How many riders have succeeded in inscribing their names on the list of winners of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a España? Since the creation of the Vuelta in 1935, only eight cyclists have won the overall classification of these three grand tours. This number, which remained at seven for several years, has just changed with Jonas Vingegaard’s victory at the Giro 2026.
Timeline and Density of Triples in Cycling
The first striking element in the history of winners of the three grand tours in cycling is the temporal distribution of these feats. The first three riders to complete the triple, Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, and Jacques Anquetil, did so between the 1960s and 1970s. Then, it took until the end of the 2000s for the pace to pick up.
Since Alberto Contador, four riders have joined this circle in less than two decades. This recent concentration is no coincidence. Teams now plan their leaders’ careers around an explicit goal of victories in multiple grand tours, with training programs and schedules built accordingly.
Comparative Table of the Eight Champions of the Three Grand Tours
| Rider | Nationality | Tour de France Wins | Giro Wins | Vuelta Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacques Anquetil | France | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Felice Gimondi | Italy | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Eddy Merckx | Belgium | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Bernard Hinault | France | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Alberto Contador | Spain | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Vincenzo Nibali | Italy | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Chris Froome | United Kingdom | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Jonas Vingegaard | Denmark | 2 | 1 | 1 |
The table highlights a significant gap between the records. Eddy Merckx totals eleven victories across the three grand tours, a volume that no one has approached since. Bernard Hinault, with ten successes in total, remains the only one to compete across all three races.
Rider Profiles: Specialists or Versatile Road Cyclists
The eight members of this circle do not resemble each other. Some built their records by dominating a single race for years, then going after the other two in one or two editions. Others have distributed their victories more evenly.
Anquetil and Merckx embody dominance in the Tour de France, with five victories each in the July event. The Giro served as a complementary stage for Merckx, who also won it five times. In contrast, the Vuelta was merely a one-time stop for these two champions, with only one victory each.
Alberto Contador presents a different profile. His three victories in the Vuelta show a strong grounding in the Spanish race, while his successes in the Tour de France and Giro complete a balanced record across the three events.
The Vingegaard Case: A Methodically Built Triple
Jonas Vingegaard raced his first grand tour in 2020, at the Vuelta, finishing in 46th place as a teammate of Primoz Roglic. Six years later, he became the eighth rider in history to win all three grand tours. His journey illustrates modern planning: victories in the Tour de France first, then the Vuelta, and finally the Giro in 2026.
What distinguishes his trajectory is the speed. At 29, Vingegaard completed the triple with an efficiency that only Contador had approached at a similar age. In contrast, Chris Froome took longer, winning the Giro at 33 to complete his collection.
Pogacar and the Question of the Ninth Member of the Club
Tadej Pogacar, two-time winner of the Tour de France and the Giro, has not yet added the Vuelta to his record. It is the only race he lacks to join the circle of eight. The Slovenian has so far prioritized a schedule centered on the Tour de France and the Giro, without targeting the Spanish race as a primary goal.
Pogacar’s lack of victory in the Vuelta is a notable fact in a record already rich in classics and stage races. Vingegaard has outpaced him in this area, adding an extra dimension to their generational rivalry.
What the Data Reveals About the Evolution of Professional Cycling
Three observations emerge from the analysis of these eight records:
- The 1960s-1970s produced three triples (Anquetil, Gimondi, Merckx), followed by a long dry spell until Hinault in 1978 at the Vuelta.
- Since Contador in 2008, four riders have completed the triple in less than twenty years, a sign of increased specialization among leaders for stage races.
- The Tour de France remains the most won race by club members, with a total number of victories significantly higher than those of the Giro and the Vuelta.
This concentration of triples in the recent period reflects a structural change. Teams invest in fully dedicated groups to support a single leader in the grand tours, with climbers, time trialists, and nutritional strategies calibrated for three weeks of racing.
Eight riders in nearly nine decades: this number is enough to measure the difficulty of the exercise. The next season will tell if Pogacar finally decides to aim for the Vuelta to become the ninth member of this circle, or if another rider will come to shake up the hierarchy.