The Giro is generally run in May, the Tour in July, and the Vuelta in late August and September.
The Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious in terms of points accrued to racers of all three,[1] and is the most widely attended annual sporting event in the world.
The three Grand Tours are men's events, and as of 2023, no three week races currently exist on the women's road cycling circuit.
Grand Tour events have specific rules and criteria as part of Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) regulations.
There are also classifications for teams and young riders, and based on climbing and sprinting points, and other minor competitions.
Five riders have won three individual classifications open to all riders (general, mountains, young and points classifications) in the same race: Eddy Merckx in the 1968 Giro d'Italia and 1969 Tour de France and 1973 Vuelta a España, Tony Rominger in the 1993 Vuelta a España, Laurent Jalabert in the 1995 Vuelta a España, Marco Pantani in the 1998 Giro d'Italia, and Tadej Pogačar in the 2020 Tour de France and 2021 Tour de France.
Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Cavendish started all three Grand Tours in 2010 and 2011, respectively, as did some of their preferred support riders.
Riders from the same country winning all three Grand Tours in a single year has happened only on four occasions.
[9][10] The Vuelta Femenina takes place in May, the Giro d'Italia Women is generally run in late June / early July and the Tour de France Femmes is held in late July following the men's Tour de France.
[11][15] Campaign groups such as Le Tour Entier and The Cyclists' Alliance continue to push organisers and the UCI to allow for longer stage races for women,[14] as well as to improve the quality and economic stability of the women's peloton to allow for three week long races in future.
The organizers of the Tour de France announced that the winner's slot would remain empty in the record books, rather than transfer the win to the second-place finishers each year.
Of the above eleven, Pantani, Roche and Battaglin's doubles were their only Grand Tour victories in their careers.
Merckx, Roche and Pogacar also won the men's road race at the World Championship in the same year as their Giro-Tour double to complete the Triple Crown of Cycling.
after the end of 2024 Vuelta a España Sixteen other cyclists have led the overall standings in all three Grand Tours during their careers.
Tadej Pogačar amassed most Grand Tour days at the top of the classification in a single calendar year - 39 in 2024.
The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by five riders – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Mark Cavendish, Laurent Jalabert, Eddy Merckx and Alessandro Petacchi.
Three cyclists have won stages in all three of the Grand Tours in the same season: Miguel Poblet in 1956, Pierino Baffi in 1958 and Alessandro Petacchi in 2003.
Gastone Nencini (1957) and Sepp Kuss (2023) are the only cyclists to both ride all three Grand Tours and win one in the same season.