Souvenir Henri Desgrange

Souvenir Henri Desgrange
A cylindrical stone monument with the an inscription inside by an outline of France
The monument to Henri Desgrange near the summit of the Col du Galibier
Sport Road bicycle racing
Competition Tour de France
Awarded for First across a particular point
Location Various
Country France
History
First award 1947
Editions 74 (as of 2021)
First winner Raymond Impanis (BEL)
Most wins Richard Virenque (FRA)

Nairo Quintana (COL)

3 wins
Most recent Warren Barguil (FRA)

The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is an award and cash prize given in the yearly running of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. It is won by the rider that crosses a particular point in the race, mostly the summits of the highest and iconic climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees. It is named in honour of the creator and first race director of the Tour, French sports journalist Henri Desgrange, who was passionate about taking the Tour de France as high up in the mountains as possible using the most difficult routes.

History

Following the death of Desgrange in August 1940, an award was given in his honour for the first time in the 1947 Tour, the first Tour since 1939, having been cancelled during World War II. On stage 11, Raymond Impanis was the first of the field to pass a point by Desgrange's final residence, the "Villa Mia" in Beauvallon, Grimaud, on the French Riviera. In the first stage of the 1948 Tour, the prize was earned by Roger Lambrecht in the opening few kilometres at the summit of the Côte de Picardie climb in Versailles, Paris. Beauvallon again hosted the award the following year, before the 1950 and 1951 Tours saw the award marker point moved into the mountains atop the 2,058 m (6,752 ft)-high Col du Lautaret, the pass that directly precedes the Galibier climb from the south. In 1949, a monument to Desgrange was built 150 m (492 ft) from the southern entrance of the summit tunnel atop the Col du Galibier in the Alps, his favourite and one of the Tour's most iconic climbs. A wreath is laid at the monument when the Tour passes. Beginning in 1952, the marking point for the prize took place by the monument for the subsequent times the Tour visited the Galibier. Since the 1965 Tour, the Galibier has always been used when it was passed.

The tunnel at the summit of the Galibier was closed for safety reasons in 1976 – eventually re-opening in 2002. Bypassing the tunnel, the road was then extended a further kilometre up to the natural crest of the pass, increasing the elevation of the summit by 86 meters to 2,642 m (8,668 ft). This has been the award's marking point on the Galibier ever since it was first traversed in the 1979 Tour, when Lucien Van Impe claimed the award. The tunnel was passed through on stage 19 of the 2011 Tour, but in that edition the Galibier was climbed twice in celebration the 100th anniversary of its appearance in the Tour. The finish of the previous stage was atop the full Galibier climb, where Andy Schleck claimed memorable stage win as well as the award after his 60 km (37 mi) solo breakaway. This was first ever Galibier summit stage finish and the highest ever Tour stage finish in history to that point. Further notable stages featuring the award on the Galibier were in the 1952 and 1998 Tours, when Italians Fausto Coppi and Marco Pantani, respectively, took the award and then went on to win the stage, which proved decisive to both their overall general classification victories.

Non-summit marking points have been sparsely used for the award. Beauvallon was a host for a total of six times, with a final appearance in the 1964 Tour. The village of Cysoing in the far north hosted on the 1956 Tour, marking 200,000 kilometres travelled in Tour de France history. Only twice have non-summit marking points happened since 1964. Stage 11 of the 1978 race saw the award given to Christian Seznec at the legendary village of Sainte-Marie de Campan in the valley between the Col du Tourmalet and Col d'Aspin in the Pyrenees, made famous when in the 1913 Tour, per the rules, Eugène Christophe was forced walk 14 km (9 mi) down the Tourmalet carrying his bicycle broken before repairing it at a forge in Campan. The last time a non-summit point took place during the Grand Départ (opening stages) of the 1981 Tour, hosted by Nice, with the award at first planned to take place in the final kilometres of stage 1a beside the Carrefour supermarket on the Promenade des Anglais. This break from tradition was seen by the media as disrespectful to the race and the legacy of Desgrange. For unknown reasons the marking point banner was stolen the night before. The replacement banner was strung up in the Landes forest 42 km (26 mi) before the end of stage 7 in Bordeaux, which was won unexpectedly by Theo de Rooij as a result of him being at the front of the leading breakaway group.

From the 1965 Tour onwards, if the Galibier was not passed then the award was instead given atop a climb of similarly equal height, most commonly the Tourmalet, and beginning with the 1997 Tour, the highest climb of a Tour was mostly used when the Galibier was not included. Since the 2013 Tour, the highest climb has always been used (as of 2019). On two occasions the Galibier climb been cancelled because of bad weather and the award locations were moved; snow in 1996 saw it replaced by the 1,709 m (5,607 ft)-high Pyreenan Col d'Aubisque, and landslides in 2015 moved the award to 2,250 m (7,382 ft)-high Alpine Col d'Allos.

The amount of cash given as a prize for the award was higher in the early Tours. Cash prizes have also been given to the second and third placed riders. Since 2003, the winner has received a €5000 prize. Only in the 1963 Tour has the award not been given, although at the conclusion of that race there was a special "Desgrange prize" given to the general classification winner Jacques Anquetil who was adjudged to have had the best "head and legs" throughout the Tour. The Souvenir Jacques Goddet, honouring the second Tour director Jacques Goddet, is a similar award in the race given since the 2001 Tour mostly atop the Tourmalet.

Locations and winners

Key
* Col du Galibier was passed but not used for the award
^ Highest point of elevation reached on that year's Tour
‡ Winner of the award also won the overall general classification
† Winner of the award also won the stage finish
Winner (#) Multiple award winner and number of times they had won the award at that point
List of Souvenir Henri Desgrange locations and winners
Year Stage Location Elevation Winner Nationality Team Cash prize Ref
1947 11 Beauvallon, Grimaud * 1.5 m (5 ft) Raymond Impanis Belgium Belgium F 35,000
1948 1 Côte de Picardie * 178 m (584 ft) Roger Lambrecht Belgium Internationals F 30,000
1949 15 Beauvallon, Grimaud 1.5 m (5 ft) Paul Giguet France South-East F 60,000
1950 19 Col du Lautaret 2,058 m (6,752 ft) Apo Lazaridès France France F 75,000
1951 21 Col du Lautaret 2,058 m (6,752 ft) Gino Sciardis France Île-de-France/North-West F 30,000
1952 11 Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) ^ Fausto Coppi ‡† Italy Italy F 40,000
1953 16 Beauvallon, Grimaud 1.5 m (5 ft) Claude Colette France South-West F 100,000
1954 19 Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) ^ Federico Bahamontes Spain Spain F 100,000
1955 10 Beauvallon, Grimaud * 1.5 m (5 ft) André Darrigade France France F 100,000
1956 2 Cysoing unknown Pierre Pardoën France North-East/Centre F 100,000
1957 12 Beauvallon, Grimaud * 1.5 m (5 ft) Jean Stablinski † France France F 100,000
1958 21 Col du Lautaret 2,058 m (6,752 ft) Piet van Est Netherlands Netherlands/Luxembourg F 100,000
1959 18 Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) Charly Gaul Luxembourg Netherlands/Luxembourg F 100,000
1960 17 Col du Lautaret 2,058 m (6,752 ft) Jean Graczyk † France France F 200,000
1961 6 Ballon d'Alsace 1,178 m (3,865 ft) Jef Planckaert † Belgium Belgium F 2,000
1962 19 Col du Lautaret 2,058 m (6,752 ft) Juan Campillo Spain Margnat–Paloma–D'Alessandro F 2,000
1963 Not awarded
1964 10a Beauvallon, Grimaud * 1.5 m (5 ft) André Darrigade (2) France Margnat–Paloma–Dunlop F 2,000
1965 17 Col du Lautaret 2,058 m (6,752 ft) Francisco Gabica Spain Kas–Kaskol F 2,000
1966 16 Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) ^ Julio Jiménez † Spain Ford France–Hutchinson F 2,000
1967 10 Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) ^ Julio Jiménez (2) Spain Spain F 2,000
1968 19 Col des Aravis 1,498 m (4,915 ft) Barry Hoban † Great Britain Great Britain F 2,000
1969 10 Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) ^ Eddy Merckx ‡ Belgium Faema F 2,000
1970 19 Col du Soulor 1,474 m (4,836 ft) Raymond Delisle France Peugeot–BP–Michelin F 2,000
1971 19 Côte de Dourdan 160 m (525 ft) Wilmo Francioni Italy Ferretti F 2,000
1972 14a Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) ^ Joop Zoetemelk Netherlands Beaulieu–Flandria F 2,000
1973 8 Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) ^ Luis Ocaña ‡† Spain Bic F 2,000
1974 11 Col du Galibier 2,556 m (8,386 ft) ^ Vicente López Carril † Spain Kas–Kaskol F 2,500
1975 17 Col du Télégraphe 1,566 m (5,138 ft) Luis Balague Spain Super Ser F 2,500
1976 10 Col du Lautaret 2,058 m (6,752 ft) Luciano Conati Italy Scic–Fiat F 2,000
1977 2 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) ^ Lucien Van Impe Belgium Lejeune–BP ƒ 1,400
1978 11 Sainte-Marie de Campan 857 m (2,812 ft) Christian Seznec France Miko–Mercier–Vivagel ƒ 2,000
1979 17 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Lucien Van Impe (2) Belgium Kas–Campagnolo unknown
1980 17 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Johan De Muynck Belgium Splendor–Admiral F 10,000
1981 7 Landes forest unknown Theo de Rooij Netherlands Capri Sonne–Koga Miyata F 5,000
1982 12 Col d'Aubisque 1,709 m (5,607 ft) Beat Breu Switzerland Cilo–Aufina F 5,000
1983 10 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) ^ José Patrocinio Jiménez Colombia Varta–Colombia F 8,500
1984 18 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Francisco Rodríguez Maldonado Colombia Splendor–Mondial Moquettes–Marc ƒ 2,500
1985 17 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) ^ Pello Ruiz Cabestany Spain Seat–Orbea F 10,000
1986 18 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Luis Herrera Colombia Café de Colombia–Varta F 12,000
1987 21 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Pedro Muñoz Spain Fagor–MBK ƒ 7,000
1988 15 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) ^ Laudelino Cubino † Spain BH unknown
1989 17 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Gert-Jan Theunisse † Netherlands PDM–Ultima–Concorde unknown
1990 16 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) ^ Miguel Ángel Martínez Torres Spain ONCE unknown
1991 13 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) ^ Claudio Chiappucci † Italy Carrera Jeans–Tassoni F 30,000
1992 14 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) Franco Chioccioli Italy GB–MG Maglificio ƒ 7,000
1993 10 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) Tony Rominger † Switzerland CLAS–Cajastur unknown
1994 12 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) Richard Virenque † France Festina–Lotus F 30,000
1995 15 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) ^ Richard Virenque †(2) France Festina–Lotus unknown
1996 17 Col d'Aubisque 1,709 m (5,607 ft) Neil Stephens Australia ONCE F 20,000
1997 10 Port d'Envalira 2,407 m (7,897 ft) ^ Richard Virenque (3) France Festina–Lotus unknown
1998 15 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Marco Pantani ‡† Italy Mercatone Uno–Bianchi unknown
1999 9 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ José Luis Arrieta Spain Banesto F 20,000
2000 15 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Pascal Hervé France Banesto F 20,000
2001 10 Col de la Madeleine 2,000 m (6,562 ft) Laurent Roux France Jean Delatour F 20,000
2002 16 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Santiago Botero Colombia Kelme–Costa Blanca €3,000
2003 8 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Stefano Garzelli Italy Vini Caldirola–So.di €5,000
2004 17 Col de la Madeleine 2,000 m (6,562 ft) ^ Gilberto Simoni Italy Saeco €5,000
2005 11 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Alexander Vinokourov † Kazakhstan T-Mobile Team €5,000
2006 16 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Michael Rasmussen † Denmark Rabobank €5,000
2007 9 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) Mauricio Soler † Colombia Barloworld €5,000
2008 17 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) Stefan Schumacher Germany Gerolsteiner €5,000
2009 16 Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard 2,470 m (8,104 ft) ^ Franco Pellizotti Italy Liquigas €5,000
2010 17 Col du Tourmalet 2,115 m (6,939 ft) ^ Andy Schleck ‡† Luxembourg Team Saxo Bank €5,000
2011 18 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) Andy Schleck †(2) Luxembourg Leopard Trek €5,000
2012 11 Col de la Croix de Fer 2,067 m (6,781 ft) Fredrik Kessiakoff Sweden Astana €5,000
2013 8 Port de Pailhères 2,001 m (6,565 ft) ^ Nairo Quintana Colombia Movistar Team €5,000
2014 14 Col d'Izoard 2,360 m (7,743 ft) ^ Joaquim Rodríguez Spain Team Katusha €5,000
2015 20 Col d'Allos 2,250 m (7,382 ft) ^ Simon Geschke Germany Team Giant–Alpecin €5,000
2016 10 Port d'Envalira 2,407 m (7,897 ft) ^ Rui Costa Portugal Lampre–Merida €5,000
2017 17 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Primož Roglič † Slovenia LottoNL–Jumbo €5,000
2018 17 Col de Portet 2,215 m (7,267 ft) ^ Nairo Quintana †(2) Colombia Movistar Team €5,000
2019 19 Col de l'Iseran * 2,770 m (9,088 ft) ^ Egan Bernal ‡ Colombia Team Ineos €5,000
2020 17 Col de la Loze 2,304 m (7,559 ft) ^ Miguel Ángel López † Colombia Astana €5,000
2021 15 Port d'Envalira 2,407 m (7,897 ft) ^ Nairo Quintana (3) Colombia Arkéa–Samsic €5,000
2022 11 Col du Galibier 2,642 m (8,668 ft) ^ Warren Barguil France Arkéa–Samsic €5,000
2023 17 Col de la Loze 2,304 m (7,559 ft) ^ Felix Gall Austria AG2R Citroën Team €5,000

Multiple winners

The following riders have won the Souvenir Henri Desgrange on 2 or more occasions.

Multiple winners of the Souvenir Henri Desgrange
Cyclist Total Years
Richard Virenque (FRA) 3 1994, 1995, 1997
Nairo Quintana (COL) 3 2013, 2018, 2021
André Darrigade (FRA) 2 1955, 1964
Julio Jiménez (ESP) 2 1966, 1967
Lucien Van Impe (BEL) 2 1977, 1979
Andy Schleck (LUX) 2 2010, 2011

Winners by nationality

Riders from seventeen different countries have won the Souvenir Henri Desgrange.

Souvenir Henri Desgrange winners by nationality
Country No. of wins No. of winning cyclists
France 17 14
Spain 14 13
Colombia 10 8
Italy 8 8
Belgium 7 6
Netherlands 4 4
Luxembourg 3 2
Australia 1 1
Denmark 1 1
Germany 1 1
Great Britain 1 1
Kazakhstan 1 1
Portugal 1 1
Slovenia 1 1
Sweden 1 1
Switzerland 1 1
Austria 1 1

See also