Tour de France: Previous Winners

The Tour de France, the world's most famous cycle race, is the pinnacle of professional road cycling and the race that every rider dreams of winning when they first clip their shoes into the pedals.

First raced in 1903, there have been 108 different editions of the multiple-stage Grand Tour race which offers something for everyone, whether that be the high-octane thrills of the sprint stages, the breakaway stages favoured by the rouleurs and the high-mountain tests where the General Classification (GC) really takes shape.

And while the likes of Mark Cavendish made their name on the Champs-Elysees, it's the yellow jersey - worn by the best GC rider - which is the most coveted prize in cycling.

Initially founded as a reason to sell more newspapers, the first Tour de France took place in 1903 as a six-stage race won by Frenchman Maurice Garin.
 
Contested by national teams until 1961, that year's edition marked the second of five GC wins for Frenchman Jacques Anquetil, who claimed the yellow jersey in the opening-day time trial and remained in the lead all the way to Paris.
 
Nicknamed Monsieur Chrono due to his ability to pull out extraordinary times against the clock, Anquetil would win three more in a row after 1961, a feat which has not been surpassed.
 
Five years after Anquetil, along came arguably the most complete rider of all-time, Eddy Merckx or 'the Cannibal' to use his ominous nickname.
 
A dominant winner of the General Classification by more than 17 minutes in 1969, Belgian rider Merckx won just about all there was to win in cycling, claiming five Tour de France wins across a six-year period of dominance, probably only failing to make it six because he instead targeted the Giro d'Italia - Vuelta a Espana double in 1973.
 
Merckx returned to win the 1974 Tour de France, but his reign ended a year later at the hands of Frenchman Bernard Thevenet.

Hinault the last of the French to wear the Maillot Jaune

Thevenet's time at the top would itself come to an end courtesy of another Frenchman, Bernard Hinault, who remains the last French winner of the Tour de France.
 
Racing for Renault-Gitane-Campagnolo, Hinault won the General Classification for the first time in 1978, winning a time trial in the antepenultimate stage to take the yellow from Joop Zoetemelk, who he would defeat again in 1979.
 
Hinault won again in 1981 and 1982 before he was dethroned by compatriot Laurent Fignon, who famously rode away from him on Alpe d'Huez in 1984, but with Fignon absent, Hinault equalled the record the following year.
 
American Greg LeMond would win three times from 1986-1990 and the early 1990s were all about Spanish superstar Miguel Indurain.
 
Big Mig rode for the Banesto team and rode his rivals to sleep, winning five titles from 1991 to 1995, but he struggled in going for a sixth consecutive GC, losing time from the early stages and trailing in 19th. He would announce his retirement later that year.

British dominance gives way to new breed

No British rider had won the Tour de France at the turn of the 2010s, but the ambitious Team Sky project provided funding never seen before in professional cycling and brought with it huge success in the world's most famous race.
 
Bradley Wiggins blazed a trail, winning the 2012 Tour de France en route to Olympic glory at London 2012, but it was his team-mate Chris Froome who was the real Grand Tour rider - he would go on to claim the yellow jersey in 2013, producing a stunning stage victory on Mont Ventoux in the process.
 
Forced to abandon in 2014 when Vincenzo Nibali won, Froome was victorious three more times from 2015 to 2018 before Welshman Geraint Thomas became the most recent British champion the following year.
 
Froome never quite managed to draw level with the immortal names of Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Indurain, but Tadej Pogacar may well have his sights set on achieving, or even surpassing the four Tour de France legends.
 
Riding for UAE Team Emirates, Pogacar's first Tour victory came in 2020 in sensational circumstances as he flew up La Planche des Belles Filles in a time trial on the penultimate stage, stunning heavy favourite Primoz Roglic in the process.
 
The following season would be much more straightforward for Pogacar, who exuded control in Roglic's absence, beating Jonas Vingegaard by 5 minutes and 20 seconds. 

Vingegaard got revenge in 2022 taking yellow with his victory on stage 11 and keeping hold of the jersey all the way to Paris, before the Dane retained his title last year.

List of Tour de France winners

1903-1910

Year	Rider	Country
1903	Maurice Garin	France
1904	Henri Cornet	France
1905	Louis Trousselier	France
1906	Rene Pottier	France
1907	Lucien Petit-Breton	France
1908	Lucien Petit-Breton	France
1909	Francois Faber	Luxembourg
1910	Octave Lapize	France

1911-1920

Year	Rider	Country
1911	Gustave Garrigou	France
1912	Odile Defraye	Belgium
1913	Philippe Thys	Belgium
1914	Philippe Thys	Belgium
1915	No Race
1916	No Race
1917	No Race
1918	No Race
1919	Firmin Lambot	Belgium
1920	Philippe Thys	Belgium

1921-1930

Year	Rider	Country
1921	Leon Scieur	Belgium
1922	Firmin Lambot	Belgium
1923	Henri Pelissier	France
1924	Ottavio Bottecchia	Italy
1925	Ottavio Bottecchia	Italy
1926	Lucien Buysse	Belgium
1927	Nicolas Frantz	Luxembourg
1928	Nicolas Frantz	Luxembourg
1929	Maurice de Waele	Belgium
1930	Andre Leducq	France

1931-1940

Year	Rider	Country
1931	Antonin Magne	France
1932	Andre Leducq	France
1933	Georges Speicher	France
1934	Antonin Magne	France
1935	Romain Maes	Belgium
1936	Sylvere Maes	Belgium
1937	Roger Laperbie	France
1938	Gino Bartali	Italy
1939	Sylvere Maes	Belgium
1940	No Race

1941-1950

Year	Rider	Country
1941	No Race
1942	No Race
1943	No Race
1944	No Race
1945	No Race
1946	No Race
1947	Jean Robic	France
1948	Gino Bartali	Italy
1949	Fausto Coppi	Italy
1950	Ferdinand Kubler	Switzerland

1951-1960

Year	Rider	Country
1951	Hugo Koblet	Switzerland
1952	Fausto Coppi	Italy
1953	Louison Bobet	France
1954	Louison Bobet	France
1955	Louison Bobet	France
1956	Roger Walkowiak	France
1957	Jacques Anquetil	France
1958	Charly Gaul	France
1959	Federico Bahamontes	Spain
1960	Gastore Nencini	Italy

1961-1970

Year	Rider	Country
1961	Jacques Anquetil	France
1962	Jacques Anquetil	France
1963	Jacques Anquetil	France
1964	Jacques Anquetil	France
1965	Felice Gimondi	Italy
1966	Lucien Aimar	France
1967	Roger Pingeon	France
1968	Jan Janssen	Netherlands
1969	Eddy Merckx	Belgium
1970	Eddy Merckx	Belgium

1971-1980

Year	Rider	Country
1971	Eddy Merckx	Belgium
1972	Eddy Marckx	Belgium
1973	Luis Ocana	Spain
1974	Eddy Merckx	Belgium
1975	Bernard Thevenet	France
1976	Lucien van Impe	Belgium
1977	Bernard Thevenet	France
1978	Bernard Hinault	France
1979	Bernard Hinault	France
1980	Joop Zoetermelk	Netherlands

1981-1990

Year	Rider	Country
1981	Bernard Hinault	France
1982	Bernard Hinault	France
1983	Laurent Fignon	France
1984	Laurent Fignon	France
1985	Bernard Hinault	France
1986	Greg LeMond	USA
1987	Stephen Roche	Ireland
1988	Pedro Delgado	Spain
1989	Greg LeMond	USA
1990	Greg LeMond	USA

1991-2000

Year	Rider	Country
1991	Miguel Indurain	Spain
1992	Miguel Indurain	Spain
1993	Miguel Indurain	Spain
1994	Miguel Indurain	Spain
1995	Miguel Indurain	Spain
1996	Bjarne Riis	Denmark
1997	Jan Ullrich	Germany
1998	Marco Pantani	Italy
1999	No Winner
2000	No Winner

2001-2010

Year	Rider	Country
2001	No Winner
2002	No Winner
2003	No Winner
2004	No Winner
2005	No Winner
2006	Oscar Pereiro	Spain
2007	Alberto Contador	Spain
2008	Carlos Sastre	Spain
2009	Alberto Contador	Spain
2010	Andy Schleck	Luxembourg

2011-2020

Year	Rider	Country
2011	Cadel Evans	Australia
2012	Bradley Wiggins	Great Britain
2013	Chris Froome	Great Britain
2014	Vincenzo Nibail	Italy
2015	Chris Froome	Great Britain
2016	Chris Froome	Great Britain
2017	Chris Froome	Great Britain
2018	Geraint Thomas	Great Britain
2019	Egan Bernal	Colombia
2020	Tadej Pogacar	Slovenia

2021-23

Year	Rider	Country
2021	Tadej Pogacar	Slovenia
2022	Jonas Vingegaard	Denmark
2023	Jonas Vingegaard	Denmark

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