The Most Iconic Tour de France Rivals of All Time
By
Will Brown
Contributor Updated: 22 July 2024
Will Brown Contributor
William Brown is a Content Writer with strong expertise in US and global gambling industry trends. Having covered the local sports betting market since the repeal of PASPA in 2018, William approaches his gambling guides with passion and diligence. He is a keen player of online slots, blackjack, and a regular sports bettor.
Tour de France Rivals
Since it was first raced in 1903, the Tour de France has created some of the most intense scenes in sporting history. Because of the thrilling and grueling nature of the race, many Tour de France rivals have formed as they compete for the top prize. In this guide, we’ve looked at the most famous rivalries over the past sixty years in time for the upcoming race set to begin June 29, 2024.
Intro to the Biggest Rivalries in Tour de France
While the Tour de France has been held for over 100 years, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the sport began to be televised. Over the following decade, the sport grew a massive international audience and interest from sponsors. It is for this reason we have only focused on rivalries since the 1960s in this guide.
You can find information about the biggest rivalries in Tour de France history by decade by clicking on the following links. We especially recommend that you educate yourself about the most recent rivals before wagering on the Tour de France.
- The 1960s Biggest Rivals
- The 1970s Iconic Rivalries
- The 1980s Biggest Rivals
- The 1990s Biggest Rivalries
- The 2000s Iconic Rivals
- The 2010s and Beyond
Historical Tour de France Rivalries by Decade
By researching historical Tour de France rivalries, you will not only learn about the fascinating history of the sport but learn about the nature of the race itself. As the decades progressed, the race was changed by greater international participation, corporate sponsorship, and record-breaking which has made this one of the most controversial spectacles on the sporting calendar.
The 1960s
Before World War II, the Tour de France primarily attracted French cyclists and audiences. In the subsequent years, the Tour expanded its appeal beyond the country, with much help from its international television coverage in the 1950s. It was in the 1960s when one of the most memorable rivalries in the race’s history occurred.
This was between French riders Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor, whose differing cycling styles and personalities pitted the two against one another. Between 1957 and 1964, Anquetil had won the yellow jersey five times. In many of these instances, Poulidor was his most formidable opponent.
While Poulidor never won, he earned a legion of fans for his resilience and rough-around-the-edges image, being referred to affectionately as “Pou-Pou” and “The Eternal Second” by the French public. Their biggest showdown was in 1964 when Poulidor won in Stage 22. However, Anquetil out-maneuvered his opponent and would eventually win, with Poulidor coming second.
This was the final race between the pair. Despite their rivalry, the racers were secretly good friends and had a great amount of respect for each other. When Anquetil was on his deathbed, he even joked to Poulidor that, “My friend, you will come second to me once again.” This capped off one of the greatest rivalries in Tour de France history.
The 1970s
In the 1970s, the Tour de France began to attract global audiences, spurred on by major corporate sponsorships of riders. The decade also saw the introduction of the polka-dot jersey for the winner of the Mountains Classification and the Tour’s finish at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
One of the major stars of the era was Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx, who remains the most successful professional rider in the sport’s history. He dominated the race in the late 1960s and 70s, winning the yellow jersey five times. It was against rival Luis Ocaña that has made the history books, with Merckx regularly beating his opponent.
This changed in 1973 when Ocaña beat Merckx in the 1973 Tour because his rival did not enter. The rivalry ended after Ocaña sustained a career-finishing injury in 1974. In the latter half of the decade, another rivalry brewed between Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk.
The riders were regularly positioned first and second in the race, with Zoetemelk failing to ever beat his rival. Despite this, the two are considered to be among the most famous Tour de France rivals, with their ambitions undoubtedly being a motivator for the pair’s thrilling performances.
The 1980s
The 1980s are often considered to be the first golden era of the Tour de France. In addition to its intense rivalries, the sport was changed by huge advances in cycling technology, which saw lighter-weight bicycles and aerodynamic equipment proper the riders to record-smashing race times.
In this decade, the aforementioned Bernard Hinault dominated the sport and was engaged in rivalries with not one but two riders. Hinault and Greg LeMond are considered to be the most famous Tour de France rivals in history due to their tense relationship on and off the track.
Having already won five Tours before the 1980s, Hinault opened the decade with several losses to French cyclist Laurent Fignon. With Hinault facing several injuries, he continued to push for his former glory with clashes against his opponent. By 1986, Hinault was teamed with Greg LeMond, an American rider with strong ambitions.
LeMond aimed to be the first American rider to win the race and Hinault promised to support his teammate. However, during the race, Hinault began to aggressively attack LeMond, clearly pushing for a sixth win. Despite this, LeMond was victorious, making the pair fierce Tour de France rivals and the race the most memorable of the era.
The 1990s
While the 1990s saw some of the best historical Tour de France rivalries in its history, the decade is considered to be the beginning of the sport’s ‘doping era’. By the end of the decade, the race was rocked by revelations that many of its riders had been engaging in unsportsmanlike behavior, which began a dark legacy that endured into the following decade.
However, in the early 90s, the sport’s reputation was still intact. The race was dominated by Spanish rider Miguel Indurain, who had won the yellow five consecutive times between 1991 and 1995. In several races, his biggest rival was with Tony Rominger, a Swiss cyclist with a strong climbing ability and resilience.
Another famous rival was the Danish cyclist Bjarne Riis, who challenged Indurain’s reign and ended his five-year winning streak in 1996. The pair-ups were usually billed as a battle between experience and youth, with Riis displaying a refined tactical approach and aggressive riding style that ultimately dethroned Indurain.
However, in 2007, Riis admitted to using banned substances during this race, and the Tour stripped him of the title shortly after. The second on the podium was his fellow teammate Jan Ullrich, who also won the following year’s event. This marked the beginning of the sport’s most controversial era.
The 2000s
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Lance Armstrong was considered to be a figure that would revitalize the sport’s reputation. As a cancer survivor, the American cyclist was an inspirational figure that battled it out against Jan Ullrich. Over Armstrong’s record-setting seven Tour wins, Ullrich was a runner-up three times.
However, after Armstrong’s retirement, an investigation into Armstrong revealed that he was the leader of a doping ring. Armstrong’s legacy was disgraced and his titles stripped, and the race’s official statistics have now been updated to reflect that there is no official winner between 1999 and 2005, overshadowing some of the biggest rivalries in Tour de France history.
The 2010s and Beyond
With the Armstrong case decided in 2012, a heavy shadow was cast over the prestigious race. Major reforms to doping testing and policies were introduced, and a new generation of cyclists has since risen from the ashes of the preceding decades’ controversy. Since then, two sets of Tour de France rivals have developed.
The first was between Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana, with the British Froome winning four times in the decade, including a notable win against his Colombian counterpart. This is despite Quintana’s win against Froome in the 2016 Vuelta a España. Now, another battle is brewing that may be considered a landmark in historical Tour de France rivalries.
The winner of the previous two years was Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, while the two wins in the years before came from Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar. The two are currently favorites to win the 2024 race. Whoever wins, we may be in the midst of another rivalry that will become legendary.
