The first was Anquetil, the last Vingegaard: the eight kings of cycling with the Triple Crown

Jonas Vingegaard is the eighth knight of the Holy Grail of cycling, the Triple Crown, which is awarded to those who win the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta at least once in their career. There is no trophy to identify it, but it is highly coveted and constitutes one of the greatest challenges for champions. 301 editions of these races which are the legend of cycling have been held: 109 of the Giro (it was born in 1909), 112 of the Tour (1903), 80 of the Vuelta (1935). Only eight giants managed to win all three: in the order of entry, the Frenchman Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, the Belgian Eddy Merckx, the Frenchman Bernard Hinault, the Spanish Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and the British Chris Froome. No one has ever achieved it by winning the three great races in the same year, and this will represent the greatest challenge in the coming years: the fastest to complete the three triumphs was Contador, from July 2007 to September 2008, the slowest Anquetil, over five years. Tadej Pogacar is sensationally missing from this list, the phenomenon who has moved the Pillars of Hercules of cycling since 2020 with 5 grand tours (1 Giro d’Italia and 4 Tour de France) and 13 Monument classic wins (plus two consecutive World Championships), and who in 2024 achieved the Giro-Tour double in the same season 26 years after Pantani. Well, the Slovenian still lacks success in the Vuelta, which he contested only once in 2019, third.