The Grand Tours are the three most prestigious multi-week stage races in professional road bicycle racing.[1][2] The competitions are the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España, contested annually in that order. They are the only stage races permitted to last longer than 14 days.[3]
The Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España are collectively known as the Grand Tours of cycling. The oldest of the races, the Tour, began in 1903, while the Giro first started in 1909 and the Vuelta in 1935. The modern editions of the races all consist of 21 days of racing with two rest days spread throughout race calendar, giving riders at most 63 chances to win a stage in a Grand Tour each year.
Winning a stage in a Grand Tour is a significant achievement and winning a stage in each Grand Tour is a rare feat that only 112 riders have achieved in their careers. Fiorenzo Magni was the first rider to win a stage in each Grand Tour with his victory in the stage 7 individual time trial at the 1955 Vuelta a España.[4] The most recent rider to accomplish this task was Ben O'Connor after he won stage 6 of the 2024 Vuelta a España.[5]
Cyclists are ranked on the basis of their total stage wins in the three Grand Tours. When there is a tie between cyclists they are listed alphabetically. The majority of stage winners across the three tours have come from Europe, however, there have been a few non-European cyclists who have accomplished this feat. Colombian Luis Herrera was the first non-European rider to win a stage in each of the Grand Tours when he completed the triple with his victory in stage 13 at the 1989 Giro d'Italia. The first North American to complete this feat is Tyler Hamilton. American Tyler Farrar became the only other North American to do so with his victory in stage 3 of the 2011 Tour de France. Simon Gerrans became the first person from the Southern Hemisphere to win a stage at each Grand Tour with his victory at the 2009 Vuelta a España in tenth leg. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov is the only Asian cyclist on the list.
Eddy Merckx, with 64 victories, has won the most stages at the Grand Tours. Mario Cipollini is second with 57, Mark Cavendish is third with 55. Cavendish has won the most Tour stages with 35, while Cipollini leads the tally for career stage wins at the Giro d'Italia with 42 to his name. Delio Rodríguez has the most stage wins in the history of the Vuelta a España (39 stages) but he failed to win any stages in the Tour de France or Giro d'Italia and is thus not represented in this list.[6]
List
[edit]![A man wear a cycling jersey near a bike.](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Eddy_Merckx_Molteni_1973.jpg/220px-Eddy_Merckx_Molteni_1973.jpg)
![A white man wearing glasses and a blue shirt.](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Bernard_Hinault_-_Crit%C3%A9rium_du_Dauphin%C3%A9_2012_-_Prologue.jpg/220px-Bernard_Hinault_-_Crit%C3%A9rium_du_Dauphin%C3%A9_2012_-_Prologue.jpg)
![A man wearing a suit without a tie.](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Jean-Paul_van_Poppel.jpg/220px-Jean-Paul_van_Poppel.jpg)
![A portrait of a man with black hair.](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1987-0515-035%2C_Dshamolidin_Abdushaparow.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1987-0515-035%2C_Dshamolidin_Abdushaparow.jpg)
![A man in a suit with his hands behind his back.](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Federico_Bahamontes_%281962%29.jpg/220px-Federico_Bahamontes_%281962%29.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Mark_Cavendish_during_2012_giro_ditalia.jpg/220px-Mark_Cavendish_during_2012_giro_ditalia.jpg)
Riders in bold are still active.
Calendar year
[edit]An ever rarer accomplishment is to win a stage at all the Grand Tours in one single calendar year. This feat has only been accomplished by three riders in history. The first rider was Spain's Miguel Poblet who won a total of eight stages at all three Grand Tours in 1956. Two years later, Pierino Baffi won six stages between all three Grand Tours. The third, and most recent, rider was Italian cyclist Alessandro Petacchi who won fifteen stages at the Grand Tours in 2003.
Year | Cyclist | Country | Giro stage wins | Tour stage wins | Vuelta stage wins | Total | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Miguel Poblet | ![]() |
4 | 1 | 3 | 8 | [1][75] |
1958 | Pierino Baffi | ![]() |
1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | [1][75] |
2003 | Alessandro Petacchi | ![]() |
6 | 4 | 5 | 15 | [1][75] |
Doping
[edit]![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Ullrich.jpg/220px-Ullrich.jpg)
Four more riders (David Zabriskie, Jan Ullrich, Leonardo Piepoli and Alberto Contador) have won stages in all three Grand Tours, but all were retroactively stripped of stage wins.
- Jan Ullrich won seven individual stages at the Tour de France during his career and two stages in the 1999 Vuelta a España.[76] He won an individual time trial at the 2006 Giro d'Italia but was later stripped of his results from May 2005 to June 2006 by the Court of Arbitration for Sports for his involvement in the Operación Puerto doping case.[77][78]
- Alberto Contador is one of seven riders who won the general classification at all Grand Tours. Contador won two stages and the general classification of the 2011 Giro d'Italia, but lost his 2011 results due to a positive test for clenbuterol in the 2010 Tour de France.[79] The CAS initially suspended Contador on 25 January 2011, but he appealed the decision, allowing him to compete in the 2011 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. He lost his appeal on 6 February 2012 and was given a two-year ban with retroactive effect, starting from the day of his positive doping test on 21 July 2010, and was thereby stripped of his Giro results.[80] Contador also won the Giro d'Italia in 2008 and 2015, but did so without winning a stage on both occasions.
References
[edit]- Citations
- ^ a b c d Heijmans & Mallon 2011, p. 95.
- ^ "Million dollar, baby!". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 12 January 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ "UCI Cycling Regulations". Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Archived from the original (ASP) on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- ^ "The Grand Tour hat-trick: A stage win in each". Irish Peloton. 18 June 2012.
- ^ a b "Tour d'Espagne : Ben O'Connor s'impose avec la manière et prend le maillot rouge à Yunquera" [Tour of Spain: Ben O'Connor wins in style and takes the red jersey in Yunquera]. Le Figaro (in French). Groupe Figaro. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
O'Connor, désormais vainqueur d'étape sur les trois Grands Tours [...]
[O'Connor, now a stage winner in the three Grand Tours [...]] - ^ CyclingWeekly (2007-09-13). "PETACCHI RACKS UP THE WINS IN THE VUELTA". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Limited. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ "Most stage wins at Giro d'Italia". Pro Cycling Stats. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "Most stage wins at the Tour de France". Pro Cycling Stats. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "Most stage wins at Vuelta a España". Pro Cycling Stats. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "Mario Cipollini". SR/Olympic Sports. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
- ^ Heijmans & Mallon 2011, p. 49.
- ^ a b Birnie, Lionel (9 September 2010). "Cavendish completes the set of grand tour stage wins". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- ^ Poole, Harry (3 July 2024). "Cavendish breaks Tour de France stage record". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "Petacchi confirms retirement from cycling". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ Heijmans & Mallon 2011, p. 160.
- ^ Davidson, Tom (5 May 2024). "Tadej Pogačar crashes, remounts to win Giro d'Italia stage two and take pink jersey". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
The 25-year-old now joins an exclusive club of riders who have won stages at all three Grand Tours.
- ^ Ostanek, Dani (21 July 2024). "Tour de France: Tadej Pogačar punctuates third GC title with dominant stage 21 win in Nice". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
- ^ "Report". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 1999-05-18. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ Heijmans & Mallon 2011, p. 222-223.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (12 July 2011). "Greipel defeats Cavendish for stage win in Carmaux". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ Long, Jonny (15 June 2019). "André Greipel quits Critérium du Dauphiné with stomach virus, which could put his Tour de France at risk". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
Despite having 11 Tour de France stage wins to his name, his last victory in the race came two years ago on the Champs-Élysees, and the 36-year-old has struggled to find the form that has seen him pick up a total of 22 Grand Tour stage wins.
- ^ Ostanek, Dani (3 September 2019). "Vuelta a España: Roglič wins Pau time trial". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
- ^ "Roglic wins stage to close on Vuelta leader O'Connor". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 August 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
- ^ Lowe, Felix (13 October 2020). "Giro d'Italia 2020 - Peter Sagan pulls off sensational win on Stage 10 after Covid drama". Eurosport. Discovery, Inc. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
The 30-year-old Bora-Hansgrohe rider also became the 100th rider in history to have notched victories in all three of cycling's major stage races – the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro d'Italia.
- ^ Cash, Dane (17 May 2021). "Peter Sagan wins stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia". CyclingTips. CyclingTips Media Pty Ltd. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
Rounding onto the finishing straight with 100 meters to go, Sagan pulled into the lead and he held on through to the finish line to claim the 18th Grand Tour stage win of his career.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (24 May 2016). "Giro d'Italia: Valverde takes comfort from stage win and podium spot". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ Benson, Daniel (30 August 2019). "Vuelta a Espana: Valverde wins stage 7". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ Cary, Tom (6 July 2014). "Tour de France 2014: Vincenzo Nibali wins second stage after launching late attack in Sheffield". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- ^ MacLeary, John (27 July 2019). "Egan Bernal on verge of Tour de France history as Colombian all but seals title after Vincenzo Nibali wins in mountains". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- ^ "Joaquim Rodríguez". ProCyclingStats.
- ^ Tim Maloney (2000-07-05). "Wüst pounces Zabel for first ever Tour stage win". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ "Alex Zülle". SR/Olympic Sports. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
- ^ Heijmans & Mallon 2011, p. 250.
- ^ Shane Stokes (2008-05-12). "Bennati completes good day for Liquigas, Pellizotti holds on". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ "Report". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 1999-05-17. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ Brown, Gregor (17 July 2019). "Long-awaited Tour de France victory lifts pressure off Caleb Ewan". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
He now counts wins in all three Grand Tours.
- ^ Benson, Daniel; Ostanek, Dani (14 May 2021). "Giro d'Italia: Caleb Ewan wins another on stage 7". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
- ^ "Tour de France 2011: Philippe Gilbert wins first stage". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 July 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ Windsor, Richard (12 September 2019). "Philippe Gilbert's rapid Vuelta a España stage victory sets new record". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (15 May 2012). "Rodriguez's uphill attack gets him Giro d'Italia lead". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
- ^ "Tour de France 2020: Sam Bennett claims first stage win as Primoz Roglic retains lead". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
Bennett's victory saw him become the sixth Irishman to win a stage at the Tour de France and ensured he now has stage wins at all three of cycling's Grand Tours.
- ^ McLaughlin, Luke (21 August 2022). "Sam Bennett sprints to stage three win and doubles up at Vuelta a España". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ "Tour de France 2016: Michael Matthews pips Peter Sagan to clinch 'dream' stage win". Talksport. Wireless Group. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
Matthews has now won stages in all three Grand Tours.
- ^ Ostanek, Dani (8 May 2023). "Giro d'Italia: Michael Matthews claims stage 3 sprint". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ "Tour de France 2019: Simon Yates claims maiden stage win". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
He has now won stages at all three Grand Tours, having previously won at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana.
- ^ "Giro d'Italia: Simon Yates wins stage 14 as Richard Carapaz takes lead from Juan Pedro Lopez". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ "Giro d'Italia: Magnus Cort beats weather to win stage 10 as Thomas stays in pink". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Associated Press. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
The victory completed a Grand Tour set of stage wins for the Danish rider Cort, who has previously won six stages at the Vuelta a España and two in the Tour de France.
- ^ "Giro 2024. Julian Alaphilippe dans le cercle fermé des vainqueurs d'étape sur les trois Grands Tours" [Giro 2024. Julian Alaphilippe in the closed circle of stage winners on the three Grand Tours]. Ouest-France (in French). Groupe Sipa - Ouest-France. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
Avec cette consécration, il est au passage devenu le 109e coureur de l'histoire à remporter au minimum une étape sur chacun des trois Grands Tours (Espagne, France et Italie).
[With this consecration, he became the 109th rider in history to win at least one stage on each of the three Grand Tours (Spain, France and Italy).] - ^ "Paolo Bettini". SR/Olympic Sports. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
- ^ Whittle, Jeremy (5 July 2024). "Tour de France: Remco Evenepoel powers to stage seven time trial victory". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
But the 24-year-old world time trial champion, now a winner of stages in all three Grand Tours [...]
- ^ Andrew Hood (2009-05-13). "Menchov wins stage 5; Di Luca in pink". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (29 August 2016). "Vuelta a Espana: Nairo Quintana wins stage 10". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ Benson, Daniel (25 August 2019). "Vuelta a Espana: Quintana wins stage 2". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ "Vuelta a Espana: Trentin wins stage 4". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors) won stage 4 of the Vuelta a España with a cool sprint in a messy finale in Tarragona, joining the club of riders with stage wins in all three Grand Tours.
- ^ "Tour de France 2019: Matteo Trentin wins stage 17 as Julian Alaphilippe stays in yellow jersey". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ Henry, Matthew (17 July 2024). "Carapaz earns first Tour win on stage 17". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ Velonews.com (2011-07-04). "Farrar first on the Fourth, wins stage 3 of the 2011 Tour de France". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ "Mads Pedersen ontploft aan de voet van de Vesuvius, hartzeer voor de vluchters" [Mads Pedersen explodes at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, heartache for the escapees]. Sporza (in Dutch). Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ Becket, Adam (8 July 2023). "Mads Pedersen powers to victory on stage eight of the Tour de France 2023". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (9 September 2018). "Pinot completes Grand Tour stage victory set at Vuelta a Espana". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ Long, Jonny (20 July 2019). "Thibaut Pinot takes stage 14 Tour de France victory as Alaphilippe gains time on Thomas". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ O'Shea, Sadhbh (8 September 2017). "Vuelta a Espana: De Gendt takes Grand Tour stage triptych". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ "Geen tweede dagsucces voor Mathieu van der Poel: Thomas De Gendt wint Giro-rit in Napels" [No second day success for Mathieu van der Poel: Thomas De Gendt wins Giro stage in Naples]. De Gelderlander (in Dutch). DPG Media. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
- ^ Tim Maloney (2003-07-25). "Lastras blasts to second iBanesto stage victory". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (26 May 2021). "Giro d'Italia: Bernal shows weakness on the Sega di Ala as Dan Martin wins stage". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
Martin has now won stages in all three Grand Tours.
- ^ Bonville-Ginn, Tim (2 July 2021). "Matej Mohorič solos to epic victory on Tour de France 2021 stage seven as Van der Poel holds onto yellow". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) kicked away on the first climb and then stayed out in front dropping everyone who joined him to solo to the line and complete his set of stage wins at all three Grand Tours.
- ^ "Matej Mohoric pours the triple". Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ "Stage 13 Report". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 1995-07-18. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ "Biescas - Aramón Formigal". Eurosport France (in French). Discovery, Inc. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
Ion Izagirre (Astana) va devenir le 101e coureur de l'histoire à remporter une étape sur les trois Grands Tours. [Ion Izagirre (Astana) will become the 101st rider in history to win a stage on the three Grand Tours.]
- ^ "Tour de France: Ion Izagirre cruises to stage 12 win as Jonas Vingegaard retains lead". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (7 September 2022). "'Attack now or lose' - Rigoberto Urán completes set of Grand Tour stage wins at Vuelta". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ Anthony Tan (2009-07-25). "Garate grabs emphatic Ventoux victory". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ "Corredores: HAMILTON Tyler" [Riders: HAMILTON Tyler]. Vuelta a España (in Spanish). Unipublic. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ "Lennard Kämna realiseert triple, amper afscheiding tussen favorieten na modderfarce op slotklim" [Lennard Kämna achieves triple, barely separating favorites after mud farce on final climb]. Sporza (in Dutch). VRT. 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- ^ a b c Jeff Jones (2009-09-03). "Petacchi equals Poblet and Baffi". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
- ^ "Stage 20, El Tiemblo – Avila, ITT, 46 kms". Cycling News. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ "Jan Ullrich found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS)" (PDF). Press Release. Court of Arbitration for Sport. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "Jan Ullrich given two-year ban from CAS". Cyclingnews. Future Publishing limited. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "Alberto Contador found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS): suspension of two years" (PDF). The Court of Arbitration for Sport. 6 February 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ "CAS sanctions Contador with two year ban in clenbutorol case". Cyclingnews. Future Publishing Limited. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- Bibliography
- Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill (2011). Historical Dictionary of Cycling. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7369-8.