The Triple Crown of Cycling is a term used in
road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...
to denote the achievement of winning three major titles in the same season, usually the
Giro d'Italia general classification, the
Tour de France general classification and the
UCI Road World Championships Road Race.
It is considered by many fans of the sport to be the greatest 'single' achievement in
cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
. Although mostly it means winning the Giro, the Tour and the Road World Championships in one calendar year,
occasionally a broader definition is also seen where the victory in the Giro d'Italia can be exchanged for the
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...
; this alternative has gained traction as the Vuelta, historically the least prestigious Grand Tour, has gained in reputation and importance. A hat-trick which did not include the Tour de France and the World title 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 cyclists,
Eddy Merckx
Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...
,
Stephen Roche
Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de Fr ...
and
Annemiek van Vleuten
Annemiek van Vleuten (born 8 October 1982) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam .
Van Vleuten is a two-time winner of both the road race (2019 and 2022) and the time trial (2017 and 2018) at the UCI ...
. 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.
Despite the prestige of the achievement, the Triple Crown of cycling is not an official title, and there is no physical award given for its accomplishment.
Triple crowns won
The Triple Crown has only been achieved twice by men (both times by winning Giro/Tour/Worlds):
Women's Triple crowns won
Near wins
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 great
Fausto Coppi
Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...
, Frenchman
Bernard Hinault
Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...
, and later Spaniard
Miguel Indurain
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Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
* Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
* São Miguel (disam ...
, who finished sixth and second in the World Championships after completing the Giro-Tour Double in 1992 and 1993 respectively.
Winning two grand tours in one year
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
Rik Van Steenbergen (9 September 1924 – 15 May 2003) was a Belgium, Belgian racing cyclist, considered to be one of the best among the great number of successful Belgian cyclists.
Early life
Van Steenbergen was born in Arendonk into a po ...
of Belgium and
Ferdi Kübler Ferdi may refer to:
* Ferdi Elmas (born 1985), Turkish footballer
* Ferdi Hardal (born 1996), is a Turkish weightlifter
* Ferdi Özbeğen (1941-2013), Turkish-Armenian singer and pianist
* Ferdi Sabit Soyer (born 1952), former de facto Prime Minist ...
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
Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...
.
Winning one grand tour and world championship in one year
Hinault was aiming for winning the triple crown during the 1980 season. That year he won the
1980 Giro d'Italia
The 1980 Giro d'Italia was the 63rd running of the Giro. It started in Genoa, on 15 May, with a prologue and concluded in Milan, on 8 June, with a mass-start stage. A total of 130 riders from thirteen teams entered the 22-stage race, that ...
before going on to the
1980 Tour de France
The 1980 Tour de France was the 67th edition of the Tour de France. The total distance was over 22 stages. In the first half of the race, Bernard Hinault started out strong by winning the prologue and two stages. However, knee problems forced Hi ...
. However, during the Tour, Hinault suffered from knee injury and despite winning three stages, he left the race while leading the
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 cumulati ...
. Several weeks later he became
world champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
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.
Other definitions
Career Triple Crown
Only seven riders have won the equivalent of a career Triple Crown, meaning two different grand tours and a Gold in the world championship road race. In addition to Merckx and Roche who won the triple crown in a single season they are Fausto Coppi,
Jan Janssen
Johannes Adrianus "Jan" Janssen (; born 19 May 1940) is a Dutch former professional cyclist (1962–1972). He was world champion and winner of the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, the first Dutch rider to win either. He rode the Tour de ...
,
Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi (; 29 September 1942 – 16 August 2019) 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 ...
, Bernard Hinault and
Joop Zoetemelk
Hendrik Gerardus Joseph "Joop" Zoetemelk (; born 3 December 1946) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. He started and finished the Tour de France 16 times, which were both records when he retired. He also holds the distance record in T ...
.
Riders who have won at least two gold medals and three grand tours include Merckx,
Greg LeMond
Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...
and
Alfredo Binda
Alfredo Binda (11 August 1902 – 19 July 1986) was an Italian road cyclist of the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first to win five editions of the Giro d'Italia, and a three-time world champion. In addition he won Milan–San Remo twice, and the ...
.
Winning all three grand tours in a career
No rider has ever won all three grand tours in a single calendar year although Chris Froome and Jacques Anquetil won all three grand tours in just over nine months spanning two calendar years.
Winning all three grand tours (
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
,
Giro d'Italia and
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...
) in a career is sometimes called a grand tour career triple crown, although more usually it would be described as a career grand slam.
Only seven riders have achieved this feat, and only one,
Eddy Merckx
Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...
has achieved both a classic Triple Crown and a career clean sweep of Grand Tour titles (He also achieved a career clean sweep of Monument classics, the 5 most prestigious one-day classic races).
Only Bernard Hinault and
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vue ...
have achieved multiple career grand tour triple crowns, both having won each race at least twice.
In bold the win that achieved a grand tour career triple crown.
![Jersey rainbow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Jersey_rainbow.svg)
designates a World Championship winner.
Winning all three grand tours in one year
The definition of Triple Crown of Cycling can also mean winning all three Grand Tours in the same year. As of 2021, this has not been achieved. Only 39 times has a cyclist finished all three grand tours in one year, and of these 39 only
Raphaël Géminiani
Raphaël Géminiani (born Clermont-Ferrand; born 12 June 1925) is a French former road bicycle racer. He had six podium finishes in the Grand Tours. He is one of four children of Italian immigrants who moved to Clermont-FerrandColin, Jacques ( ...
(in 1955) and
Gastone Nencini
Gastone Nencini (; 1 March 1930 – 1 February 1980) was an Italian road racing cyclist who won the 1960 Tour de France, 1960 Tour de France and the 1957 Giro d'Italia, 1957 Giro d'Italia.
Nicknamed ''Il Leone del Mugello'', "The Lion of Mugel ...
(in 1957) managed to finish in the top ten in each tour. In 2016, Alejandro Valverde was close to accomplishing the same feat – he finished 3rd in the Giro d'Italia, 6th in the Tour de France, and was in the top three after the first half of the Vuelta of Spain, but lost 11 minutes in the 14th stage before recovering to finish in 12th place in overall standings, less than 2 minutes behind 10th place.
In 2010, Alberto Contador's new team manager
Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis (; born 3 April 1964), nicknamed ''The Eagle from Herning'' ( da, Ørnen fra Herning), is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France. For many years he was the owner and lat ...
claimed that Contador could win all three grand tours in the same year, but his main rival
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck (; born 10 June 1985) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 2010 Tour de France, being awarded it retroactively in February 2012 after Alberto Contador's hearing at the Court of Arbitration f ...
said it would be impossible.
"All the jerseys"
While no rider has ever won all three grand tours in a single calendar year, 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.
Bernard Hinault won three consecutive grand tours in 1982–1983: Giro 1982, Tour 1982, and Vuelta 1983.
Chris Froome
Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...
won three consecutive grand tours in 2017–2018: Tour 2017, Vuelta 2017 and Giro 2018 before finishing 3rd in Tour 2018.
Completing all three grand tours in one year
Cyclists who have completed all three grand tours in the same year
As of 2016, 39 riders completed all three grand tours in the same year:
*6 times –
Adam Hansen
Adam Hansen (born 11 May 1981) is an Australian Ironman triathlete and former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2007 and 2020, for the and teams.
Career
Hansen was born in Southport, Queensland, and turned pr ...
(AUS) – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
*4 times –
Marino Lejarreta
Marino Lejarreta Arrizabalaga (born 14 May 1957) is a retired Basque professional road racing cyclist. His biggest victory was capturing the 1982 Vuelta a España, a Grand Tour stage race, and he is the inaugural and record three-time winner of ...
(ESP) – 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991
*3 times –
Bernardo Ruiz
Bernardo Ruiz Navarrete (born 8 January 1925) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the overall and climbers competition at the 1948 Vuelta a España. He went on to become the first Spaniard to take two wins in a single e ...
(ESP) – 1955, 1956, 1957
*2 times –
Eduardo Chozas
Eduardo Chozas Olmo (born 5 July 1960 in Madrid) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. He won four stages at the Tour de France and three in the Giro d'Italia. He was also chosen as the most combative rider of 1990 Tour de Fran ...
(ESP) – 1990, 1991
*2 times –
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil (; born 22 April 1975) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer and winner of the 2008 Tour de France. He consistently achieved outstanding results in the Vuelta a España and in the Tour de France. Sastre establi ...
(ESP) – 2006, 2010
List of riders and results
Winning world titles in three disciplines
After
Marianne Vos
Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam .
After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior cycling by becomin ...
had won world titles in
road race (2006),
cyclo-cross (2006) and track
points race
A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men between 1984–2008 and for women 1996–2008. Starting in 2012, the points race is one of the omnium even ...
(2008), she was said to have won the triple crown of cycling. In 2014,
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (born 10 February 1992) is a French multi-discipline bicycle racer, who rides for UCI Elite Mountain Bike team BMC MTB Racing in cross-country cycling. and has signed for Ineos Grenadiers for 2023. Ferrand-Prévot has al ...
won the
World Championship road race and followed this in 2015 with the world championships in
cross-country mountain biking
Cross-country (XC) cycling is a discipline of mountain biking. Cross-country cycling became an Olympic sport in 1996 and is the only form of mountain biking practiced at the Olympics.
Terrain
Cross-country cycling is defined by the terrain on ...
and
cyclocross, which meant she held world titles in three cycling disciplines simultaneously.
Triple Crown of Track Cycling
*
Sprint
*
Team sprint
The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome.
The current men's ...
*
Keirin
– literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gamblin ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Triple Crown Of Cycling
Road bicycle racing terminology
Grand Tour (cycling)