Miguel Indurain

Greg LeMond was favored as defending titlist in the 1991 Tour. Former race winners Pedro Delgado of Spain, Laurent Fignon of France, and Ireland’s Stephen Roche were also in the field. The surprising rider was Miguel Indurain of Spain. Indurain had finished 10th in 1990, the highest finish of his first six Tour attempts that included three abandonments.

Indurain was considered a good team rider, but no one predicted his early mountain attacks, strategic defensive riding, and final time trial dominance. A cyclist of little bravado and few words, Indurain won the first of his then-record five straight titles with a 3 1/2-minute victory over Italy’s Gianni Bugno. LeMond placed seventh that year in his last Tour finish.

For the next four years, Indurain dominated the Tour, all with little fanfare, little controversy, and no boastful predictions. Indurain respected his rivals and was respected by fans. He smiled often and remained quiet and powerful.

Indurain never won more than two stages in any of his Tour titles, and he never won a mountain stage during his five titles, but after his initial race title, Indurain’s overall margin of victory was never less than 4 1/2 minutes.

Indurain sought a sixth straight Tour title, but his triumphant years ended abruptly in 1996. Indurain suffered in the Alps, and his controlled, rarely changing smile was suddenly replaced by look of someone in panic. Indurain lost more than three minutes in the stage and eventually finished 11th overall in his final Tour attempt.

Indurain’s career included with 12 stage wins in Tour participations. He wore the yellow jersey for 60 days, fourth most in race history behind Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Lance Armstrong.

Greg LeMond

Unlike Indurain and other Tour champions, Greg LeMond, the first of only two American race winners, showed his potential early. He finished third in the 1984 Tour and second overall in 1985 to his aging and injured team leader, Bernard Hinault.

In 1986, LeMond made history as the first American to win a Tour. With Hinault concluding his career, LeMond final got his time in the Tour spotlight. He captured his second career win in Stage 13 and took the yellow jersey in Stage 17.

By the end of the race, LeMond claimed the first of his three titles by more than 3 minutes over Hinault, his valiant and defiant teammate.

Like Lance Armstrong, LeMond’s career was interrupted by life tragedy. On a 1987 hunting trip in Northern California, LeMond was accidentally shot by his brother in law and suffered near-fatal wounds. While recovering, LeMond missed the 1987 and 1988 Tours. He triumphantly returned and took his second Tour title in 1989.

Always personable, LeMond won three stages during his second title year. His final-day time trial win and eight-second race margin over Laurent Fignon was the closest race finish in history. It’s often considered the Tour’s finest moment.

LeMond’s gunshot recovery and his 1989 final-day dramatics bolstered the sport’s popularity in the United States. LeMond uniquely captured his third and final title by 2:16 over Italian Claudio Chiappucci of Italy in 1990. LeMond didn’t win a stage, providing ideal proof the Tour is a race of three-week strategy, not single-day wins.

Like other champions, LeMond’s Tour reign ended abruptly. He was favored in 1991, but LeMond began to suffer suddenly while approaching the summit of the Tourmalet in the Alps and finished seventh. LeMond withdrew in his final two Tour attempts, in 1992 and 1994. Besides his three titles, LeMond concluded his Tour career with five stage wins in eight Tour appearances.

Eddy Merckx

More than any other cyclist, Eddy Merckx had an uncanny ability to intimidate competitors. The Belgian cyclist is considered by many to be the finest rider in history. When he appeared at a race start, the rest of the field often knew it was riding for no higher than second place.

Merckx made his Tour debut in 1969 and predicted he would win, but about a month b
efore the Tour, he tested positive for amphetamines during the Tour of Italy and was expelled from the race. Merckx protested vehemently, and after not competing for 18 days, he was cleared of charges based on “flawed test procedures.” He kept his promise to win, despite the inauspicious pre-race publicity.

Merckx rode unchallenged en route to the finest debut in Tour history. He claimed six stages, plus the best climber and points competitions, and won by nearly 18 minutes over Roger Pingeon of France, the 1967 titlist.
Merckx was nicknamed The Cannibal for the way he “ate up” miles and “devoured the competition.” Throughout his Tour career, Merckx’s moniker was rarely inappropriate. He claimed eight Tour stage wins in 1970 and 1974 (the record for stage wins in a single year), six stages in 1969 and 1972, and four stages in 1971.

Like Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain, Merckx valiantly tried to claim a sixth title, but he failed. His victory over Raymond Poulidor of France by 8:04 in 1974 was his smallest overall margin of victory.

In 1975, race observers said Merckx wasn’t at his best as the Tour began. Several other contenders emerged in the mountains, but Merckx persevered, only to succumb to a fan’s antics: While grinding his way toward a mountainous stage finish, a fan jumped into the road and punched Merckx in the low back about a half-mile from the line.

Merckx stumbled across the finish, vomiting. The incident marked the beginning of the end of Merckx’s career. He won two stages of the 1975 Tour, but finished second overall to Bernard Thevenet of France by 2 minutes and 47 seconds. Merckx didn’t compete in the 1976 Tour and finished sixth overall in 1977. He completed an unequaled Tour career. In seven Tour appearances, Merckx claimed 34 stages and wore the yellow jersey for 96 days — both race records.

Jan Ullrich

Following the retirement of Miguel Indurain, the Tour was ripe for a new champion. Bjarne Riis of Denmark was the surprise 1996 winner. But lurking in his near shadow was a young German teammate named Jan Ullrich.
Ullrich was nearly born a cyclist. He learned the sport from a young age in regimented East German training camps.

By age 22, he advanced through the ranks and claimed his first Tour stage and finished second overall in 1996. The following year, with defending champion Bjarne Riis faltering, Ullrich rode to his first and only Tour title, claiming a mountain stage, a time trial and the first race title for Germany.

As defending champion in 1998, Ullrich began one of the Tour’s unique wonderments. After struggling to lose weight in the winter months following his Tour triumphant, Ullrich won three stages. But he couldn’t overcome the skills of one of the event’s great pure climbers, Marco Pantani of Italy, who prevailed over Ullrich by 3:21.

Nearly every year of his career, Ullrich worked his way into shape as the Tour progressed. He wad usually at his strongest in the final week after overcoming his life’s pleasure and obstacle — he loves to eat.

Ullrich missed the 1999 event because of injury, but he returned to finish second to Lance Armstrong in 2000, 2001, and 2003.

In each of those years, Armstrong predicted Ullrich would be his primary competitor and in each year, it was true. Ullrich, who didn't compete in the 2006 event becasue of drug accusations, retired following the season. He was  isuperior climber and time trialist, and was oftne considered the most talented rider in the peloton.

Ullrich's s battles with weight and less-than-superior team supports have proven costly. In seven Tour years, Ullrich had seven stage wins, seven race finishes, five second-place overall place finishes, with a career-lowest fourth overall in 2004.

Joop Zoetemelk

After nine Tour finishes, including five second-place campaigns, Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk captured his only Tour overall title in 1980 with a 6:55 margin over countryman Hennie Kuiper.    

Zoetemelk was a strong time trialist and climber. But his ascension to the top of the Tour podium occurred after unusual circumstances. Zoetemelk won three stages in 1980, but Bernard Hinault withdrew while in the lead and with the race just reaching the mountains.
A prideful rider, Zoetmelk refused to wear the yellow jersey via default. But his fifth-place finish in the first mountain stage moved him into the race lead, and he wore the yellow jersey to the finish.

Zoetemelk finished second overall again in 1982 — his sixth runnerup finish — and he continued competing in the event through 1986. Zoetemelk finished all of his 16 Tour de France attempts — the most in race history — and claimed 10 stages to complete the most enduring career in Tour history.