Top 10 Greatest Tour De France Winners of All Time

September 24, 2021 By Sourav

The world’s most prominent, challenging, and famous race, the Tour De France, takes place every year with 198 participants. There is only one who achieves success and reaps the rewards. There is no doubt that knowing the greatest Tour de France winners of all time is fascinating.

This race happens for 23 days, in which cyclists cover 3500 km and move through many countries to reach their destination. Obviously, it takes too much blood and sweat to be victorious.

Nevertheless, the champions deserve to get recognition and many trophies. Let’s jump right into the list of Tour De France winners.

Greatest Tour De France Winners – All-Time Ranking

10. Maurice Garin – France
9. Lucien Van Impe – Belgium
8. Miguel Indurain – Spain
7. Alberto Contador – Spain
6. Vincenzo Nibali – Italy
5. Cadel Evans – Australia
4. Chris Froome – Britain
3. Geraint Thomas – Welsh
2. Egan Bernal – Colombia
1. Tadej Pogacar – Slovenia

Don’t Miss

• Greatest Tour De France Winners – Infographics
• FAQs Regarding Tour De France Winners

You may not know; cycling is not just one of the most difficult sports to master but also one of the toughest endurance sports you could ever think of. And its prime competition, Tour De France, has witnessed several such champions that the cycling enthusiasts will never forget. So, here they are!

10. Maurice Garin – France

Among the top 10 greatest Tour de France winners of all time, we have ranked Garin at the 10th spot. French road bicycle racer Maurice-Francois Garin won the 1903 Tour de France en route to becoming the first winner of the event.

As the first person to win the game, Maurice gained massive fame after winning the title. And even after so many years, he is still considered one of the fittest male athletes of all time.

Maurice was the first to win a 24-hour race in Paris at the beginning of his professional racing career in 1893. As a professional, he played with the La Francaise from 1893-1904 and again in 1911. Moreover, as a distance rider, he won many one-day races and classics.

His major wins include Paris-Roubaix of 1897, Paris-Brest-Paris of 1901, and Bordeaux-Paris of 1902. While racing in Liege and Belgium, he won another 24-hour race and made an hour record for cycling behind pacers. In addition to his enormous achievements, Garin kept his interest in cycling for so long and served in his own Lens’s garage until death.

9. Lucien Van Impe – Belgium

Belgium’s Lucien Van Impe was an active professional cyclist from 1969 to 1987. As a climber, he excelled mostly in races spanning multiple days, such as the Tour de France. A six-time winner of the Mountains classification in the Tour de France, he won the 1976 Tour de France.

One of the most handsome athletes of all time, Lucien, has expertise in mountain cycling. And as a climbing specialist, he cycled with many professional teams, including Sonolor-Lejeune, Gitane-Campagnolo, Dormilon, and Sigma-Fina.

His significant achievements include his 1 stage 8 Tour de I’Avenir and 1st stage 6 Tour of Belgium. Besides, as a road rider, Lucien won the National Road Race Championship in 1983.

In addition to his individual stage win of Vuelta an Espana in 1979, he also won many one-day races and classics. He is the finest cycler and climber. Lucien is considered the last Belgian to have won the Tour de France.

8. Miguel Indurain – Spain

A retired Spanish cyclist, Miguel Indurain Larraya, competed in road racing for many years. Duran won five Tours de France from 1991 to 1995, the only five-time winner to accomplish that feat consecutively and the fourth and last to win five times.

We have ranked Miguel Indurain in the 8th position among the top ten Greatest Tour De France winners of all time. On a different note, he is considered one of the greatest multitalented athletes of all time.

As a professional rider, he played with the amateur team CC Villages and Reynolds. Indurain won many one-day races and classics. His major wins include the Clasica de San Sebastian of 1990 and the World Time Trial Championships of 1995.

Indurain won two gold medals in Duitama in 1995 and Atlanta in 1996. In an elite road race competition, he also got two silver medals in Oslo and Duitama in 1995. Besides, he was also awarded as the youngest winner of the national amateur road championship.

7. Alberto Contador – Spain

Former professional cyclist Alberto Contador Velasco comes from Spain. It is a testimony to his success that he won the Tour de France twice, the Giro d’Italia twice, and the Vuelta an Espana three times. He got the 7th spot out of the top 10 Greatest Tour De France Winners of all time.

Alberto was an all-rounder rider and played with numerous professional teams counting the ONCE-Eroski, Astana, and Saxo Bank-SunGard. And he is one such athlete who dominated the sports like a boss during his heydays.

His major wins include the stage races of Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico in 2010 and 2014, respectively. Furthermore, he won the stage race four times for the Tour of the Basque Country in 2008, 2009, 2014, and 2016. Besides his other achievements, Alberto also won the National Time Trial Championship of 2009 and Milano-Torino in 2012.

His significant accomplishments include his four times awards for Velo d’Or in 2007-9 and 2014. Furthermore, while working with the Discovery Channel team, he won the Tour de France and was regarded as the natural successor of Lance Armstrong.

6. Vincenzo Nibali – Italy

Vincenzo Nibali is an Italian professional road cyclist who races for UCI WorldTeam Trek–Segafredo. Known as “The Shark” and “the Shark of the Strait of Messina,” he was born near the Strait of Messina. At the 2006 GP Ouest-France, a UCI ProTour event, he won his first major race.

Vincenzo is ranked on the 6th spot in the top 10 Greatest Tour De France Winners of all time. As a professional rider, Vincenzo worked with many teams, including Fassa Bortolo, Liquigas, Astana, and Bahrain-Merida. His major wins are the stage races at Tirreno – Adriatico, Giro del Trentino, and the tour of Oman.

Moreover, he proved himself a strong rider in classic cycle races and won the National Road Race Championship in 2014 and 2015. And not just strong, he is also one of the tallest athletes of all time.

While working with the Liquigas, he achieved the French classic GP Ouest-France award in his early cycling years. He is still enthusiastic about cycling, and according to sources, he had signed for Trek-Segafredo for the 2020 season.

5. Cadel Evans – Australia

Former professional road and mountain biking cyclist Cadel Lee Evans AM represented Australia both as a road and mountain bike racer. Evans has won the Tour de France four times, as has Greg LeMond and Egan Bernal. In 2011, he became the third non-European to win the race.

Among the top 10 Greatest Tour de France Winners of all time, Cadel Evans is ranked at the 5th position. Besides, he is also one of the legendary sportsmen who played multiple sports during their heydays.

He played with many professional teams like Volvo-Cannondale, Saeco Machine Caffe, and the BMC Racing team as an all-rounder rider. In addition to his Tour de France achievements Evans has won many stage races counting Tour de Romandie and Tour of Austria.

Furthermore, while playing for Men’s Road bicycle racing, he won two gold medals for Manchester in 2002 and Mendrisio in 2009. Moreover, in 2012 Evans won the overall classification of a three-stage race at the 2. HC Criterium International. Besides, after getting his retirement in 2015, Evans became the Global Ambassador for the BMC racing team.

4. Chris Froome – Britain

The British road racing cyclist, Christopher Clive Froome, OBE, is currently a UCI WorldTeam Israel Start-Up Nation member. A seven-time Grand Tour winner, he has won four Tour de France editions, one Giro d’Italia, and two Vuelta an Espana. Furthermore, he has won several other stage races and the Velo d’Or three times.

Chris is ranked 4th among the top 10 Greatest Tour de France Winners of all time. As a professional rider, he played with many teams, including Team Konica Minolta and Israel Start-Up Nation. He is currently playing with the Israel Start-Up Nation as a climbing specialist.

Moreover, in the men’s road bicycle racing Olympic Games, he won two bronze medals in London and Rio de Janeiro, representing Great Britain. In terms of cycling, he has been one of the most successful athletes in the Olympics till now.

He won another bronze medal at the world championship cycling in Bergen in 2017. In that same year, he also got an award for International Flandrien of the year. Despite suffering significant crashes in 2021, Chris is still determined to return to the Tour de France.

3. Geraint Thomas – Welsh

In third place, we have ranked Geraint out of the top 10 best Tours of France winners. A Welsh professional cycling racer who competes on track and road, Geraint Howell Thomas, OBE, rides UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers, Wales, and Great Britain.

Thomas played with many professional teams as a track pursuit and rider, including Barloworld and Team Sky. Besides, he has immense contribution to make cycling one of the highest-paying sports throughout the competitive sports world.

His significant wins involve many stage races at Paris-Nice in 2016, Tour de Romandie in 2018, and Tour of the Alps in 2017. Moreover, he got two gold medals in Men’s track cycling for Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. While competing in the World Championship, he got a bronze medal for Tuscany in 2013.

Furthermore, in 2018 BBC sports awarded him as a Sports Personality of the Year and the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year. Unfortunately, Thomas got retired after suffering a road crash, but again he continued his passion and is currently riding for the Ineos Grenadiers team.

2. Egan Bernal – Colombia

Ineos Grenadiers is a UCI WorldTeam Ineos WorldTeam member named Egan Arley Bernal Gomez. He became the first Latin American to win the Tour de France in 2019 and the youngest since 1909. Bernal’s second Grand Tour victory came at the 2021 Giro d’Italia.

Bernal is ranked on the 2nd spot among the Greatest Tour de France Winners of all time. Besides, he is also considered as one of the highest-paid athletes during his heydays.

As a climbing specialist in riding, he played with the teams Androni Giocattoli- Sidermec and Team Sky. Furthermore, his prominent career accomplishments include major wins in stage races in Paris-Nice, Tour de Suisse, and the Tour of California. While competing in Men’s mountain bike racing, he got one silver medal in Lillehammer-Hafjell in 2014 and a bronze medal in Valnord in 2015.

In addition to the Pan-American Junior XCO Championships in 2015, he also won the UCI World Junior XCO Championship. In 2020, he suffered an intense injury that destroyed his Tour de France defense, but sources have confirmed that he is returning to winning ways at the Giro this year.

1. Tadej Pogacar – Slovenia

UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar represents Slovenia in competitive cycling. Having won the Tour de France twice, he is a champion cyclist. A young cyclist who won the Tour of California made history in 2019 by becoming the youngest to win the UCI World Tour.

Moreover, he is ranked at the 1st position among the top 10 Greatest Tour de France Winners of all time. Besides, he is widely known as one of the greatest cyclists of all time.

As an all-rounder rider, he cycled with professional teams, including Rog –Ljubljana and UAE Team Emirates. Besides, his significant achievements include the stage races of Tirreno- Adriatico, Volta ao Algarve, and UAE Tour.

He represented Slovenia in the men’s road bicycle racing in the Olympics and got a bronze medal in Tokyo in 2020. In 2021, the Tour of Slovenia and Liege-Bastogne-Liege Pogacar also won five European Championships in road racing. He is a true talent and the youngest Slovenian successful rider currently rides for the UAE Team Emirates.

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Conclusion

No doubt, you have enjoyed reading our ranking of the top 10 greatest Tour de France winners of all time. It would be great to hear from you. Please let us know what you think about our research in the comments. In addition, you can share your ideas if you think we’ve missed any other deserving cyclists. That will certainly be added.

Greatest Tour De France Winners - Infographics

FAQs Regarding Greatest Tour De France Winners

Q. Who are the greatest Tour De France winners?

In his Stage 2 win at the Tour de France, Mathieu van der Poel firmly established himself as the world�s greatest cyclist. According to Sir Bradley Wiggins, that is the case. Dutch rider Koolhaas led the yellow jersey effort courtesy of an impressive ride over Mur-de-Bretagne�s double ascent.

Q. Who are the Tour De France winners who doped?

A total of 14 of the 25 most recent winners (56%) have been disqualified for doping or have admitted to using dope. Sixty-eight percent of the winners, including those who failed tests but weren�t sanctioned, used doping, as indicated in the following table.

Q. Who are the winners of Tour De France who didn�t win a stage?

During 21 days of racing, the rider with the lowest accumulated time will be declared the winner. As demonstrated by Chris Froome�s win in 2017, riders can win the Tour de France without winning a stage.

Q. How much do the winners of the Tour De France make?

There�s no doubt that the Tour de France is the world�s most prestigious cycling race, but its prize money is not up to the mark. Each stage winner receives (AU) $17,541, and only one winner among the stage race winners takes home (AU) $800,000.