Tour de France records and statistics explained

See also: Yellow jersey statistics.

This is a list of records and statistics in the Tour de France, road cycling's premier competitive event.

One rider has been King of the Mountains, won the combination classification, combativity award, the points competition, and the Tour in the same year - Eddy Merckx in 1969, which was also the first year he participated.

The only rider to approach the feat of winning the green, polka dot and yellow jersey in the same Tour was Bernard Hinault in 1979, where he won the race and the points classification, but finished 2nd in the mountains competition. After Merckx in 1972 no other rider would win three distinctive jerseys in a single Tour until Tadej Pogačar in 2020, a feat he repeated the following year.[1] [2]

Twice the Tour was won by a racer who never wore the yellow jersey until the race was over. In 1947, Jean Robic overturned a three-minute deficit on a 257 km final stage into Paris. In 1968, Jan Janssen of the Netherlands secured his win in the individual time trial on the last day.

In addition to 1947 and 1968, in 1989 Greg LeMond overcame a +:50 deficit to Laurent Fignon on the last day of the race in Paris to win the race on the final day, however Lemond had worn the yellow jersey earlier in the race. This was the final time the last stage in Paris was held as an individual time trial.

The Tour has been won four times by a racer who led the general classification on the first stage and held the lead all the way to Paris. Maurice Garin did it during the Tour's first edition, 1903; he repeated the feat the next year, but the results were nullified in response to widespread cheating. Ottavio Bottecchia completed a GC start-to-finish sweep in 1924. In 1928, Nicolas Frantz also led the GC for the entire race, and the final podium was made up of three riders from his Alcyon–Dunlop team. Lastly, Belgian Romain Maes took the lead in the first stage of the 1935 tour, and never gave it away. Similarly, there have been four tours in which a racer has taken over the GC lead on the second stage and held the lead all the way to Paris. After dominating the ITT during Stage 1B of the 1961 Tour de France Jacques Anquetil held the Maillot Jaune from the first day all the way to Paris.

René Pottier, Roger Lapébie, Sylvère Maes, Fausto Coppi and Bradley Wiggins all won the Tour de France the last time they appeared in the race.

Mark Cavendish is the all time leader in individual stage wins with 35.

Length of Stages and Tour

Longest stage: Les Sables-d'Olonne-Bayonne from 1919 to 1924: 482 kmLongest tour: 1926 (5,745 km)Shortest tour: 1903 and 1904 (2,428 km)

Participating ridersLargest number of starters: 210 in 1986 (132 classified at the finish).Smallest number of starters: 59 in 1903 (21 classified at the finish).Highest number of finishers: 174 in 2016 (198 starters).Smallest number of finishers: 10 in 1919 (67 starters).Largest number of riders leaving the race: 93 in 1998 (96 classified at the finish out of 189 starters)

Appearances

Between 1920 and 1985, Jules Deloffre (1885 – 1963)[3] was the record holder for the highest number of Tour de France participations, with 14, and was sole holder of this record until 1966[4] with the fourteenth and last participation of André Darrigade.[5] The record for most appearances is now held by Sylvain Chavanel, with 18. George Hincapie had held the mark for the most consecutive finishes with sixteen, having completed every Tour de France that he participated in except his first one, but was disqualified in October 2012 from the 2004, 2005 and 2006 editions of the race for his use of performance-enhancing drugs.[6] [7] Joop Zoetemelk and Chavanel jointly hold the record for the most finishes with sixteen each, with the former having completed all 16 of the Tours that he started. Zoetemelk also held the record for the most Tour de France stages completed with 365, a tally that was surpassed when Chavanel finished Stage 18 of the 2018 edition of the Tour. Chavanel's record now stands at 369.[8] [9] [10] Zoetemelk currently holds the record for most kilometers ridden in Tour de France history at 62,885, a record which will be difficult to break considering the shorter stage lengths in modern Tours.[11] Of the riders on this list only Van Impe (1976) and Zoetemelk (1980) have won the race.Riders who are still active are indicated in bold.

+ Most appearances
Participations Finishes Name Nationality
18 (2001–2018) 16 (2001–2006, 2008–2011, 2013–2018)
17 (1997–2013) 15 (1997–1999, 2001–2006, 2008–2013)
17 (1998–2014) 14 (1998–2002, 2004, 2006–2008, 2010–2014)
17 (1996–2012) 13 (1997–2003, 2007–2012)[12]
16 (1970–1973, 1975–1986) 16 (1970–1973, 1975–1986)
16 (2001–2009, 2011–2017) 15 (2001–2003, 2005–2009, 2011–2017)
15 (2007–2018, 2021, 2023–2024) 8 (2009–2013, 2015, 2021, 2024)
15 (1969–1981, 1983, 1985) 15 (1969–1981, 1983, 1985)
15 (1990–1998, 2000–2004, 2006) 15 (1990–1998, 2000–2004, 2006)
15 (2003–2017) 15 (2003–2017)
15 (1980–1994) 13 (1981–1982, 1984–1994)
15 (1996–2010) 11 (1996–1997, 1999–2000, 2003–2007, 2009–2010)
14 (1953–1966) 13 (1953–1962, 1964–1966)
14 (1994–2004, 2006–2008) 13 (1995–2004, 2006–2008)
14 (1978–1985, 1987–1992) 12 (1978–1985, 1988–1990, 1992)
14 (1962–1976) 11 (1962–1965, 1967, 1969–1972, 1974–1976)
14 (2005–2008, 2012–2021) 10 (2007–2008, 2012–2016, 2018–2020)
14 (1908–1914, 1920–1928) 7 (1909–1914, 1921)
13 (1981–1988, 1989–1994) 13 (1981–1988, 1989–1994)
13 (1969–1975, 1977–1981, 1983) 12 (1969–1975, 1977–1980, 1983)
13 (1974–1982, 1984, 1986–1988) 11 (1974–1975, 1977–1982, 1984, 1986–1987)
13 (1977–1989) 11 (1977–1985, 1987, 1989)
13 (1951–1963) 10 (1951–1952, 1954, 1956–1957, 1959–1963)
13 (1964–1976) 10 (1964–1965, 1967–1971, 1973–1974, 1976)
13 (1953–1965) 9 (1953–1955, 1957, 1959–1960, 1962–1963, 1965)
13 (1979–1983, 1985–1988, 1990–1993) 9 (1979, 1981–1983, 1985, 1987–1988, 1990–1991)
13 (2002–2014) 13 (2002–2014)
13 (1992–1997, 1999–2005) 8 (1993–1994, 1996, 2000, 2002–2005)
13 (1994–2006) 7 (1995, 1997, 2000–2001, 2003, 2005–2006)
13 (1993–1996, 1999–2005, 2009–2010) 1 (1995)[13]
13 (2009–2021) 7 (2009–2011, 2013–2014, 2017, 2020)
13 (2010–2022) 11 (2010–2011, 2013–2021)
13 (2009–2018, 2020–2022) 13 (2009–2018, 2020–2022)
13 (2010–2013, 2015–2023) 11 (2010–2012, 2015–2020, 2022–2023)

Smallest winning margin

In the early years of the Tour, cyclists rode individually, and were sometimes forbidden from riding together. This led to large gaps between the winner and the runner-up. Since the cyclists now tend to stay together in a peloton, the margins of the winner have become smaller, as the difference usually originates from time trials, breakaways or on mountain top finishes, or from being dropped by the peloton. In the table below, the ten smallest margins between the winner and the second placed cyclists at the end of the Tour are listed, all of them under one minute. The largest margin, by comparison, remains that of the first Tour in 1903: 2h 49m 45s between Maurice Garin and Lucien Pothier.[14]

Cadel Evans is on this list twice, losing the 2007 and 2008 races by less than a minute; and he is just off this list for the 2011 edition, which he won by overturning a deficit during the final time trial claiming the victory by just 1:34 over Andy Schleck. The smallest margins between first and second placed riders are as follows.[15]

+Smallest winning margin
RankMarginYearWinnerRunner-up
18"1989 Greg LeMond Laurent Fignon
223"2007 Alberto Contador Cadel Evans
332"2006 Óscar Pereiro Andreas Klöden
438"1968 Jan Janssen Herman Van Springel
540"1987 Stephen Roche Pedro Delgado
648"1977 Bernard Thévenet Hennie Kuiper
754"2017 Chris Froome Rigoberto Urán
855"1964 Jacques Anquetil Raymond Poulidor
958"2008 Carlos Sastre Cadel Evans
1059"2020 Tadej Pogačar Primož Roglič

Successful breakaways

The longest successful post-war breakaway by a single rider was by Albert Bourlon in the 1947 Tour de France. In the stage Carcassonne-Luchon, he stayed away for .[16] It was one of seven breakaways longer than 200 km, the last being Thierry Marie's 234 km escape in 1991. Bourlon finished 16:30 ahead. This is one of the biggest time gaps but not the greatest. That record belongs to José Luis Viejo, who beat the peloton by 22:50 in the 1976 stage Montgenèvre-Manosque.[17] He was the fourth and most recent rider to win a stage by more than 20 minutes. Another remarkable solo effort was Fons de Wolf during stage 14 of the 1984 Tour de France. He won the stage by 17:40 and actually came within a minute and a half of Tour favorite Laurent Fignon in the overall standings. He paid for his solo effort in the following stages, however, and fell back in the standings thereafter.[18]

Overall speed

The 2022 edition was the fastest Tour de France in history. Jonas Vingegaard rode 3,349,8 km in 79h 33' 20", thus realising an overall speed of 42.102 km/h (26.161 mph).[19]

The slowest Tour de France was the edition of 1919, when Firmin Lambot's average speed was 24.1 km/h.[20]

Stage speeds

The fastest massed-start stage was in 1999 from Laval to Blois (194.5 km), won by Mario Cipollini at 50.4 km/h (31.32 mph).[21] The fastest time-trial is Rohan Dennis's stage 1 of the 2015 Tour de France in Utrecht, won at an average pace of 55.446km/h.[22] [23] The fastest stage win was by the 2013 Orica GreenEDGE team in a team time-trial. They completed the 25 km time-trial at 57.7 km/h (35.85 mph).[24]

The fastest climb of Alpe d'Huez was by Marco Pantani in 1997 Tour de France at 23.1 km/h (14.35 mph).[25]

Stage wins per rider

The table below shows the top 26 riders who have won the most stages (including half-stages, excluding Team Time Trials). Riders who are still active are indicated in bold. Riders with the same number of stage wins are listed alphabetically.

RankNameCountry [26] Wins[27] First winLast win
1 35 2008 2024
2 34 1969 1975
3 28 1978 1986
4 25 1927 1938
5 22 1953 1964
6 20 1924 1929
7 19 1908 1914
8 17 1909 1923
1720202024
10 16 1957 1964
16 1933 1939
16 1929 1935
13 15 1976 1981
14 14 2013 2017
15 13 1913 1924
13 1905 1910
17 12 1930 1935
12 1937 1950
12 1993 1999
12 1989 1995
12 1999 2007
12 2012 2019
12 1995 2002
24 11 1948 1955
11 1931 1935
11 2011 2016

Three riders have won 8 stages in a single year:

Mark Cavendish has the most mass finish stage wins with 35 ahead of André Darrigade and André Leducq with 22, François Faber with 19 and Eddy Merckx with 18.[31]

The youngest Tour de France stage winner is Fabio Battesini, who was 19 when he won stage 3 in the 1931 Tour de France. The oldest Tour de France stage winner is Pino Cerami, who won stage 9 of the 1963 edition at 41 years old.[32]

Riders who have won in all three specialties

These riders have won mountain, sprint, and individual time trial stages in a single Tour.

RiderCountryYear
Eddy Merckx1974[33]
Bernard Hinault1979[34]
Wout van Aert2021

Stage wins per country

Riders representing 33 countries have won at least one stage in the Tour de France.

Country
716
494
271
183
131
90
78
71
61
Country
39
29
23
22
19
19
14
13
12
Country
[35] 11
[36] 9
6
7
6
4
4
3
3
Country
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
1

Detailed table

Year
19035-------1--------------------------
19045-------1--------------------------
190511----------------------------------
190613----------------------------------
190714----------------------------------
190810------4---------------------------
190971-----6---------------------------
191011-1----3---------------------------
1911121-----2---------------------------
1912852--------------------------------
19132101----2---------------------------
191474-----22--------------------------
19191122--------------------------------
1920312---------------------------------
1921591--------------------------------
1922681--------------------------------
19231221--------------------------------
1924445----2---------------------------
1925185----4---------------------------
1926-121----4---------------------------
1927615-----3---------------------------
1928134-----5---------------------------
1929109--1--2---------------------------
19301335--------------------------------
1931867-------------------3------------
1932767--1-----------------------------
1933995--------------------------------
19342013--------------------------------
19351386--------------------------------
1936139-11--21--------------------------
19379103-24-13--------------------------
193881153-1-1---------------------------
1939177-1---21--------------------------
19471224-----3--------------------------
19486411--------------------------------
1949856----11--------------------------
1950926----23--------------------------
195164512--16--------------------------
19529372---11--------------------------
1953101351---2--------------------------
1954154-3----3--------------------------
195593242--3---------------------------
1956846-2--3---------------------------
19571716--------------------------------
195892512-14---------------------------
19591214-1-112--------------------------
19601054-----2--------------------------
19611263----1---------------------------
1962784113-----------------------------
1963810112----------1-------------------
196487-451-----------------------------
196537544-1----------------------------
1966284523-1---------------------------
19678641212-1--------------------------
19681010221-1----------------------------
19693143-112----------2-----------------
19705145121----1------------------------
1971411334------------------------------
197271512-------------------------------
197367-28-3----------1-----------------
1974715121-1----------------------------
1975311451-1----------------------------
1976312372------------------------------
1977861516-----------------------------
197875-911---------1-------------------
197910418-1-----------1-----------------
198074-11-----------2-------------------
1981610-7----1------1-------------------
198265-6----31-----1-------------------
198393151-1-2-1------------------------
1984127-11-1-----1----1-----------------
198566-42-----1-3-11-------------------
198665315---2---1-2--------------------
1987721641-------121-1-----------------
19882-48311-1-1-1----1--------1--------
198941261-1-1-----31-1----------1------
1990325631------------1---------1------
199151622-----1-------32-----------1---
1992623341--1-----11-------------------
1993124-21--3-2-1-1----3-1-------------
19944-512-1---3-----1--2-------2-------
19953161221-1-----1----1----1----------
19964-33-3--3-3-1-----11---------------
19976-71151--1-------------------------
19981462-41--1---------------1-------1-
1999-47-3----1--------1----1-----------
20002254321-----1----------------------
200143-114------1-----1----1-1---------
20022-12211-13--21---------1-----------
20032-51411--21---2-----1--------------
2004322-2---13---11--------1-----------
200512313----31---1-----2-1------------
20063-1-42-1-31--2----1-----3----------
2007233-11-1222-11---------------1-----
200831--614111---2----1----------------
20094---41611-1--1----1-1--------------
20106-2-1-522----1---1--1--------------
201112--2251-1---42--1-----------------
20125---237-1-------3------------------
2013111--65--2--1--112-----------------
20142-51-7---1---2-------2----------1--
2015311-363--1----1------1---1---------
201612-2127--1--1---3-1----------------
20175-12-51--2-111--1----1-------------
20183--3112---1131-13------------------
20193333--2--3--1---1------------1-----
202022---1--122421-2----11-------------
202115-2-14--1-5--1-------1------------
202216-2--11-243--------------1--------
202315-13-1--133---------11---1--------
202435-1--1---16------------------3---1
TOTAL71649427118313190787161392923221919141312119676443322231111

Stage towns

Some cities and towns have hosted 25 or more stage starts and finishes:

Country visits

The following countries have hosted stages in the post-war era. Pre-WW2 has been excluded due to changing national borders, the route being less varied than today and, except for stages to Geneva, usually taking place entirely within France anyway. Countries hosting a Grande Depart are denoted with an asterisk* whilst countries the race route passed through without hosting a start or a finish are marked with brackets.

The years of 1972, 1983, 1986, 1999, 2003, 2013, 2018, 2020 are absent from below as they all took place entirely within French borders.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Augendre, Jacques. Jacques Augendre. Guide historique 2016. Historical Guide 2016. 2016. fr. 1 November 2023. Amaury Sport Organisation. https://web.archive.org/web/20160817121602/http://netstorage.lequipe.fr/ASO/cyclisme/le-tour/2016/histoire/TDF16_GH_Interactif-PROD.pdf. 17 August 2016. live.
  2. Web site: Tour de France . Mémoire du Cyclisme. fr . 17 November 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130129204639/http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf/tour_de_france.php . 29 January 2013 . dead .
  3. Book: Duino, Michel. Ça c'est le tour de France. Marabout. 1955. Paris. 76.
  4. Book: Mondenard, Jean-pierre de. Les grandes premières du tour de France. 2013-08-08. Hugo Publishing. 978-2-7556-1396-4. fr.
  5. Book: Goy, Gérard. Tours 1914 à 1925. 2015-10-29. Editions Publibook. 978-2-342-04401-0. fr.
  6. Web site: George Hincapie confesses to doping . cyclingnews.com . 20 June 2024 . en . 10 October 2012.
  7. Web site: Beaudin . Matthew . George Hincapie leads the peloton to Paris in his last of 17 Tours de France . Velo . 20 June 2024 . 22 July 2012.
  8. Web site: Tour de France - Live race.
  9. Web site: Stuart O'Grady stopt ermee . 2013-07-22 . dead . https://archive.today/20130722152737/http://cyclingbase.black-dress.org/archieven/3673 . 2013-07-22 .
  10. Web site: Tour de France: Chavanel earns Zwift Rider of the Day. 8 July 2018. www.cyclingnews.com.
  11. Web site: Joop Zoetemelk - #6 best all time pro cyclist - CyclingRanking.com. www.cyclingranking.com.
  12. All appearances from 2004 to 2006 have been disqualified due to Hincapie's suspension for performance-enhancing drug use
  13. All appearances since August 1, 1998 have been disqualified due to Armstrong's suspension for performance-enhancing drug use
  14. Web site: Tour de France 2009 – Stats . Letour.fr . 18 July 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121019082114/http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/COURSE/us/histoire_statistiques.html . 19 October 2012 . dead . dmy-all .
  15. Web site: Verschil tussen de nummers 1 en 2 van het eindklassement. 17 March 2008. tourde-france.nl. nl. https://web.archive.org/web/20090212111135/http://www.tourde-france.nl/verschil_nummerS_1en2.htm. 12 February 2009. dead. dmy-all.
  16. Tour 09, Procycling (UK) summer 2009
  17. Web site: 19 November 2014 . Jose Luis Viejo: Cyclist the highlight of whose career was winning a stage of the Tour de France by a record-breaking margin . 1 April 2024 . www.independent.co.uk.
  18. Web site: 1984 Tour de France results . BikeRaceInfo . 24 July 2022.
  19. Web site: Tour de France 2022 Stage 21 results ProCyclingStats . 2022-07-26 . www.procyclingstats.com.
  20. Web site: Historique du Tour de France . Letour.fr . 23 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120617035236/http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/fr/TDF/records/palmares.html . 17 June 2012 . dead . dmy-all .
  21. News: Cipollini Sprints to Record Win – Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles Times . 8 July 1999 . 18 July 2009.
  22. News: Rohan Dennis beats Boardman's Tour de France time trial speed record. Cycling Weekly. Time Inc. UK. 4 July 2015. 4 July 2015. Wynn. Nigel.
  23. News: Tour de France: Dennis sets record speed to claim first maillot jaune in Utrecht. Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 4 July 2015. 4 July 2015. Zeb. Woodpower.
  24. Web site: Greenedge Win Puts Gerrans In Yellow . Eurosport . 2 July 2013 . 7 July 2013.
  25. [Alpe d'Huez#Fastest Alpe d'Huez ascents|Fastest Alpe d'Huez ascents]
  26. Country Represented (Not necessarily country of birth or nationality)
  27. Web site: Le Tour en chiffres : Les vainqueurs d'étapes . ASO . 26 July 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100716170655/http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/COURSE/docs/histo2009_07.pdf . 16 July 2010 . dead . dmy-all .
  28. Web site: Charles Pélissier. Results history. letour.fr. 23 July 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121020075646/http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/coureur/2534.html. 20 October 2012. dead. dmy-all.
  29. Web site: Eddy Merckx. Results history. letour.fr. 23 July 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120817032314/http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/coureur/4004.html. 17 August 2012. dead. dmy-all.
  30. Web site: Freddy Maertens. Results history. letour.fr. 23 July 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121027134426/http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/coureur/4314.html. 27 October 2012. dead. dmy-all.
  31. Web site: Letour Guide Historique 2012 . Letour.fr . 10 July 2012 . 23 July 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170831173535/http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2012/docs/Historique-VERSION_INTEGRALE-fr.pdf . 31 August 2017 . dead . dmy-all .
  32. News: Peter Sagan captures Stage 1. Associated Press . ESPN . 1 July 2012 . 8 July 2012.
  33. Web site: Cotton . Jim . Wout van Aert cements status as Swiss Army knife of pro cycling at 2021 Tour de France . VeloNews . 19 July 2021 . 19 July 2021.
  34. Web site: Ryan . Barry . Wout van Aert: I'm just a little cyclist compared with Eddy Merckx . Cycling News . 18 July 2021 . 19 July 2021.
  35. In 1990 and 1991, Russians Dimitri Konyshev and Viatcheslav Ekimov won a total of four stages for the USSR and Russian SFSR.
  36. In 1991 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov won a total of two stages for the USSR.

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