Lanterne rouge

Lanterne Rouge (Red Lantern)

Award details
Sport	Road Cycling
Competition	Tour de France
Given for	Last in classification
Local name	Lanterne rouge (French)
History
First award	1903
Editions	100
First winner	Arsène Millocheau (FRA)
Most wins	Wim Vansevenant (BEL) (3 times)
Most recent	Svein Tuft (CAN)

The Lanterne Rouge is the competitor in last place in a cycling race such as the Tour de France. The phrase comes from the French "Red Lantern" and refers to the red lantern hung on the caboose of a railway train, which conductors would look for in order to make sure none of the couplings had become disconnected.^[1]

Cultural uses

In the Tour de France the rider who finishes last, rather than dropping out along the way, is accorded a distinction. Riders may compete to come last rather than just near the back.^{[citation needed]} Often the rider who comes last is remembered, while those a few places ahead are forgotten, in other words, also rans. The revenue the last rider will generate from later appearance fees can be greater than had he finished second to last, although this was more true when riders still made much of their income from post-Tour criteriums.^[2]

In the 1979 Tour de France, Gerhard Schönbacher and Philippe Tesnière were on the last two spots in the general classification, less than one minute apart.^[3] Tesnière had already finished last in the 1978 Tour de France, so he was aware of the publicity associated with being the lanterne rouge. In the 21st stage, a time trial, Tesnière therefore rode extra slow. The winner of the time trial, Bernard Hinault, took 1 hour, 8 minutes and 53 seconds to cover the 48.8 km, Schönbacher used 1 hour, 21 minutes and 52 seconds,^[4] while Tesniere rode it in 1 hour, 23 minutes and 32 seconds; both were slower than all other cyclists.^[5] Tesnière's time was more than 20% slower than Hinault's, which meant that he had missed the time cut, and was taken out of the race.^[5]

The Tour organisation did not like the attention that the lanterne rouge received, and for the 1980 Tour de France devised a rule to make it more difficult to finish last: between the 14th and the 20th stage, the rider last in the general classification was removed from the race.^[6] Still, Schönbacher managed to finish last in that race. Before the Tour, Schönbacher was promised by his sponsor that he would receive extra money when he would finish in last place. After the last stage of the Tour, his team leader Patrick Lefevre told Schönbacher that he would not get the money, and after a heated discussion, Schönbacher was fired.^[7]

Lanternes Rouges of the Tour de France

See also

• Maglia nera
• Wooden spoon
• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

References

v t e Tour de France 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 suspended due to World War I 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 suspended due to World War II 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 General classification (maillot jaune) Points classification (maillot vert) Mountains classification (maillot à pois) Young rider classification (maillot blanc) Team classification (classement d'équipes) Combativity award in the Tour de France (prix de combativité) Defunct classifications: Combination classification (maillot du combiné) • Intermediate sprints classification (maillot rouge) List of general classification winners List of secondary classification winners Records and statistics Yellow jersey statistics Lanterne rouge Doping Champs-Élysées stage Mountain passes and hills Hors catégorie