Mads Pedersen set to join cycling’s exclusive Grand Tour points classification club

Eddy Merckx holds an abundance of records, including notably claiming the most Grand Tour victories with 11. However, the Cannibal also became the first rider to join the exclusive club of winning the points classification at all three Grand Tours.

Merckx’s first points victory arrived at the 1968 Giro d’Italia, a race of domination where he also won the GC, KOM and was part of the Faema squad who won the team classification. He would add another points victory at the Giro in 1973, in what was also his fourth overall victory at the race. 

The Cannibal claimed the points classification at the Tour de France in 1969, 1971, and 1972, editions he also won overall. His first Tour victory in 1969 followed a similar tone to the 1968 Giro, in that he won the GC, points, KOM and team classifications.

Merckx would eventually complete his historic triple crown at the 1973 Vuelta a España, his one and only appearance at the Spanish Grand Tour, where he would pair the GC and points victory.

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov became the second rider to join the exclusive club of winning the points classification at all three Grand Tours, following Eddy Merckx’s achievement in 1973. 

Known as the “Tashkent Terror”, the Uzbek sprinter was one of the most feared fast men of the 1990s, renowned for his aggressive style and ability to consistently collect points in bunch finishes.

Abdoujaparov’s first success came at the 1991 Tour de France, where he claimed the green jersey after winning two stages and finishing consistently near the front throughout the race. He would add further Tour points victories in 1993 and 1994, claiming three and two more stages respectively.

Following the 1991 Tour, his next success arrived at the 1992 Vuelta a España, where three stage victories helped him secure the points classification. Two years later, Abdoujaparov completed the set at the 1994 Giro d'Italia, becoming the first rider to win all three points classifications without also winning the general classification at a Grand Tour.

Laurent Jalabert sits fourth in the all-time rankings for total points classification victories across all three Grand Tours behind Erik Zabel (9), Sean Kelly (8), and Peter Sagan (8).

The Frenchman won seven points classifications at Grand Tours over a seven-year spell from 1992 to 1999, though he also became a prolific KOM winner in the latter stages of his career winning back to back in 2001 and 2002 at the Tour.

Jalabert’s first success came at the Tour de France in 1992 in what was his second Tour de France. The previous year had seen Jalabert finish runner-up to Abdoujaparov, but the Frenchman’s first Grand Tour stage victory in the 1992 edition plus an abundance of top-ten stage finishes helped him also secure the green jersey.

The next points classification success was Jalabert’s most prolific, the 1994 Vuelta, where he claimed seven stage victories. 1995 was a double delight for Jalabert, winning the points classification at both the Tour and Vuelta. Not just that, Jalabert also won the Vuelta overall, making him the only rider on the list alongside Merckx to also win in the GC.

Jalabert would defend the points classification in 1996 and 1997 at the Vuelta, making it four consecutive successes, before adding the Giro in 1999, his final points classification victory at a Grand Tour. He also wore the maglia rosa over two spells in the 1999 Giro before ending fourth overall.

Alessandro Petacchi became the fourth rider to join the exclusive club of winning the points classification at all three Grand Tours, completing the set more than a decade after Laurent Jalabert. 

Petacchi’s first success came at the 2004 Giro d’Italia, where he won a staggering nine stages and claimed the points classification. 

The Italian added the Vuelta a España points classification in 2005, taking four stage victories, before completing the set at the 2010 Tour de France where he won two stages.

Petacchi had also initially won five stages and the points classification at the 2007 Giro, but was later stripped of these results following a positive test for the asthma drug salbutamol.

Mark Cavendish became the fifth rider to join the exclusive club of winning the points classification at all three Grand Tours, completing the set three years after Alessandro Petacchi. 

Cavendish’s first success came at the 2010 Vuelta a España, where he won three stages and secured the points classification. The Manx Missile would add the Tour de France points classification in 2011, winning five stages and becoming the first British rider to claim the green jersey. 

The final piece of the puzzle arrived at the 2013 Giro d’Italia, where Cavendish won five stages and became the first British rider to win the points classification at the Italian Grand Tour.

However, that wasn't to be the last for Cavendish, who would produce one of the great sporting comebacks at the 2021 Tour.

Returning to the race for the first time since 2018, the Manx Missile won four stages, equalling Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage wins, and secured the green jersey for the second time, before going on to seal a record-breaking 35th stage win in 2024.

Mads Pedersen is set to become the latest rider to join the club, after mathematically securing the green jersey on stage 20 of the 2026 Tour de France.

Pedersen’s first jersey arrived at the 2022 Vuelta a España. Using his raw strength and climbing ability to overpower pure sprinters on uphill drags, he claimed three stage victories and comfortably secured his maiden Grand Tour points title.

The Dane had to wait a few years for his next success, which came at the 2025 Giro, where he produced another emphatic performance by taking four stage wins en route to the maglia ciclamino. He would add another success at the Vuelta later that year with another stage win and points victory.

Pedersen is ultimately set to complete the set at the 2026 Tour de France. Having claimed an early lead after powering to victory on stage 4 from the breakaway, Pedersen found himself locked in a contest against Jasper Philipsen in week 2. 

However, the former World Champion repeatedly infiltrated gruelling mountain breakaways, which proved to be the ultimate difference.

Sealing the green jersey by climbing his way across to the breakaway on the HC Col de la Croix de Fer on stage 20 epitomises Pedersen’s performance throughout the 2026 Tour and is a fitting way to secure the green jersey.