Legendary Riders
43 entries in the Tour de France compendium.
Legendary Riders — Era Chart
Bernard HinaultFive Tours, eleven Grands: the Badger never let the peloton breathe.Jacques AnquetilThe first five-time Tour winner, who wore the yellow jersey from day one in 1961 and earneLaurent FignonThe Professor who won back-to-back Tours and lost the closest Tour in history by eight secLance ArmstrongSeven yellow jerseys, one confession, and a legacy the peloton still debates.Miguel IndurainFive Tours, one metronome: the quiet Spaniard who made domination look like breathing.Vincenzo NibaliThe Shark who bit the yellow jersey and never let go.Alberto ContadorThe man who made the Tour's biggest climbs feel like a personal war.Chris FroomeThe British rider who won four Tour de France titles and made the yellow jersey his own inTadej PogačarThe Slovenian who turned every mountain stage into a war and the peloton into an audience.Marco PantaniThe Pirate who conquered the mountains with relentless, off-the-saddle attacks.Louison BobetFirst rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, 1953 to 1955.Raymond PoulidorHe never wore yellow, but the whole of France wore his red.Bernard ThevenetThe Devil who rode the Alps like they owed him a debt.Fausto CoppiThe upright king who made the mountains kneel and the peloton hold its breath.Gino BartaliThe Eagle who rode alone up the mountains and carried a nation's conscience on his back.Greg LeMondThe mustachioed American who attacked the Alps and rewrote the Tour's history.Eddy MerckxThe Cannibal who devoured the peloton and left no one behind.Bradley WigginsThe man who broke a hundred-year silence and made Britain a cycling nation overnight.Geraint ThomasThe Welshman who turned time-trial steel into a yellow jersey and a mountain legend.Jonas VingegaardThe quiet storm on the mountain: smooth, relentless, and impossible to shake.Cadel EvansThe first Australian to wear yellow, and the last to earn it with a hammer-blow climb.Nairo QuintanaThe quiet Colombian who went alone on the mountain and left the world behind.Jan UllrichThe boy who sprinted to glory and never stopped grinning at the finish line.Stephen RocheOne Irishman, three crowns, two years — and a sprint that still echoes on every mountain fFelice GimondiThe Cat who pounced on every mountain and left the giants of the peloton staring at his duLucien Petit-BretonThree Tours, one Breton, and a peloton that never forgot the man who always attacked.Charly GaulA small man from Luxembourg who made the biggest mountains in Europe look like a playgrounPhilippe ThysThree yellow jerseys, one war, and a sprint that shook the roads of France.Maurice GarinThe baker who made the Alps taste like crumbs.Sylvère MaesIron in the legs, fire in the eyes — Maes never, ever gave the road back.Henri PélissierThe Red Devil who made the peloton flinch and the finish line tremble.Gustaaf DeloorThe Belgian who carried the Tour back from the war, one mountain at a time.Peter SaganFour greens, four crowns, one rider who turned the points jersey into a war cry.André LeducqThe Black Devil who made the peloton flinch and the mountains tremble.Erik ZabelFourteen stages, one impossible kick, and a peloton that never saw it coming.Mark CavendishThirty stages, one island, and a sprint that seemed to come from thin air.Mario CipolliniSix legs, one lunge, and a peloton that learned to fear the back of the bunch.Alex ZülleThe quiet Swiss who out-thought the giants and took the yellow jersey in '97.Richard VirenqueThe Colt who charged the mountains like a sprinter and crowned himself in polka dots.Claudio ChiappucciThe Dragon who tore the peloton apart and never let the mountain win.Sean KellyThe Irishman who turned a sprint into a war of attraction and made the peloton beg him to Jan JanssenThe Dutchman who broke the giants' grip on the yellow jersey in 1973.Andy SchleckForty-nine seconds from immortality, and his brother's arms were the only ones that caught
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