Best general classification rider
A logical question about the Tour de France is: 'Who was the best rider?'
This question is difficult to answer, because riders rode in different eras, and because it is not clear what is meant by 'best'. But typically, it is meant who did best in the general classification.
Fanatic statisticians have made rankings based on points. For example: the winner of a Tour receives 100 points, the second rider 80 points, and so on. The disadvantage is that this ignores that fact that not every Tour was equally difficult. A second disadvantage is that it depends on the points system used.
Nevertheless, there are some criteria that seem to be universally accepted that should hold for such a points system:
- A higher position should give more points than a lower position.
- An extra participation, how terrible the outcome is, should not reduce the total score of a rider. At worst, it could keep it unchanged.
With these criteria, it is obvious that a rider like Eddy Merckx will always get more points than a rider like Axel Merckx, because Eddy has a better final position for every result that Axel has.
Tour de France
By comparing all riders (in a smart way), it can be shown that most riders are overshadowed by another rider. There are only a few riders who are not overshadowed by any other rider; these are listed in the tabel below.
| Rider | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Chavanel | 20 | 25 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 34 | 36 | 37 | 39 | 43 | 45 | 54 | 58 | 61 | 61 | 65 | — | — |
| G. Hincapie | 14 | 19 | 24 | 32 | 33 | 35 | 38 | 47 | 53 | 56 | 59 | 59 | 65 | 71 | 78 | 104 | — | |
| J. Zoetemelk | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 23 | 24 | 30 | ||
| L. Van Impe | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 27 | |||
| R. Poulidor | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 19 | — | — | ||||
| M. Indurain | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 47 | 97 | — | — | ||||||
| A. Magne | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | — | ||||||||
| L. Bobet | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 20 | — | — | — | ||||||||
| C. Froome | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 84 | 133 | — | — | ||||||||
| B. Hinault | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — |
See "Best general classification rider" for a few examples of how these rankings could look like where these riders are on top.
Remarkable is that Eddy Merckx is not in this table. That is because in every possible ranking, he would be behind Hinault. They both have five Tour victories and one second place that give equal points; Hinault has another second place as best place, where Merckx has a sixth place. A second place should always give more points than a sixth place, so in every reasonable system Hinault should get more points than Merckx.
My concusion is not that Hinault was better than Merckx; my conclusion is that a system of ranking riders by giving points based on final positions is too simple.
Often, this is "fixed" by not only considering the general classification, but giving extra points for secondary classifications and stage victories. And so, the points system is finetuned, until the pre-determined top riders are found at the top.
After the Tour of 2025, T. Pogačar has 4 first places and 2 second places. He is therefore outscored by Hinault. If Pogacar wins one more Tour, and finishes another Tour in whatever position, he will outscore Hinault.
Giro d'Italia
I made a similar overview for the Giro
| Rider | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W. Panizza | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 22 | 28 | — | — |
| G. Simoni | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 58 | 69 | — | — | — | |||
| G. Bartali | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 13 | ||||
| F. Gimondi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 15 | ||||
| F. Coppi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 32 | — | — | — |
All reasonable options. I would not put Panizza on top of any list myself, but if the points system is biased towards the number of participations, he would be on top.
Vuelta a España
| Rider | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. Cuesta | 13 | 15 | 22 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 35 | 37 | 41 | 45 | 46 | 52 | 60 | — | — | — | — |
| A. Valverde | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 13 | — | — | |
| I. Erviti | 47 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 66 | 78 | 78 | 84 | 92 | 99 | 100 | 100 | 102 | 126 | 132 | ||
| P. Delgado | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 29 | ||||||
| R. Heras | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | — | ||||||||
| P. Roglič | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | — |
I would choose Heras or Valverde here. Cuesta is in this list because of the quantity of his results.
All Grand Tours
But I can also calculated this for all Grand Tours combined. Before doing this, I guessed that Merckx would dominate this list, maybe together with some riders who rode a lot of Grand Tours.
| Rider | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. Tosatto | 43 | 50 | 56 | 60 | 63 | 67 | 92 | 94 | 96 | 104 | 107 | 107 | 108 | 110 | 112 | 114 | 115 | 119 | 120 | 122 | 123 | 125 | 132 | 132 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 145 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| A. Valverde | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 20 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| V. Nibali | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 30 | 39 | 45 | 59 | — | — | — | |||||||
| P. Delgado | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 29 | — | — | ||||||||||
| M. Indurain | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 47 | 84 | 92 | 97 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| G. Bartali | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 | — | — | ||||||||||||
| C. Froome | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 84 | 98 | 114 | 133 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| F. Gimondi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| A. Contador | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 31 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| E. Merckx | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| J. Anquetil | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | — | — | — |
And this definitely contains the good names, including Merckx.
