Yellow jersey statistics


Since the first Tour de France in 1903, there have been 2,163 stages, up to and including the final stage of the 2019 Tour de France. Since 1919, the race leader following each stage has been awarded the yellow jersey.
Although the leader of the classification after a stage gets a yellow jersey, he is not considered the winner of the yellow jersey, only the wearer. Only after the final stage, the wearer of the yellow jersey is considered the winner of the yellow jersey, and thereby the winner of the Tour de France.
In this article first-place-classifications before 1919 are also counted as if a yellow jersey was awarded. There have been more yellow jerseys given than there were stages: In 1914, 1929, and 1931, there were multiple cyclists with the same leading time, and the 1988 Tour de France had a "prelude", an extra stage for a select group of cyclists. As of 2018 a total of 2,145 yellow jerseys have been awarded in the Tour de France to 286 different riders.

Individual records

In previous tours, sometimes a stage was broken in two. On such occasions, only the cyclist leading at the end of the day is counted. The "Jerseys" column lists the number of days that the cyclist wore the yellow jersey; the "Tour wins" column gives the number of times the cyclist won the general classification. The next four columns indicate the number of times the rider won the points classification, the King of the Mountains classification, and the young rider competition, and the years in which the yellow jersey was worn, with bold years indicating an overall Tour win. For example: Eddy Merckx has spent 96 days in the yellow jersey, won the general classification five times, won the points classification three times, won the mountains classification two times, and never won the young rider classification. He wore the yellow jersey in the Tours of 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975. Three cyclists have won the Tour de France with only two yellow jerseys in their career.
Fabian Cancellara is, as of 2016 with twenty nine days in yellow, the rider with the most yellow jerseys ever for someone who has not won the Tour. The two active Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali rank, as of 2018, 4th and 22nd, with fifty-nine and nineteen days in yellow respectively. Alberto Contador was stripped of the yellow jersey and 6 days of wearing it in 2010 Tour de France because he tested positive for doping. Until the results of Lance Armstrong were annulled for cheating late 2012, he was ranked second in this list, leading the Tour for 83 stages from 1999 to 2005.
Cyclists who are still active
Cyclists who won the Tour de France

RankNameCountryYellow
jerseys		Tour wins
Points
Mountains
Young rider
Years
1Eddy Merckx9653201969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975
2Bernard Hinault7551101978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986
3Miguel Indurain6050001991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
4Chris Froome5940102013, 2015, 2016, 2017
5Jacques Anquetil5050001957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
6Antonin Magne3820001931, 1934
= 7Nicolas Frantz3720001927, 1928, 1929
= 7Philippe Thys3730001913, 1914, 1920
9André Leducq3520001929, 1930, 1932, 1938
= 10Louison Bobet3430101948, 1953, 1954, 1955
= 10Ottavio Bottecchia3420001923, 1924, 1925
12Fabian Cancellara2900002004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015
= 13Sylvère Maes2620101936, 1937, 1939
= 13René Vietto2600101939, 1947
15François Faber2510001909, 1910, 1911
= 16Laurent Fignon2220011983, 1984, 1989
= 16Greg LeMond2230011986, 1989, 1990, 1991
= 16Joop Zoetemelk2210001971, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1980
19Romain Maes2110001935
= 20Gino Bartali2020201937, 1938, 1948, 1949
= 20Thomas Voeckler2000102004, 2011
= 22Fausto Coppi1920201949, 1952
= 22André Darrigade1902001956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962
= 22Vincenzo Nibali1910002014
= 25Felice Gimondi1810001965
= 25Jan Ullrich1810031997, 1998
= 27Rudi Altig1701001962, 1964, 1966, 1969
= 27Luis Ocaña1710001971, 1973
= 27Lucien Petit-Breton1720001907, 1908
= 27Roger Pingeon1710001967
= 31Odile Defraye1610001912, 1913
= 31Maurice De Waele1610001929
= 31Bernard Thévenet1620001975, 1977
= 34Pedro Delgado1510001987, 1988
= 34Geraint Thomas1510002017, 2018
= 34Dietrich Thurau1500011977
= 37Julian Alaphilippe1400102019
= 37Maurice Archambaud1400001933, 1936
= 37Steve Bauer1400001988, 1990
= 37Gastone Nencini1410101960
= 37Bjarne Riis1410001995, 1996
= 37Léon Scieur1410001921
= 37Bradley Wiggins1410002012
= 44Eugène Christophe1300001919, 1922
= 44Gustave Garrigou1310001911
= 44René Pottier1310001905, 1906
= 44Andy Schleck1310032010, 2011
= 44Georges Speicher1310001933, 1934
= 49Vincent Barteau1200001984
= 49Joseph Bruyère1200001974, 1978
= 49Lucien Van Impe1210601976
= 49Ferdinand Kübler1211001947, 1950
= 49Antonin Rolland1200001955
= 49Louis Trousselier1210001905, 1907
= 49Wout Wagtmans1200001954, 1955, 1956
= 56Alberto Contador1120012007, 2009
= 56Gilbert Desmet1100001956, 1963
= 56Hugo Koblet1110001951
= 56Greg Van Avermaet1100002016, 2018
= 56Georges Vandenberghe1100001968
= 61Kim Andersen1000001983, 1985
= 61Thor Hushovd1002002004, 2006, 2011
= 61Pascal Lino1000001992
= 64Phil Anderson900011981, 1982
= 64Georges Groussard900001964
= 64Freddy Maertens902001976
= 64Fiorenzo Magni900001949, 1950, 1952
= 64Stuart O'Grady900001998, 2001
= 64Henri Pélissier910001919, 1923
= 64Michael Rasmussen900202007
= 71Lucien Buysse810001926
= 71Claudio Chiappucci800201990
= 71Cadel Evans810002008, 2010, 2011
= 71Emile Georget800001906, 1907
= 71Gerrie Knetemann800001978, 1979, 1980, 1981
= 71Rinaldo Nocentini800002009
= 71Óscar Pereiro810002006
= 71Rudy Pevenage801001980
= 71Roger Walkowiak810001956
= 79Jan Adriaensens700001956, 1960
= 79Federico Bahamontes710601959, 1963
= 79Bernard Gauthier700001950
= 79Igor González de Galdeano700002002
= 79Learco Guerra700001930
= 79Erich Maechler700001987
= 79Thierry Marie700001986, 1990, 1991
= 79Charly Mottet700001987
= 79Marco Pantani710021998
= 79Jef Planckaert700001962
= 79Pascal Simon700001983
= 79Gustaaf van Slembrouck700001926
= 92Lucien Aimar610001966
= 92Chris Boardman600001994, 1997, 1998
= 92Robert Cazala600001959
= 92Mario Cipollini600001993, 1997
= 92Vito Favero600001958
= 92Maurice Garin610001903
= 92Cyrille Guimard600001972
= 92Kim Kirchen600002008
= 92Jaan Kirsipuu600001999
= 92Roger Lévêque600001951
= 92Jean Majerus600001937, 1938
= 92Jacques Marinelli600001949
= 92Francesco Moser600011975
= 92Fritz Schaer601001953
= 92Herman Van Springel601001968, 1973
= 92Félicien Vervaecke600201938
= 108Jean Alavoine500001922
= 108Adelin Benoit500001925
= 108Firmin Lambot520001919, 1922
= 108Jean Malléjac500001953
= 108Johan Museeuw500001993, 1994
= 108Jørgen V. Pedersen500001986
= 108Francis Pélissier500001927
= 108Carlos Sastre510102008
= 108Bernard Van de Kerkhove500001964, 1965
= 108Eric Vanderaerden501001983, 1985
= 108Cédric Vasseur500001997
= 119Gilbert Bauvin400001951, 1954, 1958
= 119Tom Boonen401002006
= 119José Catieau400001973
= 119Alberto Elli400002000
= 119Wim van Est400001951, 1955, 1958
= 119Raphaël Géminiani400101958
= 119Roger Hassenforder400001953
= 119Jos Hoevenaers400001958, 1959
= 119Robert Jacquinot400001922, 1923
= 119Laurent Jalabert402201995, 2000
= 119Karl-Heinz Kunde400001966
= 119Roger Lapébie410001937
= 119Nello Lauredi400001952
= 119Hector Martin400001927
= 119Raffaele di Paco400001931
= 119Eddy Pauwels400001959, 1963
= 119Jean Rossius400001914
= 119Peter Sagan407002016, 2018
= 119Acácio da Silva400001989
= 119Rolf Sørensen400001991
= 119Gerrit Voorting400001956, 1958
= 119Italo Zilioli400001970
= 119Alex Zülle400001992, 1996
= 142Erich Bautz300001937
= 142Egan Bernal310012019
= 142Henri Cornet310001904
= 142Bim Diederich300001951
= 142Aimé Dossche300001929
= 142Seamus Elliott300001963
= 142Jean Goldschmit300001950
= 142Stéphane Heulot300001996
= 142Serhiy Honchar300002006
= 142Roger Lambrecht300001948, 1949
= 142Floyd Landis300002006
= 142Octave Lapize310001910
= 142Bradley McGee300002003
= 142David Millar300002000
= 142Wilfried Nelissen300001993
= 142Jelle Nijdam300001987, 1988
= 142Charles Pélissier300001930, 1931
= 142Víctor Hugo Peña300002003
= 142René Privat300001957
= 142Jan Raas300001978
= 142Stephen Roche310001987
= 142Willy Schroeders300001962
= 142François Simon300002001
= 142Julien Stevens300001969
= 142Michel Vermeulin300001959
= 142Teun van Vliet300001988
= 142David Zabriskie300002005
= 169Henry Anglade200001960
= 169Fabio Aru200002017
= 169Jan Bakelants200002013
= 169Romain Bellenger200001923
= 169Rubens Bertogliati200002002
= 169Eugeni Berzin200001996
= 169Pierre Brambilla200101947
= 169Jules Buysse200001926
= 169Marcel Buysse200001913
= 169Sylvain Chavanel200002010
= 169Giulio Ciccone200002019
= 169Charles Crupelandt200001910, 1912
= 169Raymond Delisle200001976
= 169Laurent Desbiens200001998
= 169Jacky Durand200001995
= 169Victor Fontan200001929
= 169Jean Fontenay200001939
= 169Jean Forestier201001957
= 169Charly Gaul210201958
= 169Martial Gayant200001987
= 169Albertus Geldermans200001962
= 169Simon Gerrans200002013
= 169Ivan Gotti200001995
= 169Charly Grosskost200001968
= 169Jacques Hanegraaf200001984
= 169Daryl Impey200002013
= 169Jan Janssen213001966, 1968
= 169Gerben Karstens200001974
= 169Marcel Kittel200002013, 2014
= 169Georges Lemaire200001933
= 169Tony Martin200002015
= 169Jules Masselis200001911, 1913
= 169Christophe Moreau200002001
= 169Louis Mottiat200001920, 1921
= 169Georges Passerieu200001908
= 169Ludo Peeters200001982, 1984
= 169Ronan Pensec200001990
= 169Lech Piasecki200001987
= 169Jean Robic210001947, 1953
= 169Aldo Ronconi200001947
= 169Fränk Schleck200002008
= 169Edward Sels200001964
= 169Mike Teunissen200002019
= 169Klaus-Peter Thaler200001978
= 169Alejandro Valverde200002008
= 169Flavio Vanzella200001994
= 169Johan van der Velde200011986
= 169Rik Van Steenbergen200001952
= 169Richard Virenque200701992, 2003
= 169Jens Voigt200002001, 2005
= 169Rolf Wolfshohl200001968
= 169Erik Zabel206001998, 2002
= 221Jean Aerts100001932
= 221Nicolas Barone100001957
= 221François Beaugendre100001904
= 221Jean-François Bernard100001987
= 221Jean-René Bernaudeau100011979
= 221Yvon Bertin100001980
= 221Serafino Biagioni100001951
= 221Guido Bontempi100001988
= 221Vicenzo Borgarello100001912
= 221Jacques Bossis100001978
= 221Erik Breukink100011989
= 221Johan Bruyneel100001995
= 221Max Bulla100001931
= 221Norbert Callens100001949
= 221Andrea Carrea100001952
= 221Mark Cavendish101002016
= 221Rohan Dennis100002015
= 221Cyril Dessel100002006
= 221Ferdinand Le Drogo100001927
= 221Marcel Dussault100001949
= 221Paul Egli100001936
= 221Jan Engels100001948
= 221José María Errandonea100001967
= 221Romain Feillu100002008
= 221Amédée Fournier100001939
= 221Michel Frédérick100001904
= 221Dominique Gaigne100001986
= 221Tony Gallopin100002014
= 221Jean-Louis Gauthier100001983
= 221Fernando GaviriaColombia100002018
= 221Jean-Pierre Genet100001968
= 221Linus Gerdemann100002007
= 221Philippe Gilbert100002011
= 221Joseph Groussard100001960
= 221Bo Hamburger100001998
= 221Cyrille van Hauwaert100001909
= 221Alfred Haemerlinck100001931
= 221Hector Heusghem100001922
= 221George Hincapie100002006
= 221Sean Kelly104001983
= 221Marcel Kint100001937
= 221Jean-Claude Lebaube100001966
= 221Luc Leblanc100001991
= 221Léon Le Calvez100001931
= 221Désiré Letort100001969
= 221Emile Lombard100001904
= 221Henk Lubberding100011988
= 221François Mahé100001953
= 221Robbie McEwen103002004
= 221Arsène Mersch100001936
= 221Giovanni Micheletto100001913
= 221Frederic Moncassin100001996
= 221Jean-Patrick Nazon100002003
= 221Willi Oberbeck100001938
= 221Miguel Poblet100001955
= 221Adri van der Poel100001984
= 221Giancarlo Polidori100001967
= 221Tommaso de Pra100001966
= 221Gaston Rebry100001929
= 221Raymond Riotte100001967
= 221Giovanni Rossi100001951
= 221Gregorio San Miguel100001968
= 221Tom Simpson100001962
= 221Jozef Spruyt100001967
= 221Alex Stieda100001986
= 221Kurt Stöpel100001932
= 221Rik Van Looy101001965
= 221Willy van Neste100001967
= 221Marc Wauters100002001
= 221Sean Yates100001994

Number of wearers per year

The largest number of different riders wearing the yellow jersey in any year is 8. The smallest is 1.
Number of wearersYears
11903, 1924, 1928, 1935, 1999, 2005
21905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1925, 1934, 1961, 1970, 1972, 1977, 2012
31907, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1926, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1954, 1965, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1985, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2014, 2017
41904, 1923, 1927, 1936, 1939, 1948, 1950, 1960, 1969, 1973, 1979, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
51913, 1922, 1938, 1947, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1980, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2011, 2013
61929, 1931, 1937, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1966, 1967, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1995, 2008
71949, 1951, 1962, 1968, 1978, 1986, 1998, 2006
81958, 1987

Per country

The yellow jersey has been awarded to 23 different countries since 1903. In the table below, "Jerseys" indicates the number of yellow jerseys that were given to cyclists of each country. "Tour wins" stands for the number of tour wins by cyclists of that country, "Points" for the number of times the points classification was won by cyclist of that country, "KoM" for the number of times the mountains classification in the Tour de France was won by a cyclist of that country, and "Young rider" for the number of times the young rider classification was won by a cyclist of that country.
The "Most recent" column shows the cyclist of the country that wore the yellow jersey most recently. The "Different holders" column gives the number of different cyclists of the country that wore the yellow jersey.
RankCountryYellow
jerseys		Tour wins
Points
Mountains
Young rider
Most recent cyclistMost recentDifferent holdersList of holders
1723369238Julian Alaphilippe2019, stage 1895
24341819110Greg Van Avermaet2018, stage 1060Belgian yellow jersey holders
3212102125Giulio Ciccone2019, stage 730
4135121165Alberto Contador2009, stage 2112
51016122Geraint Thomas2018, stage 218British yellow jersey holders
6965023Andy Schleck2011, stage 1910
7751804Tony Martin2015, stage 615
=8742425Mike Teunissen2019, stage 218Dutch yellow jersey holders
=8742210Fabian Cancellara2015, stage 29
10431020Michael Rasmussen2007, stage 166
11331501Rohan Dennis2015, stage 17Australian yellow jersey holders
12263003George Hincapie2006, stage 13
13150000Steve Bauer1990, stage 92
14100200Thor Hushovd2011, stage 81
=1571055Egan Bernal2019, stage 213
=1571400Stephen Roche1987, stage 253
1760000Jaan Kirsipuu1999, stage 71
= 1840000Acácio da Silva1989, stage 41
= 1840700Peter Sagan2018, stage 21
2030001Serhiy Honchar2006, stage 91
= 2120020Lech Piasecki1987, stage 21
= 2120002Eugeni Berzin1996, stage 81
= 2120000Daryl Impey2013, stage 71
2410000Max Bulla1931, stage 21
= 2500300–0
= 2500001–0

Yellow jersey retirees

Sixteen riders have quit the Tour while wearing the yellow jersey.
YearStageRiderReason
19276 Francis PélissierSickness
192910 Victor FontanBroken bicycle
193716 Sylvère MaesCollective withdrawal of the Belgian team due to threat of French spectators
195011 Fiorenzo MagniCollective withdrawal of the two Italian teams due to threat of French spectators
195113 Wim Van EstAfter a fall in a ravine in Aubisque
19659 Bernard Van De KerkhoveWithdrawal in the climb of Aubisque
197114 Luis OcañaFall during a storm in Col de Mente
197816 Michel PollentierExpelled for fraud attempt in doping test
198012 Bernard HinaultKnee pain
198317 Pascal SimonScapula fracture
19915 Rolf SørensenClavicle fracture after fall in the last kilometer
19967 Stéphane HeulotKnee tendinitis
19982 Chris BoardmanHead and neck injury after a severe crash
200716 Michael RasmussenFired by his team due to lying about his whereabouts
20154 Fabian CancellaraBroken vertebrae in stage 3 crash
20157 Tony MartinBroken collarbone in stage 6 crash

Yellow jersey winners without winning any stage

Usually the winner of the Tour de France also wins a stage, but that is not necessary. It is possible to be the winner of the Tour de France without winning a stage, because the Tour de France is decided by the total raced time. This has happened eight times so far:
  1. 1922
  2. 1956
  3. 1960
  4. 1966
  5. 1990
  6. 2006
  7. 2017
  8. 2019
Of these eight cyclists, Walkowiak and Bernal are the only ones never to win a Tour stage at all, although Bernal is still active. Firmin Lambot won stages in the 1913, 1914, 1919, 1920 and 1921 Tours, Gastone Nencini won stages in the 1956, 1957 and 1958 Tours, Aimar won a stage in the 1967 Tour, LeMond won stages in the 1985, 1986 and 1989 Tours,, Pereiro won a stage in the 2005 Tour, and Froome won stages in the 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016 Tours. Alberto Contador initially also belonged to this group, when he won the 2010 Tour de France; however, he was later stripped of this title.

Number of Tour winners in a single race

Every Tour de France only has one winner. But a cyclist that has won the Tour de France previously can enter the race again, and a cyclist not winning the race can win the race in a later year. In almost every Tour de France, there were multiple 'former or future' Tour de France-winners in the race.
Only seven times, the Tour started without any former Tour de France winner. This happened in 1903, 1927, 1947, 1956, 1966, 1999 and 2006. Only in 1903, apart from the cyclist that won the race, was there no other former or future Tour de France winner.
In 1914, a record of seven former Tour de France winners started that year's Tour:
In addition to these seven cyclists, four cyclists in that year's Tour would go on to win a Tour later:

  4. Winning Tour de France on first occasion

Eleven cyclists won the general classification the first time they entered the competition.
Five cyclists won the Tour de France the last time they entered the competition:
Fausto Coppi is the only cyclist who won the Tour de France in both the first and the last Tour he entered.