12 Best Tour de France Nicknames
12 great Tour de France cyclist nicknames
By Blokely HQ, 25th June 2013
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Throughout its 110-year history the Tour de France has been blessed by an array of colourful characters, many of whom boast equally colourful nicknames - names that further dramatise their extraordinary exploits while adding to the race's rich folklore. To celebrate the release of documentary The Legend of The Tour de France: here are twelve of the peloton's most stand-out nicknames.
1. Maurice Garin – The Little Chimney Sweep (Le Petit Ramoneur) Born: Arvier, Italy
Overall winner 1903, three stage wins
Before taking to pedalling around France, the winner of the inaugural Tour in 1903 earned his living cleaning chimneys. Renowned for his glorious handlebar moustache and diminutive stature (he measured just 1.62m), Garin made a name for himself in a 24-hour race in Paris in 1893 where he rode a red wine-fuelled 701km – beating the only other rider to finish by 49km. Garin won the Tour again in 1904 but was later disqualified after it emerged that he – along with eight others – had taken short cuts (perhaps on trains), swapped race numbers and held onto cars during the race. Riding in a white top, Garin was also known as 'The White Bulldog'.
2. Jean Robic – The Hobgoblin of the Brittany Moor (Le Farfadet de la Lande Bretonne), Born: Vouziers, France
Overall winner 1947, six stage wins
Measuring just five foot with an angular face, hooked chin and massive brow, Robic was hardly a poster boy for the sport when he moved from Brittany to Paris to take up racing in 1940. "If anyone had told us that this skinny kid of 17, with ears large enough to act as sails in a tailwind, was a future winner of the Tour, we would have just laughed," wrote one cycling journalist. But Robic – whose appearance earned him the nickname 'Le Farfadet de la Lande Bretonne' (The Hobgoblin of the Brittany Moor) – won the race at his first attempt in 1947. His size meant he was also known as 'Biquet' (Kid Goat), while fracturing his skull in 1944 earned him the name 'Tête de Cuir' (Leather Head) because of his subsequent ubiquitous crash helmet.
3. Eddy Merckx – The Cannibal, Born: Meensel-Kiezegem, Belgium
Five-time winner (1969-72, 1974), 34 stage wins
Cycling most probably will never see another rider with as many wins under his belt over all types of terrain than Merckx, owner of the most famous nickname of all cyclists. The Belgian legend was christened 'The Cannibal' by the daughter of a French co-rider because of his voracious appetite for victory and after winning a stage in the Midi Libre race by half an hour in 1971. So dominant was Merckx during the late 60s and early 70s (during which he also won the Giro d'Italia five times, the Vuelta a Espana once and the World Championships three times – not to mention all five of the one-day 'Monuments'), one writer said he "had no rivals, only occasional challengers".
4. Jacques Anquetil – Monsieur Chrono / Maître Jacques, Born: Mont-Saint-Aignan, France
Five-time winner (1957, 1961-64), 16 stage wins
Like Miguel Indurain, another five-time Tour winner three decades later, Anquetil was an extremely gifted time trial rider who made his name breaking the great Fausto Coppi's long-standing hour record when aged just 22. Notching 65 time trial wins in his career, the blond-haired, blue-eyed Frenchman's exceptional ability to race against the clock earned him the nickname 'Monsieur Chrono'. Also known as 'Maître Jacques' (Master Jacques), Anquetil was the first rider to win five Tours and was fiercely superstitious.
5. Raymond Poulidor – Poupou, Born: Masbaraud-Mérignat, France
Eight Tour podiums (1962-1976), 11 stage wins
France's most popular cyclist of all time was funnily enough a man who never won the Tour or even wore the yellow jersey. Poulidor's blend of continuous attacking, constant misfortune and tactical blunders won over the hearts of his nation – so much so that he was held in higher esteem than his major rival, the more robotic, unemotional and clinical Anquetil. While Poulidor's reputation for being beaten by Anquetil earned him his 'Eternal Second' moniker (he finished second three times and third five times), the great French underdog was more affectionately known as 'Poupou' (which inevitably lent itself to the famous L'Equipe headline Poupoularité) although he always preferred his original name of 'Pouli'.
6. Laurent Fignon – The Professor, Born: Paris, France
Winner (1983-84), nine stage wins
Instead of being treasured as the man with back-to-back wins in both the Tour and Milan-San Remo spring classic, the bespectacled, blonde-haired Fignon will always be remembered as the man who lost the 1989 Tour by eight slender seconds to American Greg Lemond following an unorthodox final-day time trial into Paris. It wasn't just the trademark glasses that earned Fignon the nickname 'The Professor': the late Fignon (who lost his battle with cancer in 2010) was also one of the few riders who had passed his French baccalaureat exams.
7. Bernard Hinault – The Badger, Born: Yffiniac, France
Five-time winner (1978-9, 1981-2, 1985), 28 stage wins
One of only five cyclists to have won all three Grand Tours in his time, Hinault was initially called 'Le Blaireau' (The Shaving Brush) because of his tendency to wear a hairband that made his hair stick up. But later, it was the other sense of the word – The Badger – that seemed to provide the inspiration. Asked for the reasons behind his nickname, the combative Hinault once famously replied, "because a badger is a devil of an animal to deal with in a tight corner". During his heyday Hinault was the peloton's true patron. Riders were so intimidated by the Frenchman that Robert Millar, the Scottish climber, claimed he should have the number 666 tattooed on his forehead.
8. Luis Herrera – El Jardinerito (The Little Gardener), Born: Fusagasugá, Colombia
Three stages, King of the Mountains (1985 & 1987)
Colombian cycling is enjoying something of a renaissance today – but back in the 80s pocket-rocket mountain goat Herrera was one of the trailblazers for his nation, becoming only the second rider in history to win the King of the Mountains competition in all three Grand Tours. Herrera's nickname 'El Jardinerito' (The Little Gardener) came because he allegedly spent his youth picking flowers in the fields near his home.
9. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov – The Tashkent Terror, Born: Tashkent, Soviet Union
Nine stage wins, green jersey (1991, 1993, 1994)
Such was Abdoujaparov's ferocity in the sprints that he was nicknamed 'The Tashkent Terror' by TV commentators during his heyday, which saw the Uzbek sprinter notch nine stages and three green points jerseys at the Tour. While often effective, Abdou's unorthodox, erratic, head-down, zig-zagging style of sprinting also caused a number of crashes – not least in the final stage of the 1991 Tour when he collided with the barriers, somersaulted over his handlebars and slid along the cobbles of the Champs Elysées for 20 metres. Abdou's tendency to get back up after each crash also earned him the name 'Terminator'. In a rare foray off-script, Abdou's last stage win on the Tour came five years later from a mountain breakaway.
10. Fabian Cancellara – Spartacus, Born: Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland
Eight stage wins 2004-2012, five stints in the yellow jersey
Known as 'Spartacus' because of his unrelenting style in time trials and one-day classics, Cancellara also holds a passing resemblance to Kirk Douglas, who portrayed the rebellious slave of the same name in the 1960 Stanley Kubrick movie. Cancellara's athletic and powerfully built frame has seen the Swiss maestro secure two Paris-Roubaix/Tour of Flanders doubles, four time trial World Championships titles and eight individual stages on the Tour de France – predominantly in opening prologues and time trials. Still going strong at the age of 32, Cancellara is also known as the 'Berne Bear' and the 'Swiss Time Machine'.
11. Alberto Contador – El Pistolero (The Pistol), Born: Madrid, Spain
Winner (2007, 2009), three stage wins
Some nicknames stick simply because of a repeated action – and Spanish all-rounder Contador's tendency to form a gun with his fingers when celebrating his victories has earned him the name 'El Pistolero'. Widely seen as the world's best attacking climber, Contador has an explosive armoury of uphill acumen and the 30-year-old clearly knows when the time is right to pull the trigger with rivals in his sights. A multiple winner in all three Grand Tours, Contador has notched just three stage wins on the Tour, with two of those coming in time trials. An ability to economise his efforts and get the right figures is apt for someone whose surname translates as 'accountant' in Spanish.
12. Marco Pantani – Il Pirata (The Pirate), Born: Cesena, Italy
Winner 1998, eight stage wins
Pantani's slightly unfortunate early nicknames of 'Elefantino' (because of his big ears) and 'Nosferatu' (because of his bald head and emaciated face) led the Italian to rebrand himself as 'The Pirate'. Leaning on his seaside routes from northern Italy, Pantani also wore bandanas and hooped earrings to give him the look of a land loving buccaneer on two wheels. Pantani really pushed the boat out – creating a line of bandanas, saddles and other accessories with a skull and crossbones motif. His team launch in 1999 even featured a vast mock-up of a pirate ship. On the bike, Pantani (who tragically died of a drugs overdose in 2004) was one of cycling's most celebrated climbing talents and a true joy to watch, winning eight stages in both the Tour and Giro, and securing a rare double of both titles in 1998.
Other memorable nicknames:
Francesco Moser – Lo Sceriffo (The Sheriff)
Mario Cipollini – Re Leone (Lion King)
Mark Cavendish – The Manx Missile
Fausto Coppi – Il Campionissimo (Champion of Champions)
Laurent Jalabert – Jaja
Miguel Indurain – Big Mig
Cadel Evans – Cuddles