List of Tour de France general classification winners

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

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

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

Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain, have won the most Tours with five each. Indurain is the only man to win five consecutive Tours. Henri Cornet is the youngest winner; he won in 1904, just short of his 20th birthday. Firmin Lambot is the oldest winner, he was 36 years, 4 months old when he won in 1922.[5] French cyclists have won the most Tours; 21 cyclists have won 36 Tours among them. Belgian cyclists are second with 18 victories, and Spanish riders are third with 12 wins.[6] The most recent winner is Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard, who won the 2023 Tour.[7]

After it emerged that Lance Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs, in October 2012, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) stripped Armstrong of the seven consecutive Tour general classification titles between 1999 and 2005.[8][9]

  1. ^ FAQ. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 23 July 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  2. ^ Dauncey, Hugh; Hare, Geoff (2003). Tour de France: 1903–2003. Routledge. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-7146-5362-4.
  3. ^ "Tour de France Gallery: History on the Champs-Élysées". Cycling News. 21 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  4. ^ Bonville-Ginn, Tom (24 August 2020). "Tour de France jerseys: Yellow, green, white and polka-dot explained". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  5. ^ Scholiansky, Christopher (6 July 2009). "Will He? Won't He? Can Armstrong Win Tour de France?". American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Guide Historique 2017" (PDF). Tour de France. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  7. ^ Bevan, Chris (23 July 2023). "Tour de France 2023: Jonas Vingegaard retains title as Jordi Meeus claims surprise win in Paris". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Armstrong seals seventh Tour win". BBC Sport. 24 July 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  9. ^ "Armstrong stripped of all seven Tour de France wins by UCI". BBC Sport. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.