Yellow jersey statistics

Since the first Tour de France in 1903, there have been 2,205 stages, up to and including the final stage of the 2021 Tour de France. Since 1919, the race leader following each stage has been awarded the yellow jersey (French: Maillot jaune).

See also: Tour de France records and statistics

Yellow Jersey won by Miguel Induráin, collection KOERS. Museum of Cycle Racing.

Although the leader of the classification after a stage gets a yellow jersey, he is not considered the winner of the yellow jersey, only the wearer. Only after the final stage, the wearer of the yellow jersey is considered the winner of the yellow jersey, and thereby the winner of the Tour de France.

In this article first-place-classifications before 1919 are also counted as if a yellow jersey was awarded. There have been more yellow jerseys given than there were stages: In 1914,[1] 1929,[2] and 1931,[3] there were multiple cyclists with the same leading time, and the 1988 Tour de France had a "prelude",[4] an extra stage for a select group of cyclists. As of 2021 a total of 2,208 yellow jerseys have been awarded in the Tour de France to 295 riders.

Individual records
In addition to winning the general classification five times, Eddy Merckx has ridden the most days wearing the yellow jersey

In previous tours, sometimes a stage was broken in two (or three). On such occasions, only the cyclist leading at the end of the day is counted. The "Jerseys" column lists the number of days that the cyclist wore the yellow jersey; the "Tour wins" column gives the number of times the cyclist won the general classification. The next four columns indicate the number of times the rider won the points classification, the King of the Mountains classification, and the young rider competition, and the years in which the yellow jersey was worn, with bold years indicating an overall Tour win. For example: Eddy Merckx has spent 96 days in the yellow jersey, won the general classification five times, won the points classification three times, and won the mountains classification twice, but never won the young rider classification.[5] He wore the yellow jersey in the Tours of 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 (which he all won) and 1975 (which he did not win). Three cyclists (Jean Robic in 1947, Charly Gaul in 1958 and Jan Janssen in 1968) have won the Tour de France with only two yellow jerseys in their career.

Until the results of Lance Armstrong were annulled for cheating in 2012, he was ranked second in this list, leading the Tour for 83 stages from 1999 to 2005. Alberto Contador was stripped of the yellow jersey and 6 days of wearing it in 2010 Tour de France because he tested positive for doping.

Fabian Cancellara is, as of 2022, the rider with the most yellow jerseys for someone who has not won the Tour with twenty-nine days in yellow.

This table is updated to the last stage of the 2023 Tour de France (i.e. the stage is included).

Key
Cyclists who are still active
Cyclists who won the Tour de France
RankNameCountryYellow
jerseys		Tour wins
Points
Mountains
Young rider
Years
1Eddy Merckx Belgium9653201969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975
2Bernard Hinault France7551101978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986
3Miguel Induráin Spain6050001991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
4Chris Froome United Kingdom5940102013, 2015, 2016, 2017
5Jacques Anquetil France5050001957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
6Antonin Magne France3820001931, 1934
= 7Nicolas Frantz[n 1] Luxembourg3720001927, 1928, 1929
= 7Philippe Thys[n 2] Belgium3730001913, 1914, 1920
9André Leducq[n 1] France3520001929, 1930, 1932, 1938
= 10Louison Bobet France3430101948, 1953, 1954, 1955
= 10Ottavio Bottecchia Italy3420001923, 1924, 1925
12Fabian Cancellara  Switzerland2900002004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015
13Jonas Vingegaard Denmark2720102022, 2023
= 14Sylvère Maes Belgium2620101936, 1937, 1939
= 14René Vietto France2600101939, 1947
16François Faber Luxembourg2510001909, 1910, 1911
= 17Laurent Fignon France2220011983, 1984, 1989
= 17Greg LeMond United States2230011986, 1989, 1990, 1991
= 17Joop Zoetemelk Netherlands2210001971, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1980
= 20Romain Maes Belgium2110001935
= 20Tadej Pogačar Slovenia2120242020, 2021, 2022
= 22Gino Bartali Italy2020201937, 1938, 1948, 1949
= 22Thomas Voeckler France2000102004, 2011
= 24Fausto Coppi Italy1920201949, 1952
= 24André Darrigade France1902001956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962
= 24Vincenzo Nibali Italy1910002014
= 27Julian Alaphilippe France1800102019, 2020, 2021
= 27Felice Gimondi Italy1810001965
= 27Jan Ullrich Germany1810031997, 1998
= 30Rudi Altig Germany1701001962, 1964, 1966, 1969
= 30Luis Ocaña Spain1710001971, 1973
= 30Lucien Petit-Breton France1720001907, 1908
= 30Roger Pingeon France1710001967
= 34Odile Defraye Belgium1610001912, 1913
= 34Maurice De Waele Belgium1610001929
= 34Bernard Thévenet France1620001975, 1977
= 37Pedro Delgado[n 3] Spain1510001987, 1988
= 37Geraint Thomas United Kingdom1510002017, 2018
= 37Dietrich Thurau Germany1500011977
= 40Maurice Archambaud France1400001933, 1936
= 40Steve Bauer Canada1400001988, 1990
= 40Gastone Nencini Italy1410101960
= 40Bjarne Riis Denmark1410001995, 1996
= 40Léon Scieur Belgium1410001921
= 40Bradley Wiggins United Kingdom1410002012
= 46Eugène Christophe France1300001919, 1922
= 46Gustave Garrigou France1310001911
= 46René Pottier France1310001905, 1906
= 46Andy Schleck[n 4] Luxembourg1310032010, 2011
= 46Georges Speicher France1310001933, 1934
= 51Vincent Barteau France1200001984
= 51Joseph Bruyère Belgium1200001974, 1978
= 51Ferdinand Kübler  Switzerland1211001947, 1950
= 51Antonin Rolland France1200001955
= 51Louis Trousselier France1210001905, 1907
= 51Lucien Van Impe Belgium1210601976
= 51Wout Wagtmans Netherlands1200001954, 1955, 1956
= 58Alberto Contador Spain1120012007, 2009
= 58Gilbert Desmet Belgium1100001956, 1963
= 58Hugo Koblet  Switzerland1110001951
= 58Primož Roglič Slovenia1100002020
= 58Greg Van Avermaet Belgium1100002016, 2018
= 58Georges Vandenberghe Belgium1100001968
= 64Kim Andersen Denmark1000001983, 1985
= 64Thor Hushovd Norway1002002004, 2006, 2011
= 64Pascal Lino France1000001992
= 67Phil Anderson Australia900011981, 1982
= 67Georges Groussard France900001964
= 67Freddy Maertens Belgium902001976
= 67Fiorenzo Magni Italy900001949, 1950, 1952
= 67Stuart O'Grady Australia900001998, 2001
= 67Henri Pélissier France910001919, 1923
= 67Michael Rasmussen Denmark900202007
= 74Lucien Buysse Belgium810001926
= 74Claudio Chiappucci Italy800201990
= 74Cadel Evans Australia810002008, 2010, 2011
= 74Emile Georget France800001906, 1907
= 74Gerrie Knetemann Netherlands800001978, 1979, 1980, 1981
= 74Rinaldo Nocentini Italy800002009
= 74Óscar Pereiro[n 5] Spain810002006
= 74Rudy Pevenage Belgium801001980
= 74Roger Walkowiak France810001956
= 74Adam Yates United Kingdom800002020, 2023
= 84Jan Adriaensens Belgium700001956, 1960
= 84Federico Bahamontes Spain710601959, 1963
= 84Bernard Gauthier France700001950
= 84Igor González de Galdeano Spain700002002
= 84Learco Guerra Italy700001930
= 84Erich Maechler  Switzerland700001987
= 84Thierry Marie France700001986, 1990, 1991
= 84Charly Mottet France700001987
= 84Marco Pantani Italy710021998
= 84Jef Planckaert Belgium700001962
= 84Pascal Simon France700001983
= 84Gustaaf van Slembrouck Belgium700001926
= 96Lucien Aimar France610001966
= 96Chris Boardman United Kingdom600001994, 1997, 1998
= 96Robert Cazala France600001959
= 96Mario Cipollini Italy600001993, 1997
= 96Vito Favero Italy600001958
= 96Maurice Garin France610001903
= 96Cyrille Guimard France600001972
= 96Kim Kirchen Luxembourg600002008
= 96Jaan Kirsipuu Estonia600001999
= 96Roger Lévêque France600001951
= 96Jean Majerus Luxembourg600001937, 1938
= 96Jacques Marinelli France600001949
= 96Francesco Moser Italy600011975
= 96Fritz Schaer  Switzerland601001953
= 96Mathieu van der Poel Netherlands600002021
= 96Herman Van Springel Belgium601001968, 1973
= 96Félicien Vervaecke Belgium600201938
= 113Jean Alavoine France500001922
= 113Adelin Benoit Belgium500001925
= 113Firmin Lambot Belgium520001919, 1922
= 113Jean Malléjac France500001953
= 113Johan Museeuw Belgium500001993, 1994
= 113Jørgen V. Pedersen Denmark500001986
= 113Francis Pélissier France500001927
= 113Carlos Sastre Spain510102008
= 113Bernard Van de Kerkhove Belgium500001964, 1965
= 113Eric Vanderaerden Belgium501001983, 1985
= 113Cédric Vasseur France500001997
= 124Gilbert Bauvin France400001951, 1954, 1958
= 124Tom Boonen Belgium401002006
= 124José Catieau France400001973
= 124Alberto Elli Italy400002000
= 124Raphaël Géminiani France400101958
= 124Roger Hassenforder France400001953
= 124Jos Hoevenaers Belgium400001958, 1959
= 124Robert Jacquinot France400001922, 1923
= 124Laurent Jalabert France402201995, 2000
= 124Karl-Heinz Kunde Germany400001966
= 124Roger Lapébie France410001937
= 124Nello Lauredi France400001952
= 124Hector Martin Belgium400001927
= 124Raffaele di Paco[n 6] Italy400001931
= 124Eddy Pauwels Belgium400001959, 1963
= 124Jean Rossius[n 2] Belgium400001914
= 124Peter Sagan Slovakia407002016, 2018
= 124Acácio da Silva Portugal400001989
= 124Rolf Sørensen Denmark400001991
= 124Wout van Aert Belgium401002022
= 124Wim van Est Netherlands400001951, 1955, 1958
= 124Gerrit Voorting Netherlands400001956, 1958
= 124Italo Zilioli Italy400001970
= 124Alex Zülle  Switzerland400001992, 1996
= 148Erich Bautz Germany300001937
= 148Egan Bernal Colombia310012019
= 148Henri Cornet France310001904
= 148Bim Diederich Luxembourg300001951
= 148Aimé Dossche Belgium300001929
= 148Seamus Elliott Ireland300001963
= 148Jean Goldschmit Luxembourg300001950
= 148Stéphane Heulot France300001996
= 148Serhiy Honchar Ukraine300002006
= 148Roger Lambrecht Belgium300001948, 1949
= 148Floyd Landis United States300002006
= 148Octave Lapize France310001910
= 148Bradley McGee Australia300002003
= 148David Millar United Kingdom300002000
= 148Wilfried Nelissen Belgium300001993
= 148Jelle Nijdam Netherlands300001987, 1988
= 148Charles Pélissier[n 6] France300001930, 1931
= 148Víctor Hugo Peña Colombia300002003
= 148René Privat France300001957
= 148Jan Raas[n 7] Netherlands300001978
= 148Stephen Roche Ireland310001987
= 148Willy Schroeders Belgium300001962
= 148François Simon France300002001
= 148Julien Stevens Belgium300001969
= 148Teun van Vliet Netherlands300001988
= 148Michel Vermeulin France300001959
= 148David Zabriskie United States300002005
= 175Henry Anglade France200001960
= 175Fabio Aru Italy200002017
= 175Jan Bakelants Belgium200002013
= 175Romain Bellenger France200001923
= 175Rubens Bertogliati  Switzerland200002002
= 175Eugeni Berzin Russia200001996
= 175Pierre Brambilla Italy200101947
= 175Jules Buysse Belgium200001926
= 175Marcel Buysse Belgium200001913
= 175Sylvain Chavanel France200002010
= 175Giulio Ciccone Italy200102019
= 175Charles Crupelandt France200001910, 1912
= 175Raymond Delisle France200001976
= 175Laurent Desbiens France200001998
= 175Jacky Durand France200001995
= 175Victor Fontan[n 1] France200001929
= 175Jean Fontenay France200001939
= 175Jean Forestier France201001957
= 175Charly Gaul Luxembourg210201958
= 175Martial Gayant France200001987
= 175Albertus Geldermans Netherlands200001962
= 175Simon Gerrans Australia200002013
= 175Ivan Gotti Italy200001995
= 175Charly Grosskost France200001968
= 175Jacques Hanegraaf Netherlands200001984
= 175Daryl Impey South Africa200002013
= 175Jan Janssen Netherlands213001966, 1968
= 175Gerben Karstens Netherlands200001974
= 175Marcel Kittel Germany200002013, 2014
= 175Georges Lemaire Belgium200001933
= 175Tony Martin Germany200002015
= 175Jules Masselis Belgium200001911, 1913
= 175Christophe Moreau France200002001
= 175Louis Mottiat Belgium200001920, 1921
= 175Georges Passerieu France200001908
= 175Ludo Peeters Belgium200001982, 1984
= 175Ronan Pensec France200001990
= 175Lech Piasecki Poland200001987
= 175Jean Robic France210001947, 1953
= 175Aldo Ronconi Italy200001947
= 175Fränk Schleck Luxembourg200002008
= 175Edward Sels Belgium200001964
= 175Mike Teunissen Netherlands200002019
= 175Klaus-Peter Thaler Germany200001978
= 175Alejandro Valverde Spain200002008
= 175Johan van der Velde Netherlands200011986
= 175Rik Van Steenbergen Belgium200001952
= 175Flavio Vanzella Italy200001994
= 175Richard Virenque France200701992, 2003
= 175Jens Voigt Germany200002001, 2005
= 175Rolf Wolfshohl Germany200001968
= 175Erik Zabel Germany206001998, 2002
= 227Jean Aerts Belgium100001932
= 227Nicolas Barone France100001957
= 227François Beaugendre France100001904
= 227Jean-François Bernard France100001987
= 227Jean-René Bernaudeau France100011979
= 227Yvon Bertin France100001980
= 227Serafino Biagioni Italy100001951
= 227Guido Bontempi Italy100001988[n 8]
= 227Vicenzo Borgarello Italy100001912
= 227Jacques Bossis France100001978
= 227Erik Breukink Netherlands100011989
= 227Johan Bruyneel Belgium100001995
= 227Max Bulla Austria100001931
= 227Norbert Callens Belgium100001949
= 227Andrea Carrea Italy100001952
= 227Mark Cavendish United Kingdom102002016
= 227Rohan Dennis Australia100002015
= 227Cyril Dessel France100002006
= 227Ferdinand Le Drogo France100001927
= 227Marcel Dussault France100001949
= 227Paul Egli  Switzerland100001936
= 227Jan Engels Belgium100001948
= 227José María Errandonea Spain100001967
= 227Romain Feillu France100002008
= 227Amédée Fournier France100001939
= 227Michel Frédérick  Switzerland100001904
= 227Dominique Gaigne France100001986
= 227Tony Gallopin France100002014
= 227Jean-Louis Gauthier France100001983
= 227Fernando Gaviria Colombia100002018
= 227Jean-Pierre Genet France100001968
= 227Linus Gerdemann Germany100002007
= 227Philippe Gilbert Belgium100002011
= 227Joseph Groussard France100001960
= 227Alfred Haemerlinck Belgium100001931
= 227Bo Hamburger Denmark100001998
= 227Hector Heusghem Belgium100001922
= 227George Hincapie United States100002006
= 227Jai Hindley Australia100002023
= 227Sean Kelly Ireland104001983
= 227Marcel Kint Belgium100001937
= 227Alexander Kristoff Norway100002020
= 227Yves Lampaert Belgium100002022
= 227Jean-Claude Lebaube France100001966
= 227Luc Leblanc France100001991
= 227Léon Le Calvez France100001931
= 227Désiré Letort France100001969
= 227Emile Lombard Belgium100001904
= 227Henk Lubberding Netherlands100011988
= 227François Mahé France100001953
= 227Robbie McEwen Australia103002004
= 227Arsène Mersch Luxembourg100001936
= 227Giovanni Micheletto Italy100001913
= 227Frédéric Moncassin France100001996
= 227Jean-Patrick Nazon France100002003
= 227Willi Oberbeck Germany100001938
= 227Miguel Poblet Spain100001955
= 227Giancarlo Polidori Italy100001967
= 227Tommaso de Pra Italy100001966
= 227Gaston Rebry Belgium100001929
= 227Raymond Riotte France100001967
= 227Giovanni Rossi  Switzerland100001951
= 227Gregorio San Miguel Spain100001968
= 227Tom Simpson United Kingdom100001962
= 227Jozef Spruyt Belgium100001967
= 227Alex Stieda Canada100001986
= 227Kurt Stöpel Germany100001932
= 227Adri van der Poel Netherlands100001984
= 227Cyrille van Hauwaert Belgium100001909
= 227Rik Van Looy Belgium101001965
= 227Willy Van Neste Belgium100001967
= 227Marc Wauters Belgium100002001
= 227Sean Yates United Kingdom100001994

Number of wearers per year

The largest number of riders wearing the yellow jersey in any year is 8. The smallest is 1.

Number of wearersYears
11903, 1924, 1928, 1935, 1999,[n 9] 2005[n 10]
21905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1925, 1934, 1961, 1970, 1972, 1977, 2012
31907, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1926, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1954, 1965, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1985, 2000,[n 11] 2002,[n 12] 2009, 2014, 2017, 2021, 2023
41904, 1923, 1927, 1936, 1939, 1948, 1950, 1960, 1969, 1973, 1979, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2003,[n 13] 2004,[n 14] 2007, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022
51913, 1922, 1938, 1947, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1980, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2001,[n 15] 2011, 2013, 2020
61929, 1931, 1937, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1966, 1967, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1995, 2008
71949, 1951, 1962, 1968, 1978, 1986, 1998, 2006
81958, 1987

Notes
  1. In 1929, Nicolas Frantz (LUX), André Leducq (FRA) and Victor Fontan (FRA) were all three declared leader after the 7th stage.[2]
  2. In 1914, Philippe Thys and Jean Rossius were both declared leader for 4 days.[1]
  3. In 1988, on 19 July, there were two stages. Other than the split stages that the Tour de France saw earlier, these two stages were counted as individual stages, so Pedro Delgado received two yellow jerseys on that day.
  4. Before Alberto Contador's 2010 Tour de France victory and days in yellow were officially removed, he wore the yellow jersey for 6 days. After his disqualification, Andy Schleck's total increased with 6 extra days.
  5. Before Floyd Landis' 2006 Tour de France victory and days in yellow were officially removed, he wore the yellow jersey for 5 days. After his disqualification, Óscar Pereiro's total increased with 3 extra days.
  6. In 1931, Charles Pélissier (FRA) and Raffaele Di Paco (ITA) were both declared leader after the 5th stage.[3]
  7. Jan Raas won the prologue of the 1978 Tour de France. Because the weather changed dramatically during that prologue, the race was invalidated, and Raas was not awarded a yellow jersey.[6] In cycling statistics lists, including the official database from the Tour de France organisation,[7] the victory is awarded to Jan Raas, so this is also done in the list above.
  8. In 1988, the Tour de France started with a prelude, a 1km time trial in which one cyclist from every team could compete. This prelude was won by Guido Bontempi, who wore the yellow jersey on the first real stage of the 1988 Tour.[4]
  9. Results of Lance Armstrong annulled resulting in artificially only showing one single rider in yellow that year instead of one.
  10. Results of Lance Armstrong and David Zabriskie annulled resulting in artificially only showing one single rider in yellow that year instead of three.
  11. Results of Lance Armstrong annulled resulting in artificially only showing three riders in yellow that year instead of four.
  12. Results of Lance Armstrong annulled resulting in artificially only showing three riders in yellow that year instead of four.
  13. Results of Lance Armstrong annulled resulting in artificially only showing four riders in yellow that year instead of five.
  14. Results of Lance Armstrong annulled resulting in artificially only showing four riders in yellow that year instead of five.
  15. Results of Lance Armstrong annulled resulting in artificially only showing five riders in yellow that year instead of six.

Per country

The yellow jersey has been awarded to 25 countries since 1903. In the table below, "Jerseys" indicates the number of yellow jerseys that were given to cyclists of each country. "Tour wins" stands for the number of tour wins by cyclists of that country,[8] "Points" for the number of times the points classification was won by cyclist of that country,[9] "Mountains" for the number of times the mountains classification in the Tour de France was won by a cyclist of that country,[10] and "Young rider" for the number of times the young rider classification was won by a cyclist of that country.[11] The "Most recent holder" column shows the cyclist of the country that wore the yellow jersey most recently. The "Different holders" column gives the number of cyclists of the country that wore the yellow jersey.

RankCountryYellow
jerseys		Tour wins
Points
Mountains
Young rider
Most recent holderStageDifferent holdersList of holders
1 France728369238Julian Alaphilippe2021, stage 196
2 Belgium4391821110Wout van Aert2022, stage 561Belgian yellow jersey holders
3 Italy212102135Giulio Ciccone2019, stage 730
4 Spain135121165Alberto Contador2009, stage 2112
5 Great Britain1086222Adam Yates2023, stage 49British yellow jersey holders
6 Luxembourg985023Andy Schleck2011, stage 1910
7 Netherlands802425Mathieu van der Poel2021, stage 718Dutch yellow jersey holders
8  Switzerland742210Fabian Cancellara2015, stage 210
9 Germany721804Tony Martin2015, stage 614
10 Denmark703030Jonas Vingegaard2023 , stage 217
11 Australia341501Jai Hindley2023, stage 58Australian yellow jersey holders
12 Slovenia322024Tadej Pogačar2022, stage 102
13 United States293003George Hincapie2006, stage 14
14 Canada150000Steve Bauer1990, stage 92
15 Norway110200Alexander Kristoff2020, stage 12
=16 Colombia71055Egan Bernal2019, stage 213
=16 Ireland71400Stephen Roche1987, stage 253
18 Estonia60000Jaan Kirsipuu1999, stage 71
= 19 Portugal40000Acácio da Silva1989, stage 41
= 19 Slovakia40700Peter Sagan2018, stage 21
21 Ukraine30001Serhiy Honchar2006, stage 91
= 22 Poland20020Lech Piasecki1987, stage 21
= 22 Russia20002Eugeni Berzin1996, stage 81
= 22 South Africa20000Daryl Impey2013, stage 71
25 Austria10000Max Bulla1931, stage 21
= 27 Uzbekistan00300––0
= 27 Mexico00001––0

Yellow jersey retirees

There have been sixteen instances where a rider quit the Tour for any reason while wearing the yellow jersey.[12]

Year Stage Rider Reason
1927 6 France Francis Pélissier Sickness
1929 10 France Victor Fontan Broken bicycle
1937 16 Belgium Sylvère Maes Collective withdrawal of the Belgian team due to threats from French spectators
1950 11 Italy Fiorenzo Magni Collective withdrawal of the two Italian teams due to threats from French spectators
1951 13 Netherlands Wim van Est Withdrawal after fall down a ravine in Aubisque
1965 9 Belgium Bernard Van De Kerkhove Withdrawal during the climb of Aubisque (sunstroke)
1971 14 Spain Luis Ocaña Fall during a storm in Col de Mente
1978 16 Belgium Michel Pollentier Expelled for attempting fraud at a doping test
1980 12 France Bernard Hinault Knee pain
1983 17 France Pascal Simon Scapula fracture
1991 5 Denmark Rolf Sørensen Clavicle fracture after a fall in the last kilometer
1996 7 France Stéphane Heulot Knee tendinitis
1998 2 United Kingdom Chris Boardman Head and neck injury after a crash
2007 16 Denmark Michael Rasmussen Sacked by his team for lying about his whereabouts
2015 4 Switzerland Fabian Cancellara Broken vertebrae after a crash in Stage 3
2015 7 Germany Tony Martin Broken collarbone after a crash in Stage 6[13]

Yellow jersey winners with no stage wins
Greg LeMond in the final stage of the 1990 Tour de France, wearing the yellow jersey despite not winning any stage in that year.

Usually the winner of the Tour de France also wins at least one stage, but that is not necessary. It is possible to win the Tour de France without winning a single stage, because the overall winner of the Tour de France is decided solely by the total race time. This has happened eight times so far:[14]

  1.  Firmin Lambot (BEL) 1922
  2.  Roger Walkowiak (FRA) 1956
  3.  Gastone Nencini (ITA) 1960
  4.  Lucien Aimar (FRA) 1966
  5.  Greg LeMond (USA) 1990
  6.  Óscar Pereiro (ESP) 2006
  7.  Chris Froome (GBR) 2017
  8.  Egan Bernal (COL) 2019

Of these eight cyclists, Walkowiak and Bernal are the only ones never to win a Tour stage at all, although Bernal is still active as of 2022, and was leading solo in the final stages of a stage abandoned due to a landslide on the final kilometres of the course in 2019, the year he won the Tour.[15] Firmin Lambot won stages in the 1913, 1914, 1919, 1920 and 1921 Tours,[16] Gastone Nencini won stages in the 1956, 1957 and 1958 Tours,[17] Aimar won a stage in the 1967 Tour,[18] LeMond won stages in the 1985, 1986 and 1989 Tours,[19] Pereiro won a stage in the 2005 Tour,[20] and Froome won stages in the 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016 Tours. Alberto Contador initially also belonged to this group, when he won the 2010 Tour de France; however, he was later stripped of this title.

Number of Tour winners in a single race

Every Tour de France only has one winner. But a cyclist that has won the Tour de France previously can enter the race again, and a cyclist not winning the race can win the race in a later year. In almost every Tour de France, there were multiple 'former or future' Tour de France-winners in the race. Only seven times, the Tour started without any former Tour de France winner. This happened in 1903, 1927, 1947, 1956, 1966, 1999 and 2006. Only in 1903, apart from the cyclist that won the race, was there no other former or future Tour de France winner.

In 1914, a record of seven former Tour de France winners started that year's Tour:[21]

  1.  Louis Trousselier (FRA) (1905 winner)
  2.  Lucien Petit-Breton (FRA) (1907 and 1908 winner)
  3.  François Faber (LUX) (1909 winner)
  4.  Octave Lapize (FRA) (1910 winner)
  5.  Gustave Garrigou (FRA) (1911 winner)
  6.  Odile Defraye (BEL) (1912 winner)
  7.  Philippe Thys (BEL) (1913 winner, who would also win the 1914 and the 1920 editions)

In addition to these seven cyclists, four cyclists in that year's Tour would go on to win a Tour later:

  1.  Firmin Lambot (BEL) (1919 and 1922 winner)
  2.  Léon Scieur (BEL) (1921 winner)
  3.  Henri Pélissier (FRA) (1923 winner)
  4.  Lucien Buysse (BEL) (1926 winner)

Winning Tour de France on first occasion

Twelve cyclists won the general classification the first time they entered the competition, including three of the five-time champions.

Finishing Tour de France career with victory

Five cyclists won the Tour de France the last time they entered the competition:

Fausto Coppi is the only cyclist who won the Tour de France in both the first and the last Tour he entered.

See also

References
  1. "Tour de France 1914" (in German). www.radsport-seite.de. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  2. McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol (2006). The Story of the Tour De France. Dog Ear Publishing. p. 92. ISBN 1-59858-180-5. Retrieved 17 March 2008. Frantz, André Leducq and Victor Fontan, who were in that winning stage 17 break, were exactly tied in time. Today the judges would go back to the time trial and look at the fractions-of-a-second differences. If that doesn't resolve the tie, then a look at placings solves the problem. The Tour didn't have rules to take care of ties, so 3 Yellow Jerseys were awarded.
  3. McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol (2006). The Story of the Tour De France. Dog Ear Publishing. p. 118. ISBN 1-59858-180-5. Retrieved 17 March 2008. Leading up to the Pyrenees, Italy's ace sprinter Rafaelo di Paco dueled with France's Charles Pélissier for stage wins and the lead. After stage 5 they shared the lead for a single day.
  4. "75ème Tour de France 1988 – Prélude" (in French). www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net. Archived from the original on 26 May 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  5. "Historical Results – Tour de France". Cycling Hall of Fame.com. 2002–2007. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  6. Magowan, Robin (1996). Tour de France: The Historic 1978 Event : Commemorative Edition of 75th Anniversary. VeloPress. ISBN 978-1-884737-13-8.
  7. Tour de France database results for Jan Raas Archived 16 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  8. van der Mark, Tour Xtra: The Yellow Jersey
  9. van der Mark, Tour Xtra: The Green Jersey
  10. van der Mark, Tour Xtra: The Polka Dot Jersey
  11. van der Mark, Tour Xtra: The White Jersey
  12. "Riders that abandoned Tour de France in yellow jersey". www.infostradasports.com. 25 July 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  13. "Martin abandons Tour de France due to fractured collarbone". 9 July 2015.
  14. "Few have won yellow without a stage win". Cyclingnews. 22 July 2000. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  15. Tour de France database results for Roger Walkowiak Archived 12 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Tour de France database results for Firmin Lambot
  17. Tour de France database results for Gastone Nencini Archived 12 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Tour de France database results for Lucien Aimar Archived 16 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  19. Tour de France database results for Greg Lemond Archived 18 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  20. Tour de France database results for Oscar Pereiro Sio Archived 21 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  21. Tom James (4 April 2001). "Thys in spite of Pélissier". Retrieved 17 March 2008.
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