The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route , first run in 1932. For many years it was considered a sort of French national championship and was finally opened to non–French cyclists in 1979. Bernard Hinault is the only cyclist to win the race in both its forms. The race has been won by some of the most famous names in cycling, including Jacques Anquetil , Sean Kelly , Bernard Hinault , Miguel Induráin , Stephen Roche , Joop Zoetemelk , Laurent Fignon , Jens Voigt , Cadel Evans and Chris Froome .
46-619: The Critérium International is one of the few races in cycling, apart from the three Grand Tours , with no fixed attachment to a region. Upon its creation in 1932, it was held as a one-day race in the Vallée de Chevreuse , finishing in the Parc des Princes velodrome in Paris. From 1941 to 1943, two races were organized each year: one in Nazi-occupied France and one in the free French State . As of 1959,
92-640: A Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia , Tour de France , and Vuelta a España . Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours , and all three races are similar in format, being three-week races with daily stages. They have a special status in the UCI regulations: more points for the UCI World Tour are distributed in Grand Tours than in other races, and they are
138-533: A lower classification by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), and had a reduced field. In 2008, the race was six days and seven stages. However, in 2009 the race was only four days long with only 66 riders, after a planned race start and three stages in Britain fell through, leading winner Emma Pooley to joke that the race was "more of a Petite Boucle than Grande." The race was discontinued after
184-473: A single year in any classification (general, points, mountain, young rider). Few riders have even finished all three in a single year ; of those who have, two finished in the top ten in each: Raphaël Géminiani (4th, 6th and 3rd in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta in 1955) and Gastone Nencini (1st, 6th and 9th in 1957). Eleven riders have achieved a double by winning two grand tours in the same calendar year. Of
230-511: A special status in the rules and regulations of cycling (such as more points in the UCI Women's World Tour, or allowing an increased number of stages), and some have argued that the races need to visit high mountains (such as the Alps ) or contain time trial stages to be considered an equivalent event. Campaign groups such as Le Tour Entier and The Cyclists' Alliance continue to push organisers and
276-593: A squadre ) Intergiro classification ( Intergiro ) [REDACTED] General classification ( la roja ) [REDACTED] Points classification ( jersey verde ) [REDACTED] Mountains classification ( jersey puntos azules ) [REDACTED] Young rider classification ( jersey blanco ) [REDACTED] Team classification ( clasificación por equipos ) [REDACTED] Combativity award Grande Boucle F%C3%A9minine Internationale Various professional women's cycle stage races across France have been held as an equivalent to
322-507: A week in length. The Vuelta Femenina takes place in May, the Giro d'Italia Women is generally run in late June / early July and the Tour de France Femmes is held in late July following the men's Tour de France. Some media and teams have referred to these women's events as Grand Tours, as they are the biggest events in the women's calendar. However, they are not three week stage races, they do not have
368-477: A women's Tour de France. Following substantial media coverage, and a petition signed by over 100,000 people, the organisers of the Tour de France (ASO) launched La Course by Le Tour de France in 2014. This race would be held in conjunction with the Tour de France, with the first edition taking place as a one-day race on the Champs-Élysées in advance of the final stage of the men's race. In subsequent years,
414-642: The 2022 Tour de France in July 2022, with the first stage taking place on the Champs-Élysées. The men's tour director, Christian Prudhomme stated that lessons must be learned from the failure of previous events like the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, and the goal of ASO is to have a financially sustainable event, one "that will still exist in 100 years". The Tour de France Femmes does not succeed these historic races, with ASO stating that
460-544: The 2023 Vuelta a España . Riders from the same country winning all three Grand Tours in a single year has happened only on four occasions. It first occurred in 1964 with French riders Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor , with the second occurrence in 2008 with Spanish riders Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre . 2018 marked the only time three different riders from the same country won all three Tours, these being British riders Chris Froome , Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates . In 2024 Slovenian riders Tadej Pogačar (winning
506-628: The Tour de France for women, with the first of these races staged as a one off in 1955. From 1984, a women's Tour de France was staged consistently, although the name of the event changed several times - such as Tour de France Féminin, Tour of the EEC Women, Tour Cycliste Féminin and Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale. Over the years, the races struggled with various issues including financial difficulties, limited media coverage, sexism and trademark difficulties with Amaury Sport Organisation (the organisers of
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#1732848310280552-477: The Triple Crown of Cycling . The three Grand Tours are men's events, and as of 2023, no three week races currently exist on the women's road cycling circuit . The Vuelta Femenina , Giro d'Italia Women and Tour de France Femmes are sometimes considered to be equivalent races for women – taking place over shorter, smaller routes around a week in length. The Vuelta Femenina was first held under that name in 2023,
598-491: The UCI Women's World Tour . The launch of the Tour de France Femmes was praised by the media, campaigners and the professional peloton. In 1955, the first edition of a women's Tour de France was held as a one-off event. Organised by Jean Leulliot, with the event made up of five stages with 41 athletes starting. The race was won by Manx cyclist Millie Robinson . There was, however, no race organised for 1956 onwards. In 1984,
644-532: The UCI World Tour , more points are given in grand tours than in other races; the winner of the Tour de France receives 1000 points, and the winners of the Giro and Vuelta receive 850 points. Depending on the nature of other races, points vary for the winner of the overall classification The grand tours have a special status for the length: they are allowed to last between 15 and 23 days – whereas other stage races are not allowed to last longer than 14 days. Historically, controversy surrounds which teams are invited to
690-611: The women's road cycling circuit . Historically, women have participated in three week long stages races, with various women's Tour de France events taking place since 1984. In the contemporary UCI Women's World Tour , the Giro d'Italia Women (first held in 1988), the Tour de France Femmes (first held in 2022) and the Vuelta Femenina (started in 2015, gaining its current name in 2023) are sometimes considered to be equivalent races for women – taking place over shorter, smaller routes around
736-725: The 1998 edition, the race was known as the Tour Cycliste Féminin, but the Société du Tour de France (now part of the ASO), organisers of the men's Tour de France , claimed that infringed their trademark. Consequently, the name of the name of the event was changed to Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale for the 1999 edition. The race was not held in 2004 due to organisational difficulties. It returned, albeit smaller in size and scope, in 2005. The previous races were 10 to 15 stages; later ones had five and stayed in one region. The race also received
782-539: The 2009 edition. [km] French women's stage racing continued after the Grande Boucle ceased after the 2009 edition, with at least two further stage races - the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin and the Route de France Féminine . As with the Grande Boucle, neither of these races had a direct relationship with the Tour de France. Following further financial and organisational difficulties, the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin and
828-584: The Giro and the Tour) and Primož Roglič (winning the Vuelta) repeated the accomplishments of the aforementioned French, Spanish and British riders. On four occasions, each of the three Grand Tours in the same year was won by a home rider, that is, an Italian winning the Giro, a Frenchman winning the Tour and a Spaniard winning the Vuelta. The last occasion this occurred was 1975. As of 2024 , no three week races currently exist on
874-408: The Giro d'Italia Women was first held in 1988, and various women's Tour de France events have taken place since 1984 – with the Tour de France Femmes having its first edition in 2022. In their current form, the Grand Tours are held over three consecutive weeks and typically include two rest days near the beginning of the second and third weeks. If the opening stages are in a country not neighbouring
920-601: The Grand Tours in the same season: Miguel Poblet in 1956, Pierino Baffi in 1958 and Alessandro Petacchi in 2003. The rider with the most Grand Tour stage wins in one season is Freddy Maertens who won 20 stages in 1977: 13 in the Vuelta a España and 7 in the Giro d'Italia . Only 36 riders have finished all three Grand Tours in one season. Adam Hansen has done this six times consecutively, Marino Lejarreta four times and Bernardo Ruiz achieved it in three different years, while Eduardo Chozas and Carlos Sastre have completed
966-767: The Route de France Féminine ended in 2010 and 2016 respectively. Since 2003, the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche has been held as a multi day stage race in southeastern France in the Ardèche region. For several years, this was the only international level multi day stage race in France. In 2013, professional cyclists Kathryn Bertine , Marianne Vos and Emma Pooley and professional triathlete Chrissie Wellington formed an activist group called Le Tour Entier (“the whole tour”), to petition ASO to launch
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#17328483102801012-407: The Société du Tour de France, organizer of the men's Tour de France, decided that it would introduce a women's version of the Tour - Tour de France Féminin . From 1984 through to 1989 the race was run alongside the men's event, as a curtain raiser, with both races using the same finishing location (the women's race ran over a shorter distance for each stage). In 1989 Jean-Marie Leblanc , director of
1058-520: The Tour de France was ridden to its conclusion. Over the years, 36 riders have completed all three Grand Tours in one year: Adam Hansen did so six years in a row. The only riders to have finished in the top 10 in each of the three tours during the same year are Raphaël Géminiani in 1955 and Gastone Nencini in 1957. In 2023 Sepp Kuss became the first rider since Nencini to start and finish all three tours in one year, while winning one of them - in Kuss' case
1104-414: The Tour de France). The last Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale took place in 2009. In 2014, following criticism and campaigning from the professional peloton, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) - the organiser of the Tour de France - launched a one-day race for the professional peloton ( La Course by Le Tour de France ). In 2022, La Course was replaced by Tour de France Femmes , a 8-day stage race in
1150-457: The Tour de France, halted the race in its current format, citing the economic cost of organising the race with limited media coverage and sponsorship being generated. As a result of the races dissociation from the Tour de France, the name was changed to the Tour of the EEC Women. [km] Following the change in race format, calendar position and name of the race to the Tour de la C.E.E. féminin ,
1196-490: The UCI for his use of performance-enhancing drugs . The organizers of the Tour de France announced that the winner's slot would remain empty in the record books, rather than transfer the win to the second-place finishers each year. Seven cyclists have won all three of the Grand Tours during their career: Hinault and Contador are the only cyclists to have won each Grand Tour at least twice. No rider has won all three Grand Tours in
1242-416: The UCI to allow for longer stage races for women, as well as to improve the quality and economic stability of the women's peloton to allow for three week long races in future. A. Lance Armstrong was declared the winner of seven consecutive Tours from 1999 to 2005. However, on 22 October 2012, he was stripped of all his titles by
1288-405: The above eleven, Pantani, Roche and Battaglin's doubles were their only Grand Tour victories in their careers. The margins between the winner of a Grand Tour and the runner-up are often narrow, and rarely larger than a few minutes. As of 2021, there have been 54 Grand Tours with a winning margin less than one minute. The smallest margins are as follows: The biggest winning margin in a Grand Tour
1334-400: The accomplishment twice. The rider with most participations on Grand Tours is Matteo Tosatto with 34 (12 Tours, 13 Giros and 9 Vueltas). The rider who has finished most Grand Tours is also Matteo Tosatto, with 28 (12 Tours, 11 Giros and 5 Vueltas). Adam Hansen has finished the most consecutive Grand Tours: 20 tours from 2011 Vuelta a España till 2018 Giro d'Italia . Bernardo Ruiz was
1380-547: The coastal city of Porto-Vecchio . In 2014 the ASO agreed a deal to extend the race's stay until at least 2016. Because of its challenging route and usually mild weather conditions in early spring , the Critérium International is often contended by many general classification riders in their build-up towards the Grand Tours, notably the Tour de France . November 18, 2016 the ASO announced that it would no longer organise
1426-453: The event by the organiser. Typically, the UCI prefers top-rated professional teams to enter, while operators of the Grand Tours often want teams based in their country or those unlikely to cause controversy. Between 2005 and 2007, organisers had to accept all ProTour teams, leaving only two wildcard teams per Tour. However, the Unibet team , a ProTour team normally guaranteed entry, was banned from
Critérium International - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-445: The first rider to ride every tour of a season on three occasions which he completed in 1957. Marino Lejarreta completed every grand tour of the season for the 4th time in 1991 and of these 12 tours he finished in the top 10 of eight of them. His record of 4 was not passed until Adam Hansen completed the Vuelta in 2016. Gastone Nencini (1957) and Sepp Kuss (2023) are the only cyclists to both ride all three Grand Tours and win one in
1518-421: The grand tours, 68 of them rode two Grand Tours and only two cyclists started in all three grand tours. It is not unusual for sprinters to start each of the Grand Tours and aim for stage wins before the most difficult stages occur. Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Cavendish started all three Grand Tours in 2010 and 2011, respectively, as did some of their preferred support riders. For both riders in both years, only
1564-524: The home nation of the race, there is sometimes an additional rest day after the opening weekend to allow for transfers. The stages are a mix of long massed start races (sometimes including mountain and hill climbs and descents; others are flat stages favoring those with a sprint finish) and individual and team time trials . Stages in the Grand Tours are generally under 200 kilometres in length. Grand Tour events have specific rules and criteria as part of Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) regulations. For
1610-455: The men's race and not having a challenging enough parcours . ASO were also criticised for not doing enough to promote the race. ASO stated that logistical issues mean that a men's and women's Tour de France would not be able to be staged simultaneously, and that any race must be financially sustainable. In June 2021, ASO announced that they would launch a new women's stage race, Tour de France Femmes. The 8 day race would take place after
1656-405: The only stage races allowed to last longer than 14 days, and these differ from major stage races more than one week in duration. All three races have a substantial history, with the Tour de France first held in 1903, Giro d'Italia first held in 1909 and the Vuelta a España first held in 1935. The Giro is generally run in May, the Tour in July, and the Vuelta in late August and September. The Vuelta
1702-758: The organisers are free to invite wildcard teams of UCI ProContinental status to make up the 22 teams that usually compete. In 2023, Team Jumbo–Visma riders Primož Roglič , Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss won the Giro , Tour and Vuelta respectively, making the team the first to win all three Grand Tours in a single calendar year. The main competition is the individual general classification , decided on aggregate time (sometimes after allowance of time bonuses). There are also classifications for teams and young riders , and based on climbing and sprinting points , and other minor competitions. Five riders have won three individual classifications open to all riders (general, mountains, young and points classifications) in
1748-604: The race location changed every year. The edition of 1960 took place in Oran in French Algeria . From 1963 to 1966 the Critérium was held as a stage race for the first time, and again ever since 1978. From 2001 to 2009 the race was organized in the Ardennes with all stages starting and finishing in or around Charleville-Mézières . In 2010 the race moved to the island of Corsica , around
1794-617: The race ran for a further four editions albeit with no connection to the Tour de France, through to the 1993 season. [km] In 1992, a new race was created, the Tour Cycliste Féminin , organised in August by Pierre Boué, but again with no connection to either the Tour de France or the ASO. The race lacked stable sponsorship and with the location of stages determined by locations willing to contribute, there were long transfers between stages. Until
1840-422: The race took place in a variety of locations such as Pau , Col de la Colombière and Col d'Izoard in conjunction with the men's race, as the ASO argued that this was the "best way to shine a light on female cycling". The race was initially praised for the exposure gained by 'sharing the stage' with the Tour de France, however La Course was criticised for not being a "full Tour de France", being overshadowed by
1886-445: The same race: Eddy Merckx in the 1968 Giro d'Italia and 1969 Tour de France and 1973 Vuelta a España , Tony Rominger in the 1993 Vuelta a España , Laurent Jalabert in the 1995 Vuelta a España , Marco Pantani in the 1998 Giro d'Italia , and Tadej Pogačar in the 2020 Tour de France and 2021 Tour de France . It is rare for cyclists to ride all grand tours in the same year; in 2004, 474 cyclists started in at least one of
Critérium International - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-610: The same season. The best average finish was the first time three Grand Tours were finished in one season, when Raphaël Géminiani finished 4th, 6th and 3rd in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta, respectively. [REDACTED] General classification ( maglia rosa ) [REDACTED] Points classification ( maglia ciclamino ) [REDACTED] Mountains classification ( maglia azzurra ) [REDACTED] Young rider classification ( maglia bianca ) Team classification ( classifica
1978-540: The three Grand Tours for violating gambling advertising laws. In 2008, following numerous doping scandals, some teams were refused entry to the Grand Tours: Astana did not compete at the 2008 Tour de France and Team Columbia did not compete at the 2008 Vuelta a España . Since 2011, under the UCI World Tour rules, all UCI WorldTeams are guaranteed a place in all three events, and obliged to participate, and
2024-448: The two-day event, ending its 85-year run. In 1997, a horse jumped over a fence and joined the peloton, eventually passing it, leaving the race only 20 km from the finish line. This scene was shown briefly in the movie Amélie , and is often mistaken for a scene from a Tour de France race. *Results later voided for doping infringements Riders in italic are still active. Grand Tour (cycling) In road bicycle racing ,
2070-972: Was 2h 59' 21" in Maurice Garin 's win at the first Tour de France in 1903 . The biggest margin in the history of Giro d'Italia was in 1914 when Alfonso Calzolari won by 1h 57' 26", and the biggest margin in the history of Vuelta a España was in 1945 when Delio Rodríguez finished 30' 08" clear. The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by five riders – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov , Mark Cavendish , Laurent Jalabert , Eddy Merckx and Alessandro Petacchi . The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by two riders – Federico Bahamontes and Luis Herrera . The Tour/Giro double has been achieved by three riders – Egan Bernal , Nairo Quintana and Andy Schleck . The Giro/Vuelta double has been achieved by one rider – Miguel Ángel López . The Tour/Vuelta double has been achieved by two riders – Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel . Three cyclists have won stages in all three of
2116-556: Was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in the 1940s. In 1995, however, the race moved to September to avoid direct competition with the Giro. The Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious in terms of points accrued to racers of all three, and is the most widely attended annual sporting event in the world. The Tour, the Giro and the Road World Cycling Championship make up
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