Tadej Pogačar won the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France so far—and now he wants to win the road worlds. If he accomplishes that, he will become only the third male cyclist to win cycling’s Triple Crown.
A rare accomplishment in the history of cycling
The last rider to achieve this was Stephen Roche in 1987. Roche won the Giro d’Italia by narrowly defeating Italian rider Roberto Visentini. He went on to win the 1987 Tour in dramatic fashion, beating Spanish rider Pedro Delgado. Roche didn’t believe he had the fitness to win the road worlds in Villach, Austria, so he opted to support his fellow Irishman Sean Kelly. Roche ended up covering the race-winning move and, using an early sprint, took the rainbow jersey.
Eddy Merckx actually completed the Giro-Tour double four times between 1970 and 1974, but it was only in 1974 that he also secured the rainbow jersey. That year, he won the road worlds in Montreal—the first time the event was held outside Europe.
Big Mig was one place away
Miguel Indurain came close to the Triple Crown in 1993; after winning the Giro and Tour, he finished second at the road worlds in Norway. The winner? Neo-pro Lance Armstrong.
Given that there are three Grand Tours, why has the Vuelta a España never factored into the Triple Crown? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the greatest prize in cycling include the three biggest stage races?
Lance Armstrong 🇺🇸wins the 1993 World Championships in Oslo. Indurain outsprinted quite a few good sprinters for 2nd place.
2nd – Miguel Indurain 🇪🇸
3rd – Olaf Ludwig 🇩🇪
4th – Johan Museeuw 🇧🇪
5th – Maurizio Fondriest 🇮🇹#Imola2020 pic.twitter.com/HIDpUPL4yP— Pro Cycling Memories (@ClipsCycling) September 25, 2020
Winning all three Grand Tours
Seven riders in the history of men’s cycling have won all three Grand Tours—but not in the same year: Jacques Anquetil, Chris Froome, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, and Merckx. Merckx, Hinault, and Froome have achieved the feat of winning all three Grand Tours consecutively across two seasons, thus holding the pink, yellow, and red jerseys simultaneously.
Stephen Roche discusses Tadej Pogačar’s chances of winning the Giro, Tour and worlds
The reason why the Vuelta has never been included in the Triple Crown is due to scheduling. Although the Spanish Grand Tour has been around since 1935, for years it…
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