Grand Tour (cycling)
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In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races:
- Tour de France - Tour of France
- Giro d'Italia - Tour of Italy
- Vuelta a España - Tour of Spain
Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours, and all three are similar in format. All are multi-week races with daily stages. The stages are a mix of long massed start races (sometimes including mountain and hill climbs and descents; others are flat stages favouring those with a sprint finish), as well as individual and team time trials and non-competitive exhibition and rest days. Nowadays races are 23 days long and include two rest days.
The prizes include the individual General Classification, the team classification, the King of the Mountains, the points competition, and often the best young rider classification, in addition to other less-known classifications. The most contested ones are the individual general classification (Maillot jaune (yellow jersey) in the Tour de France), king of the mountains classification (Polka dot jersey in the Tour de France), and points classification (Maillot vert in the Tour de France). Only two riders have won all three in the same race: Eddy Merckx in the 1969 Tour de France and Laurent Jalabert in the 1995 Vuelta a España.
No cyclist has ever won all three Grand Tour events in the same year. Only four cyclists have won all three of the Grand Tours during their career:
- Jacques Anquetil; France; 5 Tours (1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964), 2 Giros (1960, 1964), 1 Vuelta (1963).
- Felice Gimondi; Italy; 1 Tour (1965), 3 Giros (1967, 1969, 1976), 1 Vuelta (1968)
- Eddy Merckx; Belgium; 5 Tours (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974), 5 Giros (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974), 1 Vuelta (1973)
- Bernard Hinault; France; 5 Tours (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985), 3 Giros (1980, 1982, 1985), 2 Vueltas (1978, 1983)
Only three cyclists have won stages in all three of the Grand Tours in the same year:
- Miguel Poblet; Spain; (1956)
- Pierino Baffi; Italy; (1958)
- Alessandro Petacchi; Italy; (2003)
Each team in the Union Cycliste Internationale (International Cycling Union) ProTour must race in all three, though they may change riders between the events.
[edit] Recent Winners
| Year | Giro d'Italia | Tour de France | Vuelta a España |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Ivan Basso | Floyd Landis1 | Alexandre Vinokourov |
| 2005 | Paolo Savoldelli | Lance Armstrong | Denis Menchov2 |
| 2004 | Damiano Cunego | Lance Armstrong | Roberto Heras |
| 2003 | Gilberto Simoni | Lance Armstrong | Roberto Heras |
| 2002 | Paolo Savoldelli | Lance Armstrong | Aitor González |
| 2001 | Gilberto Simoni | Lance Armstrong | Angel Casero |
| 2000 | Stefano Garzelli | Lance Armstrong | Roberto Heras |
| 1999 | Ivan Gotti | Lance Armstrong | Jan Ullrich |
| 1998 | Marco Pantani | Marco Pantani | Abraham Olano |
| 1997 | Ivan Gotti | Jan Ullrich | Alex Zülle |
| 1996 | Pavel Tonkov | Bjarne Riis | Alex Zülle |
| 1995 | Tony Rominger | Miguel Indurain | Laurent Jalabert |
| 1994 | Eugeni Berzin | Miguel Indurain | Tony Rominger |
| 1993 | Miguel Indurain | Miguel Indurain | Tony Rominger |
| 1992 | Miguel Indurain | Miguel Indurain | Tony Rominger |
| 1991 | Franco Chioccioli | Miguel Indurain | Melchor Mauri |
1Landis tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone after Stage 17 of the race. He is likely to be stripped of his title; Óscar Pereiro stands to be elevated to first place.
2Menchov originally finished second, but was elevated to first when Heras was disqualified after testing positive for EPO.
