Souvenir Henri Desgrange

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 -high Col du Lautaret, the pass that directly precedes the Galibier climb from the south. In 1949, a monument to Desgrange was built 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 . 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 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 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 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. Between the 2013 Tour and the 2023 Tour, the highest climb was always used. The 2024 Tour saw the award return to the Galibier, despite a higher climb occurring on stage 19. On two occasions, the Galibier climb was cancelled due to bad weather and the award locations were moved; snow in 1996 saw it replaced by the -high Pyreenan Col d'Aubisque, and landslides in 2015 moved the award to -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 1947 11 Beauvallon, Grimaud Belgium F 35,000 1948 1 Côte de Picardie Internationals F 30,000 1949 15 Beauvallon, Grimaud South-East F 60,000 1950 19 Col du Lautaret France F 75,000 1951 21 Col du Lautaret Île-de-France/North-West F 30,000 1952 11 Col du Galibier Italy F 40,000 1953 16 Beauvallon, Grimaud South-West F 100,000 1954 19 Col du Galibier Spain F 100,000 1955 10 Beauvallon, Grimaud France F 100,000 1956 2 Cysoing unknown North-East/Centre F 100,000 1957 12 Beauvallon, Grimaud France F 100,000 1958 21 Col du Lautaret Netherlands/Luxembourg F 100,000 1959 18 Col du Galibier Netherlands/Luxembourg F 100,000 1960 17 Col du Lautaret France F 200,000 1961 6 Ballon d'Alsace Belgium F 2,000 1962 19 Col du Lautaret F 2,000 1963 colspan="8" 1964 10a Beauvallon, Grimaud F 2,000 1965 17 Col du Lautaret F 2,000 1966 16 Col du Galibier F 2,000 1967 10 Col du Galibier Spain F 2,000 1968 19 Col des Aravis Great Britain F 2,000 1969 10 Col du Galibier F 2,000 1970 19 Col du Soulor F 2,000 1971 19 Côte de Dourdan F 2,000 1972 14a Col du Galibier F 2,000 1973 8 Col du Galibier F 2,000 1974 11 Col du Galibier F 2,500 1975 17 Col du Télégraphe F 2,500 1976 10 Col du Lautaret F 2,000 1977 2 Col du Tourmalet Lejeune–BP ƒ 1,400 1978 11 Sainte-Marie de Campan ƒ 2,000 1979 17 Col du Galibier unknown 1980 17 Col du Galibier F 10,000 1981 7 Landes forest unknown F 5,000 1982 12 Col d'Aubisque F 5,000 1983 10 Col du Tourmalet F 8,500 1984 18 Col du Galibier ƒ 2,500 1985 17 Col du Tourmalet F 10,000 1986 18 Col du Galibier F 12,000 1987 21 Col du Galibier ƒ 7,000 1988 15 Col du Tourmalet unknown 1989 17 Col du Galibier unknown 1990 16 Col du Tourmalet unknown 1991 13 Col du Tourmalet F 30,000 1992 14 Col du Galibier ƒ 7,000 1993 10 Col du Galibier unknown 1994 12 Col du Tourmalet F 30,000 1995 15 Col du Tourmalet unknown 1996 17 Col d'Aubisque F 20,000 1997 10 Port d'Envalira unknown 1998 15 Col du Galibier unknown 1999 9 Col du Galibier F 20,000 2000 15 Col du Galibier F 20,000 2001 10 Col de la Madeleine F 20,000 2002 16 Col du Galibier €3,000 2003 8 Col du Galibier €5,000 2004 17 Col de la Madeleine €5,000 2005 11 Col du Galibier €5,000 2006 16 Col du Galibier €5,000 2007 9 Col du Galibier €5,000 2008 17 Col du Galibier €5,000 2009 16 Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard €5,000 2010 17 Col du Tourmalet €5,000 2011 18 Col du Galibier €5,000 2012 11 Col de la Croix de Fer €5,000 2013 8 Port de Pailhères €5,000 2014 14 Col d'Izoard €5,000 2015 20 Col d'Allos €5,000 2016 10 Port d'Envalira €5,000 2017 17 Col du Galibier €5,000 2018 17 Col de Portet €5,000 2019 19 Col de l'Iseran €5,000 2020 17 Col de la Loze Miguel Ángel López €5,000 2021 15 Port d'Envalira €5,000 2022 11 Col du Galibier €5,000 2023 17 Col de la Loze €5,000 2024 4 Col du Galibier €5,000 2025 18 Col de la Loze €5,000 2026 20 Col du Galibier €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 3 1994, 1995, 1997 3 2013, 2018, 2021 2 1955, 1964 2 1966, 1967 2 1977, 1979 2 2010, 2011

Winners by nationality

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

+Souvenir Henri Desgrange winners by nationality Country No. of wins No. of winning cyclists 17 14 14 13 10 8 8 8 7 6 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Souvenir Henri Desgrange Locations

+Most times Souvenir Henri Desgrange Locations Col Total Last Col du Galibier 31 Richard Carapaz in 2026 Col du Tourmalet 9 Andy Schleck in 2010 Col du Lautaret 7 Luciano Conati in 1976 Beauvallon, Grimaud 6 André Darrigade in 1964 Port d'Envalira 3 Nairo Quintana in 2021 Col de la Loze 3 Ben O'Connor in 2025 Col d'Aubisque 2 Neil Stephens in 1996 Col de la Madeleine 2 Gilberto Simoni in 2004 16 locations 1 Iseran (Egan Bernal, 2019)

Souvenir Henri Desgrange

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