredo Binda (ITA) (1/5) Ottavio Bottecchia (ITA) (2/2)
1926 Giovanni Brunero (ITA) (3/3) Lucien Buysse (BEL)
1927 Alfredo Binda (ITA) (2/5) Nicolas Frantz (LUX) (1/2)
1928 Alfredo Binda (ITA) (3/5) Nicolas Frantz (LUX) (2/2)
1929 Alfredo Binda (ITA) (4/5) Maurice De Waele (BEL)
1930 Luigi Marchisio (ITA) André Leducq (FRA) (1/2)
1931 Francesco Camusso (ITA) Antonin Magne (FRA) (1/2)
1932 Antonio Pesenti (ITA) André Leducq (FRA) (2/2)
1933 Alfredo Binda (ITA) (5/5) Georges Speicher (FRA)
1934 Learco Guerra (ITA) Antonin Magne (FRA) (2/2)
1935 Vasco Bergamaschi (ITA) Romain Maes (BEL) Gustaaf Deloor (BEL) (1/2)
1936 Gino Bartali (ITA) (1/5) Sylvère Maes (BEL) (1/2) Gustaaf Deloor (BEL) (2/2)
1937 Gino Bartali (ITA) (2/5) Roger Lapébie (FRA) Not contested during the Spanish Civil War
1938 Giovanni Valetti (ITA) (1/2)  Gino Bartali (ITA) (3/5)
1939 Giovanni Valetti (ITA) (2/2) Sylvère Maes (BEL) (2/2)
1940  Fausto Coppi (ITA) (1/7) Not contested during World War II
1941 Not contested during World War II  Julián Berrendero (ESP) (1/2)
1942  Julián Berrendero (ESP) (2/2)
1943 Not contested during World War II
1944
1945  Delio Rodríguez (ESP)
1946  Gino Bartali (ITA) (4/5)  Dalmacio Langarica (ESP)
1947 Fausto Coppi (ITA) (2/7) Jean Robic (FRA) Edward Van Dijck (BEL)
1948 Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) (1/3) Gino Bartali (ITA) (5/5) Bernardo Ruiz (ESP)
1949 Fausto Coppi (ITA) (3/7) Fausto Coppi (ITA) (4/7) Not contested for lack of interest
1950 Hugo Koblet (SUI) (1/2) Ferdinand Kübler (SUI) Emilio Rodríguez (ESP)
1951 Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) (2/3) Hugo Koblet (SUI) (2/2) Not contested for lack of interest
1952 Fausto Coppi (ITA) (5/7) Fausto Coppi (ITA) (6/7)
1953 Fausto Coppi (ITA) (7/7) Louison Bobet (FRA) (1/3)
1954 Carlo Clerici (SUI) Louison Bobet (FRA) (2/3)
1955 Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) (3/3) Louison Bobet (FRA) (3/3) Jean Dotto (FRA)
1956 Charly Gaul (LUX) (1/3) Roger Walkowiak (FRA) Angelo Conterno (ITA)
1957 Gastone Nencini (ITA) (1/2) Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (1/8) Jesús Loroño (ESP)
1958 Ercole Baldini (ITA) Charly Gaul (LUX) (2/3) Jean Stablinski (FRA)
1959 Charly Gaul (LUX) (3/3) Federico Bahamontes (ESP) Antonio Suárez (ESP)
1960 Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (2/8) Gastone Nencini (ITA) (2/2) Frans De Mulder (BEL)
1961 Arnaldo Pambianco (ITA) Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (3/8) Angelino Soler (ESP)
1962 Franco Balmamion (ITA) (1/2) Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (4/8) Rudi Altig (GER)
1963 Franco Balmamion (ITA) (2/2) Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (6/8) Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (5/8)
1964 Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (7/8) Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (8/8) Raymond Poulidor (FRA)
1965 Vittorio Adorni (ITA) Felice Gimondi (ITA) (1/5) Rolf Wolfshohl (GER)
1966 Gianni Motta (ITA) Lucien Aimar (FRA) Francisco Gabica (ESP)
1967 Felice Gimondi (ITA) (2/5) Roger Pingeon (FRA) (1/2) Jan Janssen (NED) (1/2)
1968 Eddy Merckx (BEL) (1/11) Jan Janssen (NED) (2/2) Felice Gimondi (ITA) (3/5)
1969 Felice Gimondi (ITA) (4/5) Eddy Merckx (BEL) (2/11) Roger Pingeon (FRA) (2/2)
1970 Eddy Merckx (BEL) (3/11) Eddy Merckx (BEL) (4/11) Luis Ocaña (ESP) (1/2)
1971 Gösta Pettersson (SWE) Eddy Merckx (BEL) (5/11) Ferdinand Bracke (BEL)
1972 Eddy Merckx (BEL) (6/11) Eddy Merckx (BEL) (7/11) José Manuel Fuente (ESP) (1/2)
1973 Eddy Merckx (BEL) (9/11) Luis Ocaña (ESP) (2/2) Eddy Merckx (BEL) (8/11)
1974 Eddy Merckx (BEL) (10/11) Eddy Merckx (BEL) (11/11) José Manuel Fuente (ESP) (2/2)
1975 Fausto Bertoglio (ITA) Bernard Thévenet (FRA) (1/2) Agustín Tamames (ESP)
1976 Felice Gimondi (ITA) (5/5) Lucien Van Impe (BEL) José Pesarrodona (ESP)
1977 Michel Pollentier (BEL) Bernard Thévenet (FRA) (2/2) Freddy Maertens (BEL)
1978 Johan De Muynck (BEL) Bernard Hinault (FRA) (2/10) Bernard Hinault (FRA) (1/10)
1979 Giuseppe Saronni (ITA) (1/2) Bernard Hinault (FRA) (3/10) Joop Zoetemelk (NED) (1/2)
1980 Bernard Hinault (FRA) (4/10) Joop Zoetemelk (NED) (2/2) Faustino Rupérez (ESP)
1981 Giovanni Battaglin (ITA) (2/2) Bernard Hinault (FRA) (5/10) Giovanni Battaglin (ITA) (1/2)
1982 Bernard Hinault (FRA) (6/10) Bernard Hinault (FRA) (7/10) Marino Lejarreta (ESP)
1983 Giuseppe Saronni (ITA) (2/2) Laurent Fignon (FRA) (1/3) Bernard Hinault (FRA) (8/10)
1984 Francesco Moser (ITA) Laurent Fignon (FRA) (2/3) Éric Caritoux (FRA)
1985 Bernard Hinault (FRA) (9/10) Bernard Hinault (FRA) (10/10) Pedro Delgado (ESP) (1/3)
1986 Roberto Visentini (ITA) Greg LeMond (USA) (1/3) Álvaro Pino (ESP)
1987 Stephen Roche (IRL) (1/2) Stephen Roche (IRL) (2/2) Luis Herrera (COL)
1988 Andrew Hampsten (USA) Pedro Delgado (ESP) (2/3) Sean Kelly (IRL)
1989 Laurent Fignon (FRA) (3/3) Greg LeMond (USA) (2/3) Pedro Delgado (ESP) (3/3)
1990 Gianni Bugno (ITA) Greg LeMond (USA) (3/3) Marco Giovannetti (ITA)
1991 Franco Chioccioli (ITA) Miguel Indurain (ESP) (1/7) Melchor Mauri (ESP)
1992 Miguel Indurain (ESP) (2/7) Miguel Indurain (ESP) (3/7) Tony Rominger (SUI) (1/4)
1993 Miguel Indurain (ESP) (4/7) Miguel Indurain (ESP) (5/7) Tony Rominger (SUI) (2/4)
1994 Eugeni Berzin (RUS) Miguel Indurain (ESP) (6/7)  Tony Rominger (SUI) (3/4)
1995 Tony Rominger (SUI) (4/4) Miguel Indurain (ESP) (7/7) Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
1996 Pavel Tonkov (RUS) Bjarne Riis (DEN) Alex Zülle (SUI) (1/2)
1997 Ivan Gotti (ITA) (1/2) Jan Ullrich (GER) (1/2) Alex Zülle (SUI) (2/2)
1998 Marco Pantani (ITA) (1/2)  Marco Pantani (ITA) (2/2)  Abraham Olano (ESP)
1999  Ivan Gotti (ITA) (2/2)No winner[A] Jan Ullrich (GER) (2/2)
2000 Stefano Garzelli (ITA)No winner[A] Roberto Heras (ESP) (1/4)
2001 Gilberto Simoni (ITA) (1/2)No winner[A] Ángel Casero (ESP)
2002 Paolo Savoldelli (ITA) (1/2)No winner[A] Aitor González (ESP)
2003 Gilberto Simoni (ITA) (2/2)No winner[A] Roberto Heras (ESP) (2/4)
2004 Damiano Cunego (ITA)No winner[A] Roberto Heras (ESP) (3/4)
2005 Paolo Savoldelli (ITA) (2/2)No winner[A] Roberto Heras (ESP) (4/4)
2006 Ivan Basso (ITA) (1/2) Óscar Pereiro (ESP)[6] Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)
2007 Danilo Di Luca (ITA) Alberto Contador (ESP) (1/7) Denis Menchov (RUS) (1/2)
2008 Alberto Contador (ESP) (2/7) Carlos Sastre (ESP) Alberto Contador (ESP) (3/7)
2009 Denis Menchov (RUS) (2/2) Alberto Contador (ESP) (4/7) Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
2010 Ivan Basso (ITA) (2/2) Andy Schleck (LUX)[7] Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) (1/4)
2011 Michele Scarponi (ITA)[8] Cadel Evans (AUS) Chris Froome (GBR) (1/7)[9]
2012 Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) Bradley Wiggins (GBR) Alberto Contador (ESP) (5/7)
2013 Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) (2/4) Chris Froome (GBR) (2/7) Chris Horner (USA)
2014 Nairo Quintana (COL) (1/2) Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) (3/4) Alberto Contador (ESP) (6/7)
2015 Alberto Contador (ESP) (7/7) Chris Froome (GBR) (3/7) Fabio Aru (ITA)
2016 Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) (4/4) Chris Froome (GBR) (4/7) Nairo Quintana (COL) (2/2)
2017 Tom Dumoulin (NED) Chris Froome (GBR) (5/7) Chris Froome (GBR) (6/7)
2018 Chris Froome (GBR) (7/7) Geraint Thomas (GBR) Simon Yates (GBR)
2019 Richard Carapaz (ECU) Egan Bernal (COL) Primož Roglič (SLO) (1/2)
2020 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR) Tadej Pogačar (SLO) Primož Roglič (SLO) (2/2)

A. a b c d e f g Lance Armstrong was declared winner of seven consecutive tours from 1999 to 2005. However, in October 2012, he was stripped of all titles by the UCI for his use of performance-enhancing drugs. Organizers of the Tour de France announced that the winner's slot would remain empty in the record books, rather than transfer the win to the second-place finishers each year. However, in October 2014, the Tour de France resumed listing Armstrong as a previous winner of the tour, but with his name crossed out.[10]

Statistics

Most Grand Tour wins per rider

Rank Rider Total Tour Giro Vuelta
1  Eddy Merckx (BEL) 11 5 (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974) 5 (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974) 1 (1973)
2  Bernard Hinault (FRA) 10 5 (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985) 3 (1980, 1982, 1985) 2 (1978, 1983)
3  Jacques Anquetil (FRA) 8 5 (1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964) 2 (1960, 1964) 1 (1963)
4  Fausto Coppi (ITA) 7 2 (1949, 1952) 5 (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953)
 Miguel Indurain (ESP) 7 5 (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) 2 (1992, 1993)
 Alberto Contador (ESP) 7 2 (2007, 2009) 2 (2008, 2015) 3 (2008, 2012, 2014)
 Chris Froome (GBR) 7 4 (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) 1 (2018) 2 (2011, 2017)
8  Alfredo Binda (ITA) 5 5 (1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1933)
 Gino Bartali (ITA) 5 2 (1938, 1948) 3 (1936, 1937, 1946)
 Felice Gimondi (ITA) 5 1 (1965) 3 (1967, 1969, 1976) 1 (1968)
  • Active riders marked in bold.

Wins by country

Grand Tour general classification wins by country
Country Giro Tour Vuelta Total
 Italy 69 10 6 85
 France 6 36 9 51
 Spain 4 12 32 48
 Belgium 7 18 7 32
 Great Britain 2 6 3 11
  Switzerland 3 2 5 10
 Luxembourg 2 5 0 7
 United States 1 3 1 5
 Netherlands 1 2 2 5
 Colombia 1 1 2 4
 Germany 0 1 3 4
 Russia 3 0 1 4
 Ireland 1 1 1 3
 Slovenia 0 1 2 3
 Sweden 1 0 0 1
 Canada 1 0 0 1
 Ecuador 1 0 0 1
 Australia 0 1 0 1
 Denmark 0 1 0 1
 Kazakhstan 0 0 1 1

Winners of all three Grand Tours

Seven cyclists have won all three of the Grand Tours during their career:[11]

Hinault and Contador are the only cyclists to have won each Grand Tour at least twice.

Winners of three or more consecutive Grand Tours

Winners of multiple Grand Tours in a single year

No rider has won all three Grand Tours in a single year. Few have finished all three in a single year, of whom two finished in the top ten in each: Raphaël Géminiani (4th, 6th and 3rd in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta in 1955) and Gastone Nencini (1st, 6th and 9th in 1957).

Ten riders have achieved a double by winning two grand tours in the same calendar year.

Seven cyclists have won the Tour and the Giro in the same calendar year:[11]

The Tour/Vuelta double has been achieved by three cyclists:[11]

The Giro/Vuelta double has been achieved by three cyclists:[11]

Of the above ten, Pantani, Roche and Battaglin's doubles were their only Grand Tour victories in their careers.

Smallest margin between 1st and 2nd placed rider

The margins between the winner of a Grand Tour and the runner-up are often narrow, and rarely larger than a few minutes.

As of 2019, there have been 51 Grand Tours with a winning margin less than one minute. The smallest margins are as follows:

Rank Winner Time Runner-up Margin Race
1  Eric Caritoux (FRA) 90h 08' 03""  Alberto Fernández (ESP) +00h 00' 06" Vuelta a España (1984)
2  Greg LeMond (USA) 87h 38' 35""  Laurent Fignon (FRA) +00h 00' 08" Tour de France (1989)
3  José Manuel Fuente (ESP)

 Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)

86h 48' 18

124h 51' 52"

 Joaquim Agostinho (PRT)

 Ezio Cecchi (ITA)

+00h 00' 11" Vuelta a España (1974)

Giro d'Italia (1948)

5  Eddy Merckx (BEL) 113h 08' 13"  Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA) +00h 00' 12" Giro d'Italia (1974)
6  Angelo Conterno (ITA)

 Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)

105h 37' 52"

108h 56' 12"

 Jesús Loroño (ESP)

 Fausto Coppi (ITA)

+00h 00' 13" Vuelta a España (1956)

Giro d'Italia (1955)

8  Augustín Tamames (ESP) 88h 00" 56'  Domingo Perurena (ESP) +00h 00' 14" Vuelta a España (1975)
9  Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) 91h 39' 02"  Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) +00h 00' 16" Giro d'Italia (2012)

The biggest winning margin in a Grand Tour was 2h 59' 21" in Maurice Garin's win at the first Tour de France in 1903. The biggest margin in the history of Giro d'Italia was in 1914 when Alfonso Calzolari won by 1h 57' 26", and the biggest margin in the history of Vuelta a España was in 1945 when Delio Rodríguez finished 30' 08" clear.

Most mountains classification wins

The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by two riders – Federico Bahamontes and Luis Herrera.

Rank Rider Total Tour Giro Vuelta
1  Gino Bartali (ITA) 9 2 (1938, 1948) 7 (1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1947) 0
 Federico Bahamontes (ESP) 9 6 (1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964) 1 (1956) 2 (1957, 1958)
3  Lucien Van Impe (BEL) 8 6 (1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1983) 2 (1982, 1983) 0
4  Richard Virenque (FRA) 7 7 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004) 0 0

Most points classification wins

The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by five riders – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Mark Cavendish, Laurent Jalabert, Eddy Merckx and Alessandro Petacchi.

Rank Rider Total Tour Giro Vuelta
1  Erik Zabel (GER) 9 6 (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) 0 3 (2002, 2003, 2004)
2  Sean Kelly (IRL) 8 4 (1982, 1983, 1985, 1989) 0 4 (1980, 1985, 1986, 1988)
3  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) 7 2 (1992, 1995) 1 (1999) 4 (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997)
3  Peter Sagan (SVK) 7 7 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) 0 0
5  Eddy Merckx (BEL) 6 3 (1969, 1971, 1972) 2 (1968, 1973) 1 (1973)

Most young rider classification wins

The Tour/Giro double has been achieved by two riders – Nairo Quintana and Andy Schleck. The Giro/Vuelta double has been achieved by one rider – Miguel Ángel López.

Rank Rider Total Tour Giro Vuelta
1  Andy Schleck (LUX) 4 3 (2008, 2009, 2010) 1 (2007) 0
2  Jan Ullrich (GER) 3 3 (1996, 1997, 1998) 0 0
 Nairo Quintana (COL) 3 2 (2013, 2015) 1 (2014) 0
 Miguel Ángel López (COL) 3 0 2 (2018, 2019) 1 (2017)

Most Grand Tour stage wins

Three cyclists have won stages in all three of the Grand Tours in the same season: Miguel Poblet in 1956, Pierino Baffi in 1958 and Alessandro Petacchi in 2003.[12]

Cyclists whose names are in bold are still active.[13] This list is complete up to and including the 2019 Giro d'Italia.

Rank Rider Country Tour[14] Giro Vuelta Total
1Eddy Merckx Belgium3424664
2Mario Cipollini Italy1242357
3Mark Cavendish Great Britain3015348
Alessandro Petacchi Italy6222048
5Alfredo Binda Italy241043
6Bernard Hinault France286741
7Learco Guerra Italy831039
8Delio Rodríguez Spain003838
9Rik Van Looy Belgium7121837
10Freddy Maertens Belgium1571335
11Fausto Coppi Italy922031
12Costante Girardengo Italy030030
13Gino Bartali Italy1217029
14Marino Basso Italy615627
Francesco Moser Italy223227
16Guido Bontempi Italy616426
Raffaele Di Paco Italy1115026
Miguel Poblet Spain320326
19Franco Bitossi Italy421025
Laurent Jalabert France431825
André Leducq France250025
Rik Van Steenbergen Belgium415625
23Roger De Vlaeminck Belgium122124
Robbie McEwen Australia1212024
Giuseppe Saronni Italy024024
26André Darrigade France221023
27Jacques Anquetil France165122
Jean Paul van Poppel Netherlands94922
André Greipel Germany117422
30Charly Gaul Luxembourg1011021
Sean Kelly Ireland501621

The rider with the most Grand Tour wins in one season is Freddy Maertens who won 20 Grand Tour stages in 1977. After winning 13 (out of 19) stages in the Vuelta a España, he won 7 stages in the Giro d'Italia before abandoning the race with a broken wrist after a crash on the first of the two half-stages on the eight day of the race.

Grand Tour finishers

Only 35 riders have finished all three Grand Tours in one season. Adam Hansen has done this six times, Marino Lejarreta four times and Bernardo Ruiz achieved it in three different years, while Eduardo Chozas and Carlos Sastre have completed the accomplishment twice.[15][16]

The rider with most participations on Grand Tours is Matteo Tosatto with 34 (12 Tours, 13 Giros and 9 Vueltas). The rider who has finished most Grand Tours is also Matteo Tosatto, with 28 (12 Tours, 11 Giros and 5 Vueltas). Adam Hansen has finished the most consecutive Grand Tours: 20 tours from 2011 Vuelta a España till 2018 Giro d'Italia. The best average finish was the first time three Grand Tours were finished in one season, when Raphaël Géminiani finished 4th, 6th and 3rd in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta, respectively. Bernardo Ruiz was the first rider to ride every tour of a season on three occasions which he completed in 1957. Marino Lejarreta completed every grand tour of the season for the 4th time in 1991 and of these 12 tours he finished in the top 10 of eight of them. His record of 4 was not passed until Adam Hansen completed the Vuelta in 2016.

Rider Year Final GC position
Giro Tour Vuelta
Thomas De Gendt2019516056
Adam Hansen (6)20179311395
Alejandro Valverde20163612
Adam Hansen (5)201668100110
Sylvain Chavanel2015365447
Adam Hansen (4)20157711455
Adam Hansen (3)2014736453
Adam Hansen (2)2013727260
Adam Hansen20129481123
Sebastian Lang20115611377
Carlos Sastre (2)20108208
Julian Dean2009136121132
Marzio Bruseghin200832710
Erik Zabel2008804349
Mario Aerts2007207028
Carlos Sastre20064344
Giovanni Lombardi200588118114
Jon Odriozola2001586983
Mariano Piccoli1999385058
Guido Bontempi1992407562
Neil Stephens1992577466
Eduardo Chozas (2)1991101111
Marco Giovannetti199183018
Marino Lejarreta (4)19915533
Inaki Gaston1991236114
Alberto Leanizbarrutia1991643944
Vladimir Poulnikov1991118866
Valerio Tebaldi1991478987
Eduardo Chozas199011633
Marino Lejarreta (3)19907555
Marino Lejarreta (2)198910520
Luis Javier Lukin1988328260
Marino Lejarreta198741034
Philippe Poissonnier1985869066
José Luis Uribezubia1971295027
Jose Manuel Fuente1971397254
Federico Bahamontes19581786
Pierino Baffi1958236337
Mario Baroni1957745346
Gastone Nencini1957169
Bernardo Ruiz (3)195755243
Arrigo Padovan1956122619
Bernardo Ruiz (2)1956387031
José Serra195626819
Raphaël Géminiani1955463
Bernardo Ruiz1955282214
Louis Caput1955685455

References

  1. "UCI Cycling regulations—Part 2: Road Races" (PDF). January 1, 2017. p. 64. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  2. "UCI Cycling regulations". p. 41. Archived from the original on 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  3. McMahon, Daniel. "Tour de France, world's biggest annual sporting event, is an amazing race and breathtaking logistical feat". Business Insider.
  4. "Tony Rominger". Cycling Hall of Fame.com. 1961-03-27. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  5. Riche, Antoine (19 March 2005). "Doubler deux Grands Tours revient à la mode" (in French). CyclisMag. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  6. Later declared the legitimate winner
  7. Later declared the legitimate winner
  8. Later declared the legitimate winner
  9. Later declared the legitimate winner
  10. "Tour de France shorts: Armstrong is back, an Alpine Etape du Tour". Cyclingnews.com.
  11. "Historical Results – The Grand Tours". Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  12. "Petacchi equals Poblet and Baffi". cyclingnews.com. September 9, 2003.
  13. "Giro d'Italia 2009" (pdf). Infostrada sports. 2009. p. 208. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  14. "Le Tour en chiffres : Les vainqueurs d'étapes" (PDF). ASO. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  15. L'impresa di Adam Hansen: completati Giro, Tour e Vuelta in un anno, Spazio Ciclismo, 9. sept. 2012
  16. "Tour Xtra: Tour Records". cvccbike.com.
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