Triple Crown of Cycling


The Triple Crown of Cycling is a term used in cycling to denote the achievement of winning three major titles in the same season, usually but not always the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the UCI World Road Race Championship.
It is considered by many fans of the sport to be the greatest 'single' achievement in cycling. Although mostly it means winning the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the Road World Cycling Championship 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; 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 has been achieved by only two cyclists, Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche. Requiring a cyclist who is excellent as both a general classification rider, and a classics racer, it is considered the hardest achievement 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 :
RiderYearRaces
1974Tour + Giro + WC
1987Tour + Giro + WC

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 Italian Fausto Coppi, Frenchman Bernard Hinault, and later Spaniard Miguel Indurain, who finished second in the World Championships in 1993.

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 of Belgium and Ferdi Kübler 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.
CyclistYearGrand Tours wonResult in World Championship
1949Tour + Giro3rd place
1952Tour + GiroDNE
1963Tour + Vuelta14th place
1964Tour + Giro7th place
1970Tour + Giro29th place
1972Tour + Giro4th place
1973Giro + Vuelta4th place
1978Tour + Vuelta5th place
1981Giro + Vuelta26th place
1982Tour + GiroDNF
1985Tour + GiroDNF
1992Tour + Giro6th place
1993Tour + Giro2nd place
1998Tour + GiroDNE
2008Giro + VueltaDNF
2017Tour + VueltaDNE

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 before going on to the 1980 Tour de France. However, during the Tour, Hinault suffered from knee injury and despite winning three stages, he left the race while leading the general classification. Several weeks later he became world champion 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 indicates that the cyclist started the race, but did not finish; DNE indicates that the cyclist did not enter the race.

Other definitions

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 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 has achieved both a classic Triple Crown and a career clean sweep of Grand Tour titles.
Only Bernard Hinault and Alberto Contador 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.
designates a World Championship winner.
CyclistTour de France winsGiro d'Italia winsVuelta a España wins
1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 19641960, 19641963
19651967, 1969, 19761968
1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 19741968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 19741973
1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 19851980, 1982, 19851978, 1983
2007, 20092008, 20152008, 2012, 2014
20142013, 20162010
2013, 2015, 2016, 201720182011, 2017

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 2018, 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 and Gastone Nencini 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 claimed that Contador could win all three grand tours in the same year, but his main rival Andy Schleck said it would be impossible.
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 won three consecutive grand tours in 2017–2018: Tour 2017, Vuelta 2017 and Giro 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:
IDYearRiderTourGiroVuelta
11955Raphaël Géminiani 6°4°3°
21955Louis Caput 54°68°21-°
31955Bernardo Ruiz 22°28°14°
41956Arrigo Padovan 26°12°19°
51956José Serra 81°26°9°
61956Bernardo Ruiz 70°38°31°
71957Gastone Nencini 6°1°9°
81957Mario Baroni 53°74°46°
91957Bernardo Ruiz 24°55°3°
101958Pierino Baffi 63°23°26-°
111958Federico Bahamontès 8°17°6°
121971José Manuel Fuente 72°39°26-°
131971José Luis Uribezubia 49°29°36°
141985Philippe Poissonnier 90°86°66°
151987Marino Lejarreta 10°4°26-°
161988Luis Javier Lukin 82°32°26-°
171989Marino Lejarreta 5°10°20°
181990Eduardo Chozas 6°11°33°
191990Marino Lejarreta 5°7°26-°
201991Eduardo Chozas 11°10°11°
211991Iñaki Gastón 61°23°14°
221991Marco Giovannetti 30°8°18°
231991Alberto Leanizbarrutia 39°64°40-°
241991Marino Lejarreta 53°5°3°
251991Vladimir Pulnikov 88°11°26-°
261991Valerio Tebaldi 89°47°87°
271992Guido Bontempi 75°40°62°
281992Neil Stephens 74°57°66°
291999Mariano Piccoli 50°38°58°
302001Jon Odriozola 69°59°83°
312005Giovanni Lombardi 118°88°115°
322006Carlos Sastre 3°43°4°
332007Mario Aerts 70°20°27°
342008Marzio Bruseghin 26°3°10°
352008Erik Zabel 42°80°49°
362009Julian Dean 121°136°132°
372010Carlos Sastre 18°8°8°
382011Sebastian Lang 111°55°76°
392012Adam Hansen 81°94°123°
402013Adam Hansen 72°72°60°
412014Adam Hansen 64°73°53°
422015Adam Hansen 77°114°55°
432015Sylvain Chavanel 36°54°47°
442016Alejandro Valverde 6°3°12°
452016Adam Hansen 68°100°110°
462017Adam Hansen 93°113°95°
472019Thomas De Gendt 51°60°56°

Winning world titles in three disciplines

After Marianne Vos had won world titles in road race, cyclo-cross and track points race, she was said to have won the triple crown of cycling. In 2014, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the World Championship road race and followed this in 2015 with the world championships in cross-country mountain biking and cyclocross, which meant she held world titles in three cycling disciplines simultaneously.