Unprecedented and unwanted: French, Italian, and Spanish cyclists set new record at the Tour de France

If we look back at the history of cycling, France, Spain, and Italy are undoubtedly among the top five cycling nations in the world. These countries have produced stars such as Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, Fausto Coppi, Mario Cipollini, and Alejandro Valverde. In this year’s Tour de France, however, the three countries have set a negative record never before seen in the race.

France certainly didn’t do badly at the Tour. Paul Seixas was the home country’s big hope, and the 19-year-old prodigy from Decathlon CMA CGM just missed the podium. He finished fourth in the general classification on his debut. Not far behind, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) surprised everyone with a fifth-place finish, while Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) also finished tenth.

Spanish cycling fans were especially focused on Juan Ayuso. The Lidl-Trek climber was in contention for a podium finish for a long time, but lost too much time to his rivals in the third week. He ultimately finished the Tour de France in seventh place. In addition, riders like Pablo Castrillo and Raúl García Pierna (Movistar) provided excitement in the stages suited for attackers.

Italy didn’t have much of a say in the general classification. Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike) was brought in at the last minute as a domestique for Jonas Vingegaard, but was allowed to ride on his own after his team leader dropped out. This earned him a fifteenth-place finish. Filippo Ganna (Netcompany INEOS) was the second-to-last rider to finish in the team time trial, but couldn’t keep up with Remco Evenepoel in the individual time trial.

On paper, these weren’t the worst performances among the three countries, but what was still missing? That’s right—a stage victory. Not a single Italian, Spaniard, or Frenchman managed to win a stage in this year’s Tour de France. And that has never happened before in the entire history of the race. There has always been at least one rider from one of those three countries on the top step of the podium.

It’s not uncommon for one of those countries to fail to win. Spain, for example, has been waiting for a new stage winner ever since Carlos Rodríguez’s stage victory in 2023. Jonathan Milan ended a six-year drought for Italy last year when he won two sprints. The last Italian stage winner before the “Bear of Buja” was Matteo Trentin, who struck on the way to Gap in 2019.

For France, however, this marks a new low. Last year, Valentin Paret-Peintre barely managed to save the day with his victory on Mont Ventoux, but this year Martinez delivered the best French performance with a second-place finish on Alpe d'Huez. They didn’t manage to win. This is the first time this century that a Frenchman hasn’t won. The last time that happened was in 1999.