The greatest rivalries in Tour de France history

One of the earliest and greatest rivalries in the history of cycling, Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi were not only exceptional cyclists, but also symbols of mid-century Italy's transformation, as noted by Colin O'Brien in Giro d'Italia: The Story of the World's Most Beautiful Bike Race. Their rivalry, pitting the seasoned Bartali against the rising star Coppi, transcended sport, reflecting Italy's cultural and social shifts. 

The duo dominated their home Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia, and each claimed two Tour de France titles. The 1949 Tour was the first time both were in attendance together at La Grande Boucle, racing for the Italian national team under a strained agreement to cooperate with one another. Bartali was the defending champion, and had also won the race in 1938, as well as three Giro wins, and was the more established star, whilst Coppi, who had two Giro's to his name, was set to make his Tour debut. 

Ahead of the 1949 Tour, there had already been many chapters written into their rivalry, notably at the 1948 World Championships in Valkenberg, Netherlands, where their intense focus on each other cost them the chance of victory as they were glued to each others wheels and let their opponents ride away, such was the stakes that they were willing to take to not let the other get the better of one another.

Both were heavily criticised back home and even suspended for three months by the Italian Cycling Federation for their actions in the race.

The 1949 Tour de France tested their uneasy alliance, and there were moments of crisis early on. Equally, the race didn't start strongly for either, with both trailing race leader Jacques Marinelli of France by over 20 minutes after five stages. Coppi suffered a crash on stage 5 into Saint-Malo, and reportedly contemplated quitting the race. 

With strong encouragement from his team manager and another Italian icon, Alfredo Binda, Coppi courageously continued the race, and the decision paid off as he ignited his Tour with a stage win in the individual time trial a few days later. This victory proved to be the catalyst needed for Coppi to find his form, and alongside Bartali, the duo gradually worked their way up the general classification standings.

As the race headed into the Alps, the landscape of the general classification changed significantly. On the gruelling 275 kilometre stage 16 featuring the Col de Izoard, Bartali and Coppi, who still remained tense with but urged by Binda to unite, broke away from the field. They crossed the finish line together, with Bartali taking both the stage honours and the race lead. 

However, Coppi would have his crowning moment the following day, soloing to victory and claiming the yellow jersey, as Bartali suffered a mechanical and a crash. Coppi would hold the lead to Paris, becoming the third Italian Tour winner alongside Bartali and Ottavio Bottecchia. Bartali finished as runner-up behind Coppi, and was almost the passing of the guard. This victory marked a turning point: Bartali never won another Grand Tour, though he secured other victories, whilst Coppi added another Tour and two Giros to his legacy.

Their rivalry eventually faded. By 1959, a retired Bartali, now a team manager, signed a 40-year-old Coppi to be his team leader for the 1960 season. Tragically, Coppi died before the season started from malaria contracted in the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), ending a storied chapter in cycling history.

Jacques Anquetil, the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times (1957, 1961-1964) and Raymond Poulidor, dubbed "The Eternal Second" for never winning the race despite three second-place finishes and a record eight podiums, formed an iconic Tour rivalry. Though they only shared the podium twice, their duels are legendary. 

Their most iconic clash came on stage 20 of the 1964 Tour, on a 237-kilometre route through the Massif Central, culminating at the Puy de Dôme. Ahead of the stage, Anquetil led the Tour by 56 seconds over Poulidor, and looked set to claim a record fifth Tour victory - business as usual - despite Poulidor having pushed the infallible Anquetil harder than anyone else had done previously.

On the Puy du Dôme climb, with an estimated 500,000 fans lining the slopes, the two rode side-by-side, neither willing to give the other an inch, as both refused to show any signs of weakness. After relentless attacks, Poulidor managed to break Anquetil, gaining 42 seconds as the race leader collapsed over the finish line, illustrating a rare moment of vulnerability - a crisis moment for Anquetil.

Yet, Anquetil rallied over the next two stages, proving his class, and decisively extending his lead in the final individual time trial on stage 22b, where he beat Poulidor by 40 seconds. This secured his fifth yellow jersey, cementing his legacy as the greatest Tour champion, a feat which has only been matched, never beaten. The 54-second gap in Paris between Anquetil and Poulidor was the closest Tour finish at the time, and even 61 years later, it remains one of the tighest battles in the race's history.

The 1964 Tour was the final Tour podium of Anquetil's career, while Poulidor's remarkable longevity saw him reach the podium six times more, with his last in 1976, where he finished third behind Lucien Van Impe. Anquetil was the champion and claimed the records, but Poulidor, the perennial underdog, pushed him to his limits, embodying one of cycling's greatest rivalries.

Widely considered to be the greatest of all time, Eddy Merckx dominated the sport with 5 Tour victories and 34 stage wins, and was a master in all races - nobody comes close to Merckx in terms of the record books, and until the emergence of one Tadej Pogačar, nobody has been comparable to 'The Cannibal' for his ability to dominate both the Grand Tours and Classics.

However, there was one rider who never feared the Belgian and was even deeply respected by Merckx himself, who described him as his "most dangerous rival." That man - Luis Ocaña. "If I am afraid of Merckx? Why should I be? If I was afraid, I might stop racing and go back home. I don't think he's unbeatable. Nobody is," Ocana told journalists ahead of the 1971 Tour. The Spanish rider possessed the rare talent to challenge Merckx's supremacy, particularly in the mountains, and his courage to attack the Belgian felt like an aberration, as most accepted 'The Cannibals' dominance and raced for second place.

Ocaña's audaciousness shone on stage 11 in 1971 with one of the most impressive performances in Tour history as the Spanish rider flipped the race on its head with a stunning 120-kilometre solo effort, winning by 5:52 over Lucien Van Impe, and 8:42 over a five-man group that featured Merckx, Joop Zoetemelk and Bernard Thévenet - taking the first yellow jersey of his Tour career. His dominance on the day was so overwhelming that 61 riders missed the time cut, forcing organisers to extend it to avoid losing a significant number of riders from the race.

There was a significant twist of fate on stage 14, when on a wet descent of the Col de Menté, Merckx lost control on one of the hairpins and crashed, with Ocaña, who was following behind, also coming down. As Ocaña was remounting, the Spaniard was struck by Zoetemelk, ending his race. Airlifted to a hospital, Ocaña recovered but was out of the Tour in the yellow jersey. Merckx, quick to recover, finished the stage in second and took the yellow jersey, and would go on to win the Tour. 

Merckx was transparent in his disappointment for his Spanish rival; "I've lost the Tour, Ocaña's crash removes any interest from a possible win. I didn't win by fighting for it. We were going to battle it out all the way."

Despite the heartbreak suffered in 1971, Ocaña would resolutely bounce back to win the Tour in 1973, albeit in Merckx's absence, who went on to become the greatest of all time, but in the 1971 race remains, as Merckx's biographer William Fotheringham wrote, "one of cycling's great unanswered questions."

Not often do the greatest rivalries in sport occur between two teammates, but on occasion, it does happen, and the case of Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault is one of the most compelling in cycling history.

In 1984, LeMond raced his first Tour de France for the Renault-Elf team, finishing third in the general classification whilst supporting team leader Laurent Fignon to his second consecutive Tour victory. Bernard Hinault, nicknamed "The Badger," a four-time Tour champion, racing for La Vie Claire, was sandwiched in between the two Renault-Elf riders in second.

Impressed by LeMond's historic ride, as the first non-European to finish on the Podium, La Vie Claire recruited the American for the 1985 Tour, with the plan to secure a record fifth victory for Hinault, which would tie 'The Badger' level with Anquetil and Merckx. 

During the 1985 Tour, Greg LeMond's potential to win became evident, but through team orders, the American was to stay with Hinault at all times, who was in yellow but struggling with crash-related injuries. Tensions peaked on stage 17, when Stephen Roche attacked on the Col du Tourmalet, with LeMond the only rider able to follow. LeMond was denied permission to contribute to the pace setting and ordered to sit on and wait for Hinault to return. Though Hinault was unable to return to the front, he recovered well to limit the damage and defend yellow. 

Without the call made by the team, LeMond may well have ridden himself into yellow. Hinault battled through the pain to hold on and win his fifth Tour in Paris, and in gratitude, promised to help LeMond win in 1986.

However, doubts about Hinault's commitment to LeMond surfaced before the start of the 1986 Tour. In a pre-race interview featured inL’Équipe, Hinault stated, "The strongest rider will win." 

Ambiguity about La Vie Claire's team leadership came to fruition on stage 12, the first major Pyrenean mountain stage, when Hinault launched a major attack on a descent and was followed by Pedro Delgado, gaining 4:37 on LeMond, who didn't chase his teammate. 

With a lead of over five minutes, Hinault attacked again early on the following stage, aiming to solidify his dominance and force LeMond to support him. LeMond was able to catch and distance Hinault by 4:39, reclaiming crucial time and illustrating his determination to fight for his first Tour victory.

As the race travelled towards the Alps over the next few stages, Hinault and LeMond were locked in a period, with the gap between them just 34 seconds, in the Frenchman's favour. The battle for the yellow jersey reignited as LeMond lit a devastating match, and alongside Swiss rider Urs Zimmermann, dropped Hinault by over three minutes to become the first American to wear the yellow jersey.

Stage 18, however, was the stage that remains the most prominent, as the La Vie Claire teammates rode away from the rest of the field and rode side-by-side up the iconic 21 hairpins of Alpe d'Huez in what appeared to be a symbolic truce. Crossing the line together, Hinault took the stage win, while LeMond, arm around the Frenchman, stood on the cusp of Tour victory.

Despite more attacks from Hinault in the final stages, LeMond was able to put out the fires and make it to Paris in the yellow jersey to become the first rider from outside Europe to win the Tour de France.

The late Richard Moore's Slaying the Badger captures the fascinating physical and psychological warfare in 1986 between LeMond and Hinault, with a 1986 Rolling Stone quote encapsulating the battle between the two great champions: 'In the midst of competition, Hinault attempted to snatch victory like a furious, clawing rodent... he acted not only for himself but for a nation horrified that its great race might be hijacked by an American outlaw.' - Rolling Stone 1986.

The 1989 Tour de France is widely regarded as the most iconic in history, defined by the two epic protagonists, Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond, two riders who had unique paths coming into the race. LeMond is the only rider to feature in two different rivalries in this list, and both were iconic in their own majestic ways.

Fignon, nicknamed 'The Professor', had won the Tour in 1983 and 1984, and dazzled in the build-up to the Tour in 1989. The Frenchman started the year by winning Milan-San Remo before riding to victory in the Giro d'Italia. Coming into the Tour, Fignon had positioned himself as the man to beat.

Lemond's journey was far more turbulent as he was shot with pellets and seriously injured in a hunting accident in 1987, and subsequently underwent two surgeries and missed the two following Tours. The American made a remarkable comeback to racing for the 1998 season, but naturally struggled with the lasting impacts of his accident. 

After signing for the less established Belgian team, ADR, LeMond showed signs of recovery at the Giro, won by Fignon. Though not riding a GC race, LeMond surprised many when he finished second on the final stage's 53-kilometre time trial, gaining 1:18 on Giro winner Fignon, a subtle sign that the American was returning to his true form. However, ambitions and expectations for the Tour, which began with a prologue in Luxembourg on July 1, remained cautious and realistic, and few considered LeMond as a serious contender for the general classification.

However, what transpired over the next three weeks remains some of the most exciting and dynamic racing that the sport of cycling has ever seen. The prologue set the tone, with both riders finishing on the same time, six seconds behind winner Erik Breukink, foreshadowing how close the race would be come Paris. Meanwhile, defending champion Pedro Delgado missed his start time and finished dead last on the stage, shipping nearly 3 minutes after only 7.8 kilometres of racing. Delgado was an important character in the 1989 script, but this blunder cost him dearly in the battle for yellow, and it makes you wonder if the race could have even been closer with the Spaniard's involvement.

Fignon's Super U - Raleigh - Flat team cruised to victory in stage 2's team time trial, placing him third in the GC. LeMond expanded on his Giro performance by winning stage 5's time-trial, taking 56 seconds on Fignon and catapulting himself into yellow - a remarkable feat considering his hunting accident. 

The race leadership switched repeatedly, with Fignon surging ahead on the Superbagnères climb, reclaiming yellow, only for LeMond to bounce back, thriving in yet another individual time trial on stage 15 to regain the lead. Things continued to swing in LeMond's favour when Fignon lost contact with the GC group on the following stage, and lost a further 13 seconds. 

However, such was the nature of the 1989 Tour, there were still more twists in the tale. On stage 17, Fignon regained yellow with a demonstration on the slopes of Alpe d'Huez, before soloing to victory on stage 18 to extend his lead to 50 seconds over his American rival. LeMond responded by outsprinting Fignon to victory on stage 19, but with only a sprint stage and the final 24.5-kilometre time trial on the Champs-Élysées, Fignon looked poised for a third Tour title. Despite LeMond's superior time-trialling, the 50-second deficit seemed improbable to close as momentum favoured 'The Professor.'

Stage 21 in Paris became arguably the most iconic moment in Tour history, as LeMond, using innovative aero bars and a streamlined helmet, staged the most dramatic of comebacks, overcoming the 50 second deficit, to defeat Fignon by just 8 seconds to claim his second Tour - the smallest winning margin in the race's history. A month later, LeMond would go on to become World champion for the second time in his career in Chambéry, France, before going on to defend his Tour title the following year in 1990.

Jan Ullrich has often been cited as one of the most naturally gifted cyclists ever, and when the German won the Tour de France in 1997 at the age of 23 - a year after finishing second behind teammate Bjarne Riis - the hype around Ullrich was serious.

Despite his enormous talent, Ullrich was unable to ever get the better of Armstrong at the Tour, as the Texan went on to win seven consecutive editions of the Tour from 1999-2005 before being stripped of them all in 2012 after an investigation into doping allegations found that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs over his career.

An infamous moment between the duo was what had been referred to as the 'look' in 2001, where Armstrong appeared to be staring directly into the eyes of Ullrich before attacking and dropping him. However, Armstrong has since explained that he wasn't looking directly at Ullrich but in fact at his teammate Jose Luis "Chechu" Rubiera.

Off the bike, Ullrich has cited Armstrong as being a major influence in helping him recover from personal health issues, and the pair remain friends rather than foes like they were during their peak racing days.

No duo had ever claimed the top two spots on the Tour de France podium for four consecutive years until Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. Including time bonuses, Pogačar covered the 13,667.1km of those Tours (2021-2024) 1:25 quicker than Vingegaard. Without time bonuses, however, Vingegaard emerges as the aggregate ‘winner’ over the past four years by a mere three seconds.

When Tadej Pogačar became the second youngest winner of the Tour in 2020 after toppling Primoź Roglič on the slopes of La Planche des Belles Filles, there was a sense of anticipation that the Tour could be set for an era of Slovenian dominance. 

This seemed true to form in 2021 when Pogačar surged ahead on stage 9 to Tignes in the yellow jersey. He led the race by 2:01 over stage winner Ben O’Connor, who gained significant time on the other GC contenders. Rigoberto Urán sat third at 5:18 after just one summit finish, whilst a 24-year-old Vingegaard held fourth at 5:32, having emerged as a GC prospect after his team leader Roglič abandoned due to a crash on the cobbled stage.

Vingegaard’s potential shone on stage 11’s double ascent of Mont Ventoux, where he briefly gapped Pogaćar, hinting at unfathomable vulnerability in the Slovenian’s armoury. Though they would finish the stage together, and Pogačar would hold his commanding lead until Paris, to win back-to-back Tours, this moment marked the true start of one of the Tour’s greatest rivalries, even if we didn’t quite know it at the time. Whilst Pogačar was already two Tours clear of the Dane, Vingegaard’s performance in 2021 was a portent of things to come.

In 2022, Vingegaard shattered Pogačar’s dominance. Jumbo Visma’s masterclass on stage 11 saw relentless attacks on the Col du Galibier, which culminated in a thermonuclear attack from Vingegaard on the Col du Granon, where Pogačar, in yellow, cracked, losing nearly three minutes. Another stage win atop Hautacam was the icing on the cake for Vingegaard, who claimed his first Tour de France title.

A wrist fracture at Liège-Bastogne-Liège disrupted Pogačar’s 2023 Tour prep, casting doubts despite his June national championship double success on his return to racing. By the end of week two, Pogačar and Vingegaard were locked into their tightest battle yet, with the Dane leading by just 10 seconds after stage 15, and an individual time trial in Combloux looming after the rest day.

At the end of the 22.4 kilometre time-trial, things were no longer close, as Vingegaard produced one of the greatest time-trials in Tour history, to thump Pogačar by 1:38, who himself, had beaten third place on the stage, Wout van Aert, by 1:13. Pogačar’s fate was sealed a day later on the slopes of the brutal Col de La Loze where he cracked, and in his own words stated on the team radio, “I’m gone, I’m dead.” Up ahead, Vingegaard powered away to extend his lead and all but seal consecutive Tours, with Pogačar sitting at 7:35 behind.

Last year, the roles were reversed once more as it was Vingegaard who suffered a crash at Itzulia Basque Country, and it was remarkable that the Dane was even able to take to the start line of the Tour in Firenze, Italy. Vingegaard's first race back from the crash was the opening stage of the Tour, whilst Pogačar came into the race having dominated the Giro d'Italia, and thus, it was clear who was in the better position for victory coming into the race. 

Pogačar looked set to dominate early, when he cruised to victory on stage 4, but Vingegaard battled valiantly on stage 11 to close down the yellow jersey, who had attacked clear, and was then able to beat him in the sprint finish to win the stage, indicating that the fight was still on. However, despite Vingegaard's best efforts, Pogačar turned up the heat for the remainder of the race to claim five more stage victories and win one of the most impressive Tours in history. 

Heading into this year's race, the scales are heavily in Pogačar's favour after the Critérium du Dauphiné, but there is something about Vingegaard and his ability to peak for the biggest race of them all, which makes it hard to write the Dane off indefinitely. However, Pogačar firmly remains the man to beat this July.