The Tour de France first pushed off 123 years ago on July 1, 1903. Since then, 113 ridings have occurred (including the one that wraps a week from today along the Champs-Elysees).
In its storied history, only four cyclists have officially won five Le Tours (due to doping, Lance Armstrong’s seven are not being counted). Among those four is the solution to this week’s #FanTeaser: Belgian Eddy Merckx (1969-72 and 1974). The other three are Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil (1957 and 1961-64) and Bernard Hinault (1978-79, 1981-82, and 1985), and Spaniard Miguel Indurain (1991-95).
Should Slovenian Tadej Pogacar win this year’s Tour it would not only be his third straight but also his fifth in total, turning the quartet into a quintet.
Merckx is widely regarded as one of the best riders in the sport’s history.
His 11 total Grand Tour victories (five French, five Italian, and one Spain) are the most all time. Additionally, he’s won all five Monuments which are generally considered to be the oldest, hardest, longest and most prestigious one-day events in men’s road cycling, with distances between 240 and 300 kilometers.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
Lance Armstrong……was he an American?
Yes, but all of his titles were stripped due to doping.