Second places

A second place in a stage is, of course, also very good, just like a second place in the general classification. But it's also perhaps the worst position to be in.

Which rider has had the most days in second place in the general classification?

My guess was Merckx, Hinault, Zoetemelk, or Poulidor. It was Joop Zoetemelk. The first time after the tenth stage in 1970, the last time after the third stage in 1983. That also makes Zoetemelk the rider with the longest gap.

Which rider has achieved the most second-place finishes in stages?

I suspected a sprinter with a long career. Charles Pélissier, Zabel, or Kelly. It turns out that Zabel had finished second most often: 22 times between the fourth stage in 1995 and the twelfth stage in 2007. Kelly is close behind, with 21 times between the fifteenth stage in 1978 and the first stage in 1991. Bartali is the rider with the longest gap between second-place finishes in stages: 5,862 days between the fourth stage in 1937 and the 17th stage in 1953. (Update: Sagan has tied Zabel!)

Who is the youngest rider to ever finish second in the general classification?

Giovanni Gerbi in 1904, at 19 years old. But that was only in hindsight, just like Hugo Cornet, who was also 19, and Jean-Baptiste Dortignac, who was 20. Lucien Pothier was only 20 in 1903, making him the youngest rider whose second place wasn't in hindsight. The youngest rider since the First World War was Eric Vanderaerden 1983, at the age of 21.

And the oldest?

Raymond Poulidor: at the end of the 1974 Tour, he was 38. He is followed by Lance Armstrong, who was almost 38 in 2009. The oldest debutant in second place was Bartolomeo Aimo, who first finished second in 1925 at the age of 35.

Who is the youngest rider to ever finish second in a stage?

That too is Giovanni Gerbi in 1904, but only in retrospect. The same applies to the second, Louis Colsaet, and the third, Henri Cornet. Constant Menager finished second in 1909; he is the youngest to actually finish second, at the age of 20. Eric Vanderaerden is the youngest rider since the Second World War, when he finished second in the seventh stage in 1983 at the age of 21.

And the oldest?

Gino Bartali. In 1953, at the age of 39, he finished second in the seventeenth stage. (Update: Alejandro Valverde was a few months older in 2019 when he finished second in the 20th stage, and surpassed himself two years later with a second place at the age of 41.)