Tour de France winners

Every winner of the Tour de France from 1903 onwards

Tadej Pogačar celebrates winning the Tour de France 2020
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

The roll-call of Tour de France winners contains the names of many of the world's best bike riders through time.

The most illustrious of the three Grand Tours, the Tour de France has been taking place on an annual bases since 1903 - with two breaks in its history, one for each of the World Wars.

The most prolific winner would have been Lance Armstrong, who wore the yellow jersey in Paris for seven consecutive years between 1999 and 2005. However, he was stripped of all of his titles in 2012 following investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Next in line, we have a prolific quartet of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. All four have five titles to their names, Anquitel was the first to do it but Mercx is still the only person to have won the general, points and king of the mountains classifications in the same Tour - a feat he accomplished in 1969.

Chris Froome (now Israel Start-Up Nation) has four wins to his name - he won in in 2013 and then consecutively from 2015 to 2017 but hasn't managed to equal the record of five overall victories yet.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
YearWinnerNationalityTeam
1903Maurice GarinFranceLa Française
1904Henri CornetFranceConte
1905Louis TrousselierFrancePeugeot–Wolber
1906René PottierFrancePeugeot
1907Lucien Petit-BretonFrancePeugeot
1908Lucien Petit-BretonFrancePeugeot
1909François FaberLuxembourgAlcyon
1910Octave LapizeFranceAlcyon
1911Gustave GarrigouFranceAlcyon
1912Odile DefrayeBelgiumAlcyon
1913Philippe ThysBelgiumPeugeot
1914Philippe ThysBelgiumPeugeot
1915First World WarRow 13 - Cell 2 Row 13 - Cell 3
1916First World WarRow 14 - Cell 2 Row 14 - Cell 3
1917First World WarRow 15 - Cell 2 Row 15 - Cell 3
1918First World WarRow 16 - Cell 2 Row 16 - Cell 3
1919Firmin LambotBelgiumLa Sportive
1920Philippe ThysBelgiumLa Sportive
1921Léon ScieurBelgiumLa Sportive
1922Firmin LambotBelgiumPeugeot
1923Henri PélissierFranceAutomoto
1924Ottavio BottecchiaItalyAutomoto
1925Ottavio BottecchiaItalyAutomoto
1926Lucien BuysseBelgiumAutomoto
1927Nicolas FrantzLuxembourgAlcyon
1928Nicolas FrantzLuxembourgAlcyon
1929Maurice De WaeleBelgiumAlcyon
1930André LeducqFranceAlcyon
1931Antonin MagneFranceFrance
1932André LeducqFranceFrance
1933Georges SpeicherFranceFrance
1934Antonin MagneFranceFrance
1935Romain MaesBelgiumBelgium
1936Sylvère MaesBelgiumBelgium
1937Roger LapébieFranceFrance
1938Gino BartaliItalyItaly
1939Sylvère MaesBelgiumBelgium
1940Second World WarRow 38 - Cell 2 Row 38 - Cell 3
1941Second World WarRow 39 - Cell 2 Row 39 - Cell 3
1942Second World WarRow 40 - Cell 2 Row 40 - Cell 3
1943Second World WarRow 41 - Cell 2 Row 41 - Cell 3
1944Second World WarRow 42 - Cell 2 Row 42 - Cell 3
1945Second World WarRow 43 - Cell 2 Row 43 - Cell 3
1946Second World WarRow 44 - Cell 2 Row 44 - Cell 3
1947Jean RobicFranceFrance
1948Gino BartaliItalyItaly
1949Fausto CoppiItalyItaly
1950Ferdinand KüblerSwitzerlandSwitzerland
1951Hugo KobletSwitzerlandSwitzerland
1952Fausto CoppiItalyItaly
1953Louison BobetFranceFrance
1954Louison BobetFranceFrance
1955Louison BobetFranceFrance
1956Roger WalkowiakFranceFrance
1957Jacques AnquetilFranceFrance
1958Charly GaulLuxembourgLuxembourg
1959Federico BahamontesSpainSpain
1960Gastone NenciniItalyItaly
1961Jacques AnquetilFranceFrance
1962Jacques AnquetilFranceSaint–Raphaël
1963Jacques AnquetilFranceSaint–Raphaël
1964Jacques AnquetilFranceSaint–Raphaël
1965Felice GimondiItalySalvarani
1966Lucien AimarFranceFord–Gitane
1967Roger PingeonFrancePeugeot–BP–Michelin
1968Jan JanssenNetherlandsSauvage–Lejeune
1969Eddy MerckxBelgiumFaema
1970Eddy MerckxBelgiumFaema
1971Eddy MerckxBelgiumMolteni
1972Eddy MerckxBelgiumMolteni
1973Luis OcañaSpainBic
1974Eddy MerckxBelgiumMolteni
1975Bernard ThévenetFrancePeugeot
1976Lucien Van ImpeBelgiumGitane–Campagnolo
1977Bernard ThévenetFrancePeugeot
1978Bernard HinaultFranceRenault–Elf–Gitane
1979Bernard HinaultFranceRenault–Elf–Gitane
1980Joop ZoetemelkNetherlandsTI–Raleigh
1981Bernard HinaultFranceRenault–Elf–Gitane
1982Bernard HinaultFranceRenault–Elf–Gitane
1983Laurent FignonFranceRenault–Elf–Gitane
1984Laurent FignonFranceRenault–Elf–Gitane
1985Bernard HinaultFranceLa Vie Claire
1986Greg LeMondUnited StatesLa Vie Claire
1987Stephen RocheIrelandCarrera Jeans-Vagabond
1988Pedro DelgadoSpainReynolds
1989Greg LeMondUnited StatesADR Agrigel
1990Greg LeMondUnited StatesZ Vêtements
1991Miguel IndurainSpainBanesto
1992Miguel IndurainSpainBanesto
1993Miguel IndurainSpainBanesto
1994Miguel IndurainSpainBanesto
1995Miguel IndurainSpainBanesto
1996Bjarne RiisDenmarkTeam Telekom
1997Jan UllrichGermanyTeam Telekom
1998Marco PantaniItalyMercatone Uno-Bianchi
1999See footnoteRow 97 - Cell 2 Row 97 - Cell 3
2000See footnoteRow 98 - Cell 2 Row 98 - Cell 3
2001See footnoteRow 99 - Cell 2 Row 99 - Cell 3
2002See footnoteRow 100 - Cell 2 Row 100 - Cell 3
2003See footnoteRow 101 - Cell 2 Row 101 - Cell 3
2004See footnoteRow 102 - Cell 2 Row 102 - Cell 3
2005See footnoteRow 103 - Cell 2 Row 103 - Cell 3
2006Óscar PereiroSpainCaisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
2007Alberto ContadorSpainDiscovery Channel
2008Carlos SastreSpainTeam CSC
2009Alberto ContadorSpainAstana
2010Andy SchleckLuxembourgTeam Saxo Bank
2011Cadel EvansAustraliaBMC Racing Team
2012Bradley WigginsGreat BritainTeam Sky
2013Chris FroomeGreat BritainTeam Sky
2014Vincenzo NibaliItalyAstana
2015Chris FroomeGreat BritainTeam Sky
2016Chris FroomeGreat BritainTeam Sky
2017Chris FroomeGreat BritainTeam Sky
2018Geraint ThomasGreat BritainTeam Sky
2019Egan BernalColombiaTeam Ineos
2020Tadej Pogačar SloveniaUAE Team Emirates
2021Tadej Pogačar SloveniaUAE Team Emirates
2022Jonas VingegaardDenmarkJumbo-Visma

Footnote

Tour de France titles won between 1999-2005 were formerly allocated to Lance Armstrong (USA) but stripped after he was found guilty of doping. No alternative winner has been announced for these years.

How do you win the Tour de France?

In the first ever edition of the race, the winner of the General Classification earned their place based on overall riding time. However, following the disqualification of its 1904 victor, Maurice Garin, the organisers introduced a points based system.

Then, in 1912 they reverted back to awarding the win based on time. This remains the case today - the rider with the lowest overall accumulated time leads the General Classification and whoever holds that position once the peloton arrives in Paris is crowned the winner.

Youngest ever Tour de France winner

Henri Cornet, 19-years-old

Oldest ever Tour de France winner

Firmin Lambot, 36-years-old

First Tour de France winner

The first ever win went to a rider from the race's home country - Maurice Garin, in 1903.

First ever Tour de France GC disqualification

Also Garin. The Frenchman also won in 1904, however he was disqualified for allegedly using means of transport outside of the bicycle (car, rail).

The result was that Henri Cornet took his place, and at 19-years-old he will no doubt remain the youngest ever for a long time, if not indefinitely.

There have been quite a few disqualifications since, mostly for doping (Armstrong, 1999-2005, Floyd Landis, 2006, Alberto Contador, 2010).

First non-French Tour de France winner

The winner's list for the early years of the race is dominated by Frenchman. The first winner from outside the country of origin was 1909 leader François Faber of Luxembourg.

Britain took a while to catch up - the first British rider of the men's Tour de France race was Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) in 2012. GB now have five overall victories to their name thanks to Wiggins and Froome.

Smallest ever winning margin

In 1989, American Greg LeMond won over Laurent Fignon by just eight seconds.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Tim Bonville-Ginn

Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!


I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.


It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.


After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.


When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.


My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.