Who has won the most Tour de France titles?

30.06.2022, 19:08 sportingnews.com

The Tour de France starts in Copenhagen in Denmark on July 1, with back-to-back winner Tadej Pogacar looking to cement his place among cycling's all-time greats despite still only being 23 years old. Another victory during the 2022 edition — the 109th race since its inaugural running in 1903 —would move the Slovenian onto three General Classification triumphs. Where would that put him on the overall winners list? Here, we take a look back through the archives to see which riders have won the Tour de France the most times throughout its history. MORE: Who is Tadej Pogacar? Cycling superstar looking to make history with third successive Tour de France win Jacques Anquetil (5) Taking his first title all the way back in 1957, Frenchman Jacques Anquetil went on to claim further victories in 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964 to take his total of Tour de France wins to five across his career. That tally means that, along with the next three individuals on this list, Anquetil has the most Tour wins of any rider in the competition's history. Nicknamed 'Monsieur Chrono' due to his exceptional ability to win individual time trial stages in particular, Anquetil is regarded as the greatest cyclist of his generation as he also took victories in the Vuelta a Espana in 1963 and twice in the Giro d'Italia in 1960 and 1964. Eddy Merckx (5) When you're a cyclist nicknamed 'The Cannibal', chances are you're someone the rest of the peloton will fear. Winning five titles between 1969 and 1974, Eddy Merckx is undoubtedly one of the greatest riders this competition has ever seen. The Belgian also won the Giro d'Italia five times and the Vuelta a Espana once across a glittering and dominant career, meaning that he has the most Grand Tour wins of any cyclist in the history of the sport. Overall, he achieved 525 victories throughout his 18-year career. Bernard Hinault (5) The second Frenchman on this list, Bernard Hinault also won five Tour de France titles, between 1978 and 1985. In fact, throughout his 11-year career, Hinault entered a total of 13 Grand Tours, winning 10 of those and finishing second in two others. Like his talented peers on this list, the Brittany-born rider also had a nickname: he was known as 'The Badger' due to his aggressive nature on the bike that often saw him lead the peloton during most of the races in which he took part. Miguel Indurain (5) Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain is the fourth and final rider to have won five Tour de France titles across his career and the only man in history to have won all five in a row. Those victories came between 1991 and 1995 as he dominated the world of cycling thanks to his ability and physical size. He also won the Giro d'Italia twice and is one of just seven riders in the sport's history to achieve the Giro-Tour double in the same season. Chris Froome (4) With four Tour de France titles, British cyclist Chris Froome will again be looking to take the glory at the 2022 edition of this event, though a fifth success seems a longshot after his career was nearly ended by a crash at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphine. Now 37, Froome may not be at the peak of his powers that saw he become the Tour's most successful rider in the 21st century, though he remains upbeat that he still has a lengthy future in the sport. Twice a Vuelta champion and winner of the Giro in 2018, Froome also finished second to teammate Bradley Wiggins during the 2012 Tour de France and has two Olympic medals in his trophy cabinet after taking home bronze in both the 2012 and 2016 time trials. Despite winning the Tour de France a record seven times between 1999 and 2005, American cyclist Lance Armstrong was stripped of his victories due to a serious breach of doping regulations. As a result, Greg LeMond now stands as the United States' greatest ever road cyclist after Armstrong had his seven Tour wins scrubbed from the record due to being the ringleader of a sophisticated and systemic doping programme during his time riding with the U.S. Postal Service team. MORE: Lance Armstrong comes clean about his doping dishonesty in documentary trailer: 'We all lied'