Vincenzo Nibali, the Italian rider of the Astana team won the Tour de France 2014 edition and joined the greats, becoming the sixth cyclist to win all three grand tours.
“The Shark” previously won the Vuelta a España in 2010 and the Giro d’Italia in 2013.
No cyclist has ever won all three Grand Tour events in the same year. Only two cyclists have placed in the top ten at all three Grand Tours in the same year: Raphael Geminiani in 1955 and Gastone Nencini in 1957.
Only seven cyclists have won all three of the Grand Tours during their career:
- Jacques Anquetil (FRA): 5 Tours (1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964), 2 Giri (1960, 1964), 1 Vuelta (1963).
- Felice Gimondi (ITA): 1 Tour (1965), 3 Giri (1967, 1969, 1976), 1 Vuelta (1968)
- Eddy Merckx (BEL): 5 Tours (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974), 5 Giri (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974), 1 Vuelta (1973)
- Bernard Hinault (FRA): 5 Tours (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985), 3 Giri (1980, 1982, 1985), 2 Vueltas (1978, 1983)
- Alberto Contador (ESP): 2 Tours (2007, 2009), 1 Giro (2008), 3 Vueltas (2008, 2012, 2014)
- Vincenzo Nibali (ITA): 1 Tour (2014), 2 Giri (2013, 2016), 1 Vueltas (2010)
- Chris Froome (GBR): 5 Tours (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017), 1 Giro (2018), 1 Vuelta (2017)
While winning this years’ Tour, Nibali also won 4 stages along the way. He won surprisingly stage 2 with a perfect timing late-attack. Then he won three mountain stages: stage 10, stage 13, and stage 18.
In stage 5, on the cobbled roads of the “Hell of the north”, he gained the biggest advantage: one of his biggest rivals, Chris Froome of Team Sky has crashed and abandoned the race. And his other big rival Alberto Contador lost nearly two-and-a-half minutes to Nibali (Contador crashed out of the race in the 10th stage).
Sources
- 2014 Tour de France on Wikipedia
- What is a Satellite Rider? [Explained] - July 24, 2024
- Tour de France Winner Groupsets [Year by Year, from 1937 to 2024] - July 21, 2024
- Top 18 fastest Paris-Roubaix editions - April 7, 2024
