1992 Tour de France

There were 22 teams in the 1992 Tour de France, each composed of 9 cyclists.[1] Sixteen teams qualified because they were the top 16 of the FICP ranking in May 1992;[2] six other teams were given wildcards in June 1992.[3]

The teams entering the race were:

Qualified teams

Invited teams

Miguel Indurain, winner of the 1991 Tour de France, was the clear favourite, having won the 1992 Giro d'Italia with ease. His biggest rivals were expected to be Gianni Bugno (second in the 1991 Tour) and Claudio Chiappucci (second in the 1992 Giro).[4]

The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,770 m (9,090 ft) at the summit of the Col de l'Iseran mountain pass on stage 13.[5][6]

Stage characteristics and winners[7][8][9][10]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	4 July	San Sebastián (Spain)	8.0 km (5.0 mi)		Individual time trial	Miguel Indurain (ESP)
1	5 July	San Sebastián (Spain)	194.5 km (120.9 mi)		Hilly stage	Dominique Arnould (FRA)
2	6 July	San Sebastián (Spain) to Pau	255.0 km (158.4 mi)		Hilly stage	Javier Murguialday (ESP)
3	7 July	Pau to Bordeaux	210.0 km (130.5 mi)		Plain stage	Rob Harmeling (NED)
4	8 July	Libourne	63.5 km (39.5 mi)		Team time trial	Panasonic–Sportlife
5	9 July	Nogent-sur-Oise to Wasquehal	196.0 km (121.8 mi)		Plain stage	Guido Bontempi (ITA)
6	10 July	Roubaix to Brussels (Belgium)	167.0 km (103.8 mi)		Plain stage	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
7	11 July	Brussels (Belgium) to Valkenburg (Netherlands)	196.5 km (122.1 mi)		Plain stage	Gilles Delion (FRA)
8	12 July	Valkenburg (Netherlands) to Koblenz (Germany)	206.5 km (128.3 mi)		Plain stage	Jan Nevens (BEL)
9	13 July	Luxembourg City (Luxembourg)	65.0 km (40.4 mi)		Individual time trial	Miguel Indurain (ESP)
10	14 July	Luxembourg City (Luxembourg) to Strasbourg	217.0 km (134.8 mi)		Plain stage	Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED)
11	15 July	Strasbourg to Mulhouse	249.5 km (155.0 mi)		Hilly stage	Laurent Fignon (FRA)
12	16 July	Dole to St Gervais	267.5 km (166.2 mi)		Hilly stage	Rolf Järmann (SUI)
	17 July	Dole			Rest day
13	18 July	St Gervais to Sestriere (Italy)	254.5 km (158.1 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Claudio Chiappucci (ITA)
14	19 July	Sestriere (Italy) to Alpe d'Huez	186.5 km (115.9 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Andrew Hampsten (USA)
15	20 July	Le Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Étienne	198.0 km (123.0 mi)		Hilly stage	Franco Chioccioli (ITA)
16	21 July	Saint-Étienne to La Bourboule	212.0 km (131.7 mi)		Hilly stage	Stephen Roche (IRE)
17	22 July	La Bourboule to Montluçon	189.0 km (117.4 mi)		Plain stage	Jean-Claude Colotti (FRA)
18	23 July	Montluçon to Tours	212.0 km (131.7 mi)		Plain stage	Thierry Marie (FRA)
19	24 July	Tours to Blois	64.0 km (39.8 mi)		Individual time trial	Miguel Indurain (ESP)
20	25 July	Blois to Nanterre	222.0 km (137.9 mi)		Plain stage	Peter De Clercq (BEL)
21	26 July	La Défense to Paris (Champs-Élysées)	141.0 km (87.6 mi)		Plain stage	Olaf Ludwig (GER)
	Total		3,978 km (2,472 mi)[11]

Miguel Indurain (pictured in 2009), winner of the general classification

The prologue was in San Sebastián, close to Indurain's home.[12] Indurain won the prologue, with debutant Alex Zülle in second place. In the first stage, Zülle won a time bonus in an intermediate sprint, and became the new race leader.[4]

In the second stage, Richard Virenque, another debutant who was a late addition to his team, was part of a two-man escape that stayed away, and took over the lead.[4] The yellow jersey, worn by the leader in the general classification, changed owner again after the third stage, when a group of ten cyclists stayed away, and Pascal Lino, a teammate of Virenque at RMO–Onet, became the new leader.[4] In the team time trial of stage four, RMO–Onet lost time to the teams specialized in team time trials, but Lino's lead was large enough to remain leader.[4]

In the time trial in stage nine, Indurain took his chance to win back time on Lino and Virenque and his rivals: Indurain won the stage, three minutes faster than all other cyclists.[12] This time trial victory is sometimes seen as Indurain's career-defining moment.[13]

The major mountain stages were stages 13 and 14.[14] Chiappucci won stage 13, and won back some time on Indurain who finished in third place; Chiappucci climbed to the second place in the general classification. In the fourteenth stage, Chiappucci and Indurain finished together. After this stage, Indurain lead the race with only Chiappucci within two minutes; all other cyclists were more than eight minutes behind. With no big mountain stages remaining, the only stage that was likely to create time differences between the favourites was the time trial in stage nineteen. Indurain, being a time trial specialist, won that stage, and increased his margin to more than four minutes.[4]

Indurain thus won his second Tour de France.

There were several classifications in the 1992 Tour de France.[15] The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour.[16]

Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.[17]

There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and wore a white jersey with red polka dots.[18]

The fourth individual classification was the young rider classification, which was not marked by a jersey in 1992. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible.[19]

For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time.[20]

In addition, there was a combativity award given after each mass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification.[21] Claudio Chiappucci won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award.[8] In 1992, there was an special classification because of the Maastricht Treaty, that created the European Union. In the 1992 Tour de France, a national border was crossed seven times, and every time there was a special sprint, where points could be earned. This classification was won by Viatcheslav Ekimov.[22] The "Association Française pour un Sport sans violence et pour le Fair-play" awarded the Fair Play award in the Tour for the first time. It was given to Stephen Roche.[8] The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Galibier on stage 14. This prize was won by Franco Chioccioli.[23][24]

Classification leadership by stage[25][26]

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Young rider classification[lower-alpha 1]	Team classification	Combativity
							Award	Classification
P	Miguel Indurain	Miguel Indurain	Miguel Indurain	no award	Alex Zülle	Banesto	no award
1	Dominique Arnould	Alex Zülle	Dominique Arnould	Franco Chioccioli			Alex Zülle	Alex Zülle
2	Javier Murguialday	Richard Virenque	Richard Virenque	Richard Virenque	Richard Virenque	RMO–Onet	Richard Virenque	Richard Virenque
3	Rob Harmeling	Pascal Lino					Noël Segers
4	Panasonic						no award
5	Guido Bontempi		Johan Museeuw			Carrera Jeans–Vagabond	Steve Bauer
6	Laurent Jalabert						Thierry Marie	Claudio Chiappucci
7	Gilles Delion		Laurent Jalabert				Frans Maassen	Frans Maassen
8	Jan Nevens				Yvon Ledanois		Yvon Ledanois
9	Miguel Indurain						no award
10	Jean-Paul van Poppel		Johan Museeuw	Claudio Chiappucci			Rolf Järmann
11	Laurent Fignon		Laurent Jalabert				Rolf Gölz
12	Rolf Jaermann		Johan Museeuw				Rolf Järmann	Rolf Järmann
13	Claudio Chiappucci	Miguel Indurain			Eddy Bouwmans		Claudio Chiappucci	Claudio Chiappucci
14	Andrew Hampsten						Andrew Hampsten
15	Franco Chioccioli		Laurent Jalabert				Franco Chioccioli
16	Stephen Roche						Stephen Roche
17	Jean-Claude Colotti						Jean-Claude Colotti
18	Thierry Marie						Herman Frison
19	Miguel Indurain						no award
20	Peter De Clercq						Rolf Järmann
21	Olaf Ludwig						Frans Maassen
Final		Miguel Indurain	Laurent Jalabert	Claudio Chiappucci	Eddy Bouwmans	Carrera Jeans–Vagabond	Claudio Chiappucci

• Augendre, Jacques (2016). Guide historique [Historical guide] (PDF). Tour de France (in French). Paris: Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol (2008). The Story of the Tour de France: 1965–2007. 2. Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59858-608-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Nauright, John; Parrish, Charles (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-300-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• van den Akker, Pieter (2018). Tour de France Rules and Statistics: 1903–2018. Self-published. ISBN 978-1-79398-080-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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