The 2026 Tour de France is just around the corner; it's time to dive into the stats! In this article, we'll look back at past races and anticipate the upcoming Tour. Which riders have won the most titles, and what unique achievements might be added in the 113th edition?
Five overall victories
Since the first Tour de France was held in 1903, thousands of riders have started the race and more than one hundred have finished it on the final podium. Only four riders, however, have managed to win the general classification on five occasions.
The current record stands at five victories, jointly held by four of the sport's most successful champions:
| The Five-Win Club | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rider | Victories | Winning Years |
| Jacques Anquetil | 5 | 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 |
| Eddy Merckx | 5 | 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 |
| Bernard Hinault | 5 | 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985 |
| Miguel Induráin | 5 | 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 |
Different eras, different dominance
Although they share the same total, each member of the five-win club reached the milestone in a different way.
- Jacques Anquetil became the first rider to win the Tour five times, dominating the early 1960s with his strength in time trials and his ability to control races over three weeks.
- Eddy Merckx matched the record a decade later. His five victories came alongside an unprecedented collection of stage wins, points classifications and mountains classifications. Merckx remains the benchmark against which many Tour champions are measured.
- Bernard Hinault became the third five-time winner in 1985. Known as "Le Blaireau", he won Tours across two distinct phases of his career and remains the last French rider to win the race.
- Miguel Induráin joined the group in 1995 after becoming the first rider to win five consecutive editions. Between 1991 and 1995, the Spaniard remained unbeaten in the Tour de France.
The Armstrong years
For many years, Lance Armstrong appeared to stand alone as the most successful Tour rider in history after winning seven consecutive editions between 1999 and 2005. As a consequence of his confessions about using doping, the official record books recognise no Tour victories for Armstrong and the record remains five victories, shared by Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Induráin.
Pogacar's place in history
Tadej Pogacar enters the 2026 Tour de France with four overall victories, placing him one win away from joining cycling's most exclusive group. A fifth Tour title would make Pogacar the fifth rider in history to reach the milestone. Should he succeed, the five-win club would expand for the first time in more than three decades.
| Most GC victories | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Rider | Victories |
| 1 | Jacques Anquetil | 5 |
| 1 | Eddy Merckx | 5 |
| 1 | Bernard Hinault | 5 |
| 1 | Miguel Induráin | 5 |
| 5 | Tadej Pogacar | 4 |
| 6 | Chris Froome | 4 |
| 7 | Philippe Thys | 3 |
| 7 | Louison Bobet | 3 |
| 7 | Greg LeMond | 3 |
Pogacar vs Vingegaard: the biggest rivalry
For much of Tour de France history, rivalries have often been interrupted by injury, declining form, changing generations or the emergence of new contenders. The rivalry between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard has been different. Since Vingegaard's breakthrough in 2021, the duo established a level of consistency rarely seen in modern Grand Tour racing. Between them, they have won every Tour de France since 2020 and have repeatedly distanced the rest of the field by significant margins. The difference between the GC winner and #10 in the final GC is 26 minutes or more for the last 4 editions, before 2022 this happened only in 1997 and 1987. Exceptional class by the duo.
Five consecutive one-two finishes
From 2021 through 2025, Pogacar and Vingegaard occupied the first two positions on the final Tour de France podium every year. No other rivalry in Tour history has produced five consecutive editions with the same two riders finishing first and second overall.
| Year | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Tadej Pogacar | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 2022 | Jonas Vingegaard | Tadej Pogacar |
| 2023 | Jonas Vingegaard | Tadej Pogacar |
| 2024 | Tadej Pogacar | Jonas Vingegaard |
| 2025 | Tadej Pogacar | Jonas Vingegaard |
Shared podiums at a record level
The 2025 Tour added another milestone to their rivalry. The statistic becomes even more remarkable when viewed in historical context. Tour rivalries such as Anquetil versus Poulidor, Hinault versus Fignon or Contador versus Schleck produced memorable battles, but none generated the same uninterrupted sequence of shared podium appearances.
Tour Podiums
Raymond Poulidor, the eternal second, has stood on the final podium of the Tour de France the most often. He finished second three times and third five times. Hinault, with his five wins and two second places, has the most podium finishes after Poulidor, tied with Zoetemelk, who finished second six times. Ullrich, Garrigou, Anquetil, and Froome each stood on the podium six times as well. With five podiums in his first five appearances, Tadej Pogacar is quickly climbing this list. Six out of six seems imminent!
Top-10s
Zoetemelk and Poulidor are the kings of top-10 finishes in the Tour's general classification: Zoetemelk achieved twelve top-10 finishes, and Poulidor eleven. Lucien Van Impe, the last Belgian winner, has ten top-10 finishes. Other riders with many top-10s without ever winning the Tour include Agostinho (8), Valverde (7), Ockers (7), Bardet (6), Virenque (6), and Quintana (6).
📊🏆 Riders winning GC of Giro d'Italia + Tour de France in the same season:
2024: Tadej Pogacar + 🌈WC
1998: Marco Pantani
1993: Miguel Indurain
1992: Miguel Indurain
1987: Stephen Roche + 🌈WC
1985: Bernard Hinault
1982: Bernard Hinault
1974: Eddy Merckx + 🌈WC
1972: Eddy Merckx
1970: Eddy Merckx
1964: Jacques Anquetil
1952: Fausto Coppi
1949: Fausto Coppi
🧢Join our WhatsApp Community with over 300 members via https://petjeaf.com/wielerorakel for (expert) tailored tips by WielerOrakel
📸Follow us on instagram for exclusive photo and video content.