The Triple Crown of Cycling in road bicycle racing denotes the achievement of winning three major titles in the same season: the UCI Road World Championships Road Race; the Tour de France general classification; and the general classification of one other Grand Tour, traditionally and usually the Giro d'Italia. [1]
It is considered by many fans of the sport to be the greatest 'single' achievement in cycling. Although mostly it means winning the Giro, the Tour and the Road World Championships in one calendar year, [2] occasionally a broader definition is also seen where the victory in the Giro d'Italia can be exchanged for the Vuelta a España; this alternative has gained traction as the Vuelta, historically the least prestigious Grand Tour, has gained in reputation and importance. [3] A hat-trick which did not include the Tour de France and the World title - neither of which has ever been achieved - would not generally be considered as the Triple Crown.
So far, the triple crown of cycling (in both the narrower and the broader definition) has been achieved by only three men, Eddy Merckx in 1974, Stephen Roche in 1987 and Tadej Pogačar in 2024, and one woman, Annemiek van Vleuten in 2022. Requiring a cyclist who is excellent as both a general classification rider, and a classics racer, it is considered the hardest achievement in professional road bicycle racing in the same year. [4]
Despite the prestige and recognition of the achievement, the Triple Crown of cycling is not an official title, and there is no physical award given for its accomplishment.
The Triple Crown has only been achieved three times by men (always by winning Giro/Tour/Worlds): [2]
Rider | Year | Races |
---|---|---|
Eddy Merckx (BEL) | 1974 | Tour + Giro + WC |
Stephen Roche (IRL) | 1987 | Tour + Giro + WC |
Tadej Pogačar (SLO) | 2024 | Tour + Giro + WC |
The Giro Donne and Tour de France Femmes are not as old, and have not been held as consistently, as the men's equivalents, so there have been fewer opportunities to win a women's Triple Crown. Nevertheless, the feat has been achieved once by Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten in 2022. At 40 years of age, she is the oldest rider, male or female, to win the Triple Crown.
Rider | Year | Races |
---|---|---|
Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) | 2022 | Tour + Giro + WC |
Some cyclists have been close to winning the triple crown of cycling, winning two of the three requirements. Among those who came close are Eddy Merckx on other occasions, the Italian Fausto Coppi, Frenchman Bernard Hinault, and later Spaniard Miguel Indurain, who finished sixth and second in the World Championships after completing the Giro-Tour Double in 1992 and 1993 respectively.
Coppi was the first rider in the history of the sport to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year which he did twice in 1949 and 1952. At the World road race championships in 1949 Coppi came third behind Rik Van Steenbergen of Belgium and Ferdi Kübler of Switzerland. Merckx was the first rider to win the triple crown but he had already come close to winning it in 1972 when he won both the Tour and the Giro, coming fourth in the World road race. After his disappointment, Merckx broke the world hour record several weeks later.
Ireland's Stephen Roche won the Giro and Tour in 1987. Later that year, with victory at the World road race championship in Villach in Austria, Roche became only the second to win the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Indurain won the Giro-Tour double in both 1992 and 1993 and in both years he was very active in the World Road Race. In 1992 he finished sixth but in 1993 Indurain was very close to winning the Triple crown when he finished second behind Lance Armstrong.
In recent years, as grand tours have trended toward specialist mountain climbers and time trial specialists, while classic specialists have dominated the World Championships, the feat has arguably become more difficult. The victory of Tadej Pogačar is particularly noteworthy in 2024 as one of the first modern riders (since the feats of Bernard Hinault in the mid 1980's) to consistently compete in both grand tours and one-day monument classics (Stephen Roche was acknowledged as an elite stage racer but had no great history of one-day classic success prior to his world title in 1987).
Cyclist | Year | Grand Tours won | Result in World Championship |
---|---|---|---|
Fausto Coppi (ITA) | 1949 | Tour + Giro | 3rd place |
Fausto Coppi (ITA) | 1952 | Tour + Giro | DNE |
Jacques Anquetil (FRA) | 1963 | Tour + Vuelta | 14th place [5] |
Jacques Anquetil (FRA) | 1964 | Tour + Giro | 7th place [6] |
Eddy Merckx (BEL) | 1970 | Tour + Giro | 29th place [7] |
Eddy Merckx (BEL) | 1972 | Tour + Giro | 4th place [8] |
Eddy Merckx (BEL) | 1973 | Giro + Vuelta | 4th place [9] |
Bernard Hinault (FRA) | 1978 | Tour + Vuelta | 5th place [10] |
Giovanni Battaglin (ITA) | 1981 | Giro + Vuelta | 26th place [11] |
Bernard Hinault (FRA) | 1982 | Tour + Giro | DNF |
Bernard Hinault (FRA) | 1985 | Tour + Giro | DNF |
Miguel Indurain (ESP) | 1992 | Tour + Giro | 6th place |
Miguel Indurain (ESP) | 1993 | Tour + Giro | 2nd place |
Marco Pantani (ITA) | 1998 | Tour + Giro | DNE [12] |
Alberto Contador (ESP) | 2008 | Giro + Vuelta | DNF [13] |
Chris Froome (GBR) | 2017 | Tour + Vuelta | DNE |
Hinault was aiming for winning the triple crown during the 1980 season. That year he won the 1980 Giro d'Italia before going on to the 1980 Tour de France. However, during the Tour, Hinault suffered from knee injury and despite winning three stages, he left the race while leading the general classification. Several weeks later he became world champion in Salanches. In the table below are the results in other grand tours of cyclists who won the world championship and a grand tour in one year. DNF (did not finish) indicates that the cyclist started the race, but did not finish; DNE (did not enter) indicates that the cyclist did not enter the race.
Cyclist | Year | Grand tour won | Result in other grand tours | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alfredo Binda (ITA) | 1927 | Giro | Tour: DNE | Vuelta: NA [14] |
Georges Speicher (FRA) | 1933 | Tour | Giro: DNE | Vuelta: NA [14] |
Fausto Coppi (ITA) | 1953 | Giro | Tour: DNE | Vuelta: NA [14] |
Louison Bobet (FRA) | 1954 | Tour | Giro: DNE | Vuelta: NA [14] |
Ercole Baldini (ITA) | 1958 | Giro | Tour: DNE | Vuelta: DNE |
Eddy Merckx (BEL) | 1971 | Tour | Giro: DNE | Vuelta: DNE |
Bernard Hinault (FRA) | 1980 | Giro | Tour: DNF | Vuelta: DNE |
Greg LeMond (USA) | 1989 | Tour | Giro: 39th place | Vuelta: DNE |
Marianne Vos (NLD) | 2012 | Giro | Tour: NA [15] | Vuelta: NA [14] |
Annemiek van Vleuten (NLD) | 2019 | Giro | Tour: NA [15] | Vuelta: NA [14] |
Remco Evenepoel (BEL) | 2022 | Vuelta | Giro: DNE | Tour: DNE |
Only nine riders have won the equivalent of a career Triple Crown, meaning a Gold in the world championship road race, the Tour de France, and another Grand Tour. In addition to Merckx, Roche, Pogacar and Van Vleuten who won the triple crown in a single season they are Fausto Coppi, Jan Janssen, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk.
As there are three Grand Tours in men's racing, the term triple crown is sometimes [16] applied to winning all three of those, either in a career or a season.
No rider has ever won all three grand tours in a single calendar year, but three riders - Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Chris Froome - have won all three in a row, split over calendar years. [17] Seven men have won all three grand tours in their career; Hinault has achieved a that alongside a career Triple Crown, and Merckx alongside a classic Triple Crown.
In women's cycling, the status of the Grand Tours is less established. While the Giro d'Italia Women was first held in 1988 and consistently since 1993, a full Tour de France Femmes was only launched in 2022 (though the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale offered a female equivalent of the Tour from 1984-2009) and La Vuelta Femenina was only established in 2023. [18] Nonetheless, taking these races as 'Grand Tours', Annemiek van Vleuten is the only rider to have won all three in her career, having won them in a row - in addition to the 2022 World Championships - split across 2022-23. [19]
While no rider has ever won all three grand tours in a single calendar year/season, three riders have won the three Grand tours consecutively across two seasons, thus holding ''all the jerseys'' at one time.
Eddy Merckx won four consecutive grand tours in 1972–1973: Giro 1972, Tour 1972, Vuelta 1973, and Giro 1973. He is the only rider to have won four consecutive grand tours.
Bernard Hinault won three consecutive grand tours in 1982–1983: Giro 1982, Tour 1982, and Vuelta 1983.
Chris Froome won three consecutive grand tours in 2017–2018: Tour 2017, Vuelta 2017 and Giro 2018 before finishing 3rd in Tour 2018. He was the first and to date only, rider to win 'all the jerseys' by beginning with the Tour de France, and the first to do so when the races were in the order 'Giro-Tour-Vuelta'.
In bold the win that achieved a grand tour career triple crown.
designates a World Championship winner.
Cyclist | Tour de France wins | Giro d'Italia wins | Vuelta a España wins |
---|---|---|---|
Jacques Anquetil (FRA) | 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 | 1960, 1964 | 1963 |
Felice Gimondi (ITA) | 1965 | 1967, 1969, 1976 | 1968 |
Eddy Merckx (BEL) | 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 | 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974 | 1973 |
Bernard Hinault (FRA) | 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985 | 1980 , 1982, 1985 | 1978, 1983 |
Alberto Contador (ESP) | 2007, 2009 | 2008, 2015 | 2008 , 2012, 2014 |
Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) | 2014 | 2013, 2016 | 2010 |
Chris Froome (GBR) | 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 | 2018 | 2011, 2017 |
After Marianne Vos had won world titles in road race (2006), cyclo-cross (2006) and track points race (2008), she was said to have won the triple crown of cycling. [20] In 2014, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the World Championship road race and followed this in 2015 with the world championships in cyclocross and cross-country mountain biking, which meant she held world titles in three cycling disciplines simultaneously. [21]
Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx, known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an unequalled eleven Grand Tours, all five Monuments, setting the hour record, three World Championships, every major one-day race other than Paris–Tours, and extensive victories on the track.
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Felice Gimondi was an Italian professional racing cyclist. With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España (1968). He is one of only seven cyclists to have done so.
Stephen Roche is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only three cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia general classification, plus the World road race championship, the others being Eddy Merckx and Tadej Pogačar. Roche's rise coincided with that of fellow Irishman Sean Kelly.
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The Giro d'Italia is an annual stage race bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport; however it is currently run by RCS Sport. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except when it was stopped for the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world.
Tadej Pogačar, also known as Pogi, is a Slovenian professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates. His victories include three Tours de France, the 2024 Giro d'Italia, and six one-day Monuments, as well as the World Championship Road Race. Comfortable in time-trialing, one-day classic riding and grand-tour climbing, he has been compared to legendary all-round cyclists such as Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault as one of the sport's greatest. In 2024 he became only the third male cyclist, after Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987, to achieve the Triple Crown of Cycling, winning the Giro, the Tour, and the World Championships in the same year.
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