The Grand Tours are the three most prestigious multi-week stage races in professional road bicycle racing. The competitions are the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España, contested annually in that order. They are the only stage races permitted to last longer than 14 days. No cyclist has won all three Grand Tours's mountains classifications in the same year; the only cyclists to win all three Grand Tours's mountains classifications in their career are Federico Bahamontes and Luis Herrera. It is rare for cyclists to ride all Grand Tours in the same year; in 2004, 474 cyclists started in one of the Grand Tours, 68 rode two and two cyclists started all three.
Cyclists are ranked on the basis of their total wins in the three Grand Tours. When there is a tie between cyclists they are listed chronologically by the last Grand Tour they won. The majority of winners have come from Europe, however there have been a few notable victories for cyclists from other continents. Colombia, Australia, Mexico, the United States, and Venezuela are the only non-European countries to have a rider win a mountains classification, with twenty-two victories shared between the five countries.
Bahamontes and Gino Bartali, with 9 victories, have won the most mountains classifications at the Grand Tours. Lucien Van Impe is third with 8 and Richard Virenque is fourth with seven. Virenque has won the most mountains classifications at the Tour, with seven. Bartali, with seven, holds the record mountains classifications at the Giro. While, José Luis Laguía both have five victories in the mountains classification at the Vuelta.
Winners
By cyclist Riders in bold are still active. Number of wins in gold indicates the current record holder(s). +Grand Tour mountains classification winnersRankCyclistCountryWinning spanGiroTourVueltaTotal1 Italy1935–1948 7209 Spain1954–196416293 Belgium1971–198326084 France1994–20040 7075 Spain1963–196703366 Italy1948–19543205 Spain1971–19744015 Spain1975–19782035 Spain1981–198600 55 Colombia1985–19911225 Italy1990–1993320512 Luxembourg1955–19592204 Spain1997–20010044 France2008–20110044 Slovenia2020–2025130416 Spain1936–19450123 Spain1946–19500033 France1951–19572103 Spain1960–19620033 Italy1964–19663003 Belgium1968–19701203 Italy1979–19813003 Switzerland1993–1996 0 1 23 France1995–20020213 Italy2019–20262103 Ecuador2022–2026021327 Belgium1935–19370202 France1950–19511102 Italy1955–19571102 Italy1960–19610202 Italy1961–19632002 Spain1967–19681102 Spain1973–19740022 Spain1973–19770112 Spain1979–19840022 Great Britain1984–19871102 Italy1995–19962002 Colombia1997–19992002 Colombia2001–20032002 Colombia2003–20040022 Denmark2005–20060202 Spain2000–20080112 Spain2006–20090112 Italy2009–20112002 Poland2014–20160202 Spain2015–20160022 Great Britain2015–20181102 France2019–20211012 Australia2024–2025002250 Italy19331001 Spain19330101 Italy19341001 France19340101 Italy19350011 Spain19360011 Italy19381001 Belgium19390101 Spain19410011 Italy19470101 Spain19480011 Switzerland19501001 Italy19531001 Spain19530101 Italy19550011 Italy19560011 Belgium19581001 Spain19590011 Belgium19601001 Spain19621001 Spain19660011 Spain19670011 Spain19680011 Spain19690011 Italy19691001 Spain19700011 Belgium19701001 Netherlands19710011 Spain19740101 Spain19751001 Italy19760101 Spain19771001 Switzerland19781001 France19780101 Italy19790101 Spain19800011 France19800101 France19820101 France19841001 Spain19851001 Spain19861001 France19860101 Spain19880011 United States19881001 Netherlands19880101 Colombia19890011 Netherlands19890101 Colombia19900011 France19900101 Spain19911001 Spain19920011 France19940011 Switzerland19941001 Italy19981001 France19980101 Italy20001001 Colombia20000101 Mexico20021001 Spain20020011 Germany20041001 Venezuela20051001 Spain20050011 Spain20061001 Italy20071001 Colombia20070101 Russia20070011 Italy20081001 Australia20101001 France20100101 Spain20110101 Italy20121001 France20120101 Australia20120011 Italy20131001 Colombia20130101 France20130011 Colombia20141001 Spain20140011 Italy20151001 Spain20161001 Spain20171001 France2017 0 1 0 1 Italy20170011 France20180101 Belgium20180011 France2019 0 1 0 1 Portugal20201001 France20200011 Australia20210011 Netherlands20221001 Denmark20220101 France20231001 Belgium20230011 Italy20251001 Colombia20260011
By country +Grand Tour mountains classification winners by countryCountryGiroTourVueltaTotal 17 18 50 85 41 13 4 58 6 23 9 38 6 11 2 19 6 5 7 18 3 1 2 6 1 0 4 5 2 2 0 4 2 2 0 4 1 2 1 4 1 3 0 4 0 3 0 30213 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
See also Climbing specialist Mountains classification in the Tour de France Mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia Mountains classification in the Vuelta a España
References
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