Misplaced Pages

#909090

37-708: All three races have a substantial history, with the Tour de France first held in 1903, Giro d'Italia first held in 1909 and the Vuelta a España first held in 1935. The Giro is generally run in May, the Tour in July, and the Vuelta in late August and September. The Vuelta was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in the 1940s. In 1995, however, the race moved to September to avoid direct competition with

74-482: A place in all three events, and obliged to participate, and the organisers are free to invite wildcard teams of UCI ProContinental status to make up the 22 teams that usually compete. In 2023, Team Jumbo–Visma riders Primož Roglič , Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss won the Giro , Tour and Vuelta respectively, making the team the first to win all three Grand Tours in a single calendar year. The main competition

111-407: A season on three occasions which he completed in 1957. Marino Lejarreta completed every grand tour of the season for the 4th time in 1991 and of these 12 tours he finished in the top 10 of eight of them. His record of 4 was not passed until Adam Hansen completed the Vuelta in 2016. Gastone Nencini (1957) and Sepp Kuss (2023) are the only cyclists to both ride all three Grand Tours and win one in

148-476: A single year in any classification (general, points, mountain, young rider). Few riders have even finished all three in a single year ; of those who have, two finished in the top ten in each: Raphaël Géminiani (4th, 6th and 3rd in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta in 1955) and Gastone Nencini (1st, 6th and 9th in 1957). Eleven riders have achieved a double by winning two grand tours in the same calendar year. Of

185-516: A special status in the rules and regulations of cycling (such as more points in the UCI Women's World Tour, or allowing an increased number of stages), and some have argued that the races need to visit high mountains (such as the Alps ) or contain time trial stages to be considered an equivalent event. Campaign groups such as Le Tour Entier and The Cyclists' Alliance continue to push organisers and

222-521: A squadre ) Intergiro classification ( Intergiro ) [REDACTED] General classification ( la roja ) [REDACTED] Points classification ( jersey verde ) [REDACTED] Mountains classification ( jersey puntos azules ) [REDACTED] Young rider classification ( jersey blanco ) [REDACTED] Team classification ( clasificación por equipos ) [REDACTED] Combativity award UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are

259-409: A week in length. The Vuelta Femenina takes place in May, the Giro d'Italia Women is generally run in late June / early July and the Tour de France Femmes is held in late July following the men's Tour de France. Some media and teams have referred to these women's events as Grand Tours, as they are the biggest events in the women's calendar. However, they are not three week stage races, they do not have

296-461: A week in length. The Vuelta Femenina was first held under that name in 2023, the Giro d'Italia Women was first held in 1988, and various women's Tour de France events have taken place since 1984 – with the Tour de France Femmes having its first edition in 2022. In their current form, the Grand Tours are held over three consecutive weeks and typically include two rest days near the beginning of

333-479: Is generally regarded as the overall leader or winner of the race. Riders who finish in the same group are awarded the same time, with possible subtractions due to time bonuses. Two riders are said to have finished in the same group if the gap between them is less than three seconds. A crash or mechanical incident in the final 3 kilometres of a stage that finishes without a categorised climb usually means that riders thus affected are considered to have finished as part of

370-416: Is the individual general classification , decided on aggregate time (sometimes after allowance of time bonuses). There are also classifications for teams and young riders , and based on climbing and sprinting points , and other minor competitions. Five riders have won three individual classifications open to all riders (general, mountains, young and points classifications) in the same race: Eddy Merckx in

407-413: The 1968 Giro d'Italia and 1969 Tour de France and 1973 Vuelta a España , Tony Rominger in the 1993 Vuelta a España , Laurent Jalabert in the 1995 Vuelta a España , Marco Pantani in the 1998 Giro d'Italia , and Tadej Pogačar in the 2020 Tour de France and 2021 Tour de France . It is rare for cyclists to ride all grand tours in the same year; in 2004, 474 cyclists started in at least one of

SECTION 10

#1732794213910

444-544: The 2023 Vuelta a España . Riders from the same country winning all three Grand Tours in a single year has happened only on four occasions. It first occurred in 1964 with French riders Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor , with the second occurrence in 2008 with Spanish riders Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre . 2018 marked the only time three different riders from the same country won all three Tours, these being British riders Chris Froome , Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates . In 2024 Slovenian riders Tadej Pogačar (winning

481-624: The Unibet team , a ProTour team normally guaranteed entry, was banned from the three Grand Tours for violating gambling advertising laws. In 2008, following numerous doping scandals, some teams were refused entry to the Grand Tours: Astana did not compete at the 2008 Tour de France and Team Columbia did not compete at the 2008 Vuelta a España . Since 2011, under the UCI World Tour rules, all UCI WorldTeams are guaranteed

518-562: The rainbow jersey in races of that category (either mass start or time trial) until the next championships. It currently includes the following championships: Former events: The first world championships took place in 1921, though the only event that was contested was the men's road race for amateurs . The first professional world championship took place in July 1927 at the Nürburgring in Germany where Italian Alfredo Binda won

555-620: The women's road cycling circuit . Historically, women have participated in three week long stages races, with various women's Tour de France events taking place since 1984. In the contemporary UCI Women's World Tour , the Giro d'Italia Women (first held in 1988), the Tour de France Femmes (first held in 2022) and the Vuelta Femenina (started in 2015, gaining its current name in 2023) are sometimes considered to be equivalent races for women – taking place over shorter, smaller routes around

592-542: The Giro and the Tour) and Primož Roglič (winning the Vuelta) repeated the accomplishments of the aforementioned French, Spanish and British riders. On four occasions, each of the three Grand Tours in the same year was won by a home rider, that is, an Italian winning the Giro, a Frenchman winning the Tour and a Spaniard winning the Vuelta. The last occasion this occurred was 1975. As of 2024, no three week races currently exist on

629-745: The Giro. The Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious in terms of points accrued to racers of all three, and is the most widely attended annual sporting event in the world. The Tour, the Giro and the Road World Cycling Championship make up the Triple Crown of Cycling . The three Grand Tours are men's events, and as of 2023, no three week races currently exist on the women's road cycling circuit . The Vuelta Femenina , Giro d'Italia Women and Tour de France Femmes are sometimes considered to be equivalent races for women – taking place over shorter, smaller routes around

666-493: The Grand Tours are generally under 200 kilometres in length. Grand Tour events have specific rules and criteria as part of Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) regulations. For the UCI World Tour , more points are given in grand tours than in other races; the winner of the Tour de France receives 1000 points, and the winners of the Giro and Vuelta receive 850 points. Depending on the nature of other races, points vary for

703-604: The Grand Tours in the same season: Miguel Poblet in 1956, Pierino Baffi in 1958 and Alessandro Petacchi in 2003. The rider with the most Grand Tour stage wins in one season is Freddy Maertens who won 20 stages in 1977: 13 in the Vuelta a España and 7 in the Giro d'Italia . Only 36 riders have finished all three Grand Tours in one season. Adam Hansen has done this six times consecutively, Marino Lejarreta four times and Bernardo Ruiz achieved it in three different years, while Eduardo Chozas and Carlos Sastre have completed

740-562: The Team Time Trial from 2012 to 2018 are excluded. General classification The general classification (or the GC ) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulative time across all stages. Hence, whoever leads the GC

777-524: The Tour de France was ridden to its conclusion. Over the years, 36 riders have completed all three Grand Tours in one year: Adam Hansen did so six years in a row. The only riders to have finished in the top 10 in each of the three tours during the same year are Raphaël Géminiani in 1955 and Gastone Nencini in 1957. In 2023 Sepp Kuss became the first rider since Nencini to start and finish all three tours in one year, while winning one of them - in Kuss' case

SECTION 20

#1732794213910

814-491: The UCI for his use of performance-enhancing drugs . The organizers of the Tour de France announced that the winner's slot would remain empty in the record books, rather than transfer the win to the second-place finishers each year. Seven cyclists have won all three of the Grand Tours during their career: Hinault and Contador are the only cyclists to have won each Grand Tour at least twice. No rider has won all three Grand Tours in

851-406: The UCI to allow for longer stage races for women, as well as to improve the quality and economic stability of the women's peloton to allow for three week long races in future. A.  Lance Armstrong was declared the winner of seven consecutive Tours from 1999 to 2005. However, on 22 October 2012, he was stripped of all his titles by

888-405: The above eleven, Pantani, Roche and Battaglin's doubles were their only Grand Tour victories in their careers. The margins between the winner of a Grand Tour and the runner-up are often narrow, and rarely larger than a few minutes. As of 2021, there have been 54 Grand Tours with a winning margin less than one minute. The smallest margins are as follows: The biggest winning margin in a Grand Tour

925-436: The accomplishment twice. The rider with most participations on Grand Tours is Matteo Tosatto with 34 (12 Tours, 13 Giros and 9 Vueltas). The rider who has finished most Grand Tours is also Matteo Tosatto, with 28 (12 Tours, 11 Giros and 5 Vueltas). Adam Hansen has finished the most consecutive Grand Tours: 20 tours from 2011 Vuelta a España till 2018 Giro d'Italia . Bernardo Ruiz was the first rider to ride every tour of

962-497: The annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial , and as of 2019 , a mixed team relay . All the world championship events are ridden by national teams, not trade teams such as in most other major races. The winner of each category is entitled to wear

999-420: The grand tours, 68 of them rode two Grand Tours and only two cyclists started in all three grand tours. It is not unusual for sprinters to start each of the Grand Tours and aim for stage wins before the most difficult stages occur. Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Cavendish started all three Grand Tours in 2010 and 2011, respectively, as did some of their preferred support riders. For both riders in both years, only

1036-458: The group they were with at the 3 km mark, so long as they finish the stage. It is possible to win the GC without winning a stage. It is also possible to win the GC race without being the GC leader before the last stage. The most important stages of a bicycle race for GC contenders are mountain stages and individual time trial stages, both of which offer good opportunities for a single racer to outperform other racers. In many bicycle races,

1073-524: The latter part of course is usually held on a circuit, of which the riders complete multiple laps. The world championship road race and two of the three Grand Tours (namely the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France ) form the Triple Crown of Cycling . Note: Not held from 1939 to 1945 because of World War II . Medal table includes only medals achieved in senior events . Mixed nation team events such as

1110-442: The men's team time trial. In 2012, the men's team time trial was reinstated, and a women's team time trial added to the program; both were contested by trade teams. In 2019, the team time trial events for men and women were replaced by a mixed relay team time trial. Until 1995, there were separate races for male professional and amateur riders. In 1996, the amateur category was replaced with a category for men under-23 years old, with

1147-509: The professional category becoming an open (later elite) category. Since 1995 until 2022, the event has been held towards the end of the European season in late September, usually following the Vuelta a España . Before that, the event had always been a summer race, held in late August or the first week of September (except for 1970, when it was a mid-season summer event). An exception to this

Grand Tour (cycling) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-464: The professional men's race and Belgian Jean Aerts won the men's amateur race. The women's road race was introduced in 1958. A men's team time trial, contested by national teams, was introduced in 1962. Beginning in 1972, the team time trial was discontinued in Olympic years only. Individual time trials in all categories were added in 1994, which was also the last year for the original incarnation of

1221-610: The same season. The best average finish was the first time three Grand Tours were finished in one season, when Raphaël Géminiani finished 4th, 6th and 3rd in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta, respectively. [REDACTED] General classification   ( maglia rosa )  [REDACTED] Points classification   ( maglia ciclamino )  [REDACTED] Mountains classification   ( maglia azzurra )  [REDACTED] Young rider classification ( maglia bianca ) Team classification ( classifica

1258-428: The second and third weeks. If the opening stages are in a country not neighbouring the home nation of the race, there is sometimes an additional rest day after the opening weekend to allow for transfers. The stages are a mix of long massed start races (sometimes including mountain and hill climbs and descents; others are flat stages favoring those with a sprint finish) and individual and team time trials . Stages in

1295-609: The winner of the overall classification The grand tours have a special status for the length: they are allowed to last between 15 and 23 days – whereas other stage races are not allowed to last longer than 14 days. Historically, controversy surrounds which teams are invited to the event by the organiser. Typically, the UCI prefers top-rated professional teams to enter, while operators of the Grand Tours often want teams based in their country or those unlikely to cause controversy. Between 2005 and 2007, organisers had to accept all ProTour teams, leaving only two wildcard teams per Tour. However,

1332-979: Was 2h 59' 21" in Maurice Garin 's win at the first Tour de France in 1903 . The biggest margin in the history of Giro d'Italia was in 1914 when Alfonso Calzolari won by 1h 57' 26", and the biggest margin in the history of Vuelta a España was in 1945 when Delio Rodríguez finished 30' 08" clear. The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by five riders – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov , Mark Cavendish , Laurent Jalabert , Eddy Merckx and Alessandro Petacchi . The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by two riders – Federico Bahamontes and Luis Herrera . The Tour/Giro double has been achieved by three riders – Egan Bernal , Nairo Quintana and Andy Schleck . The Giro/Vuelta double has been achieved by one rider – Miguel Ángel López . The Tour/Vuelta double has been achieved by two riders – Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel . Three cyclists have won stages in all three of

1369-491: Was in 2023 , when it was held in August as part of a combined multi-disciplinary UCI Cycling World Championships , intended to be held every four years. The world championships are located in a different city or region every year. The event can be held over a relatively flat course which, in the case of the road race, favors cycling sprinters or a hilly course which favors a climbing specialist or all-rounder . In each case,

#909090