Jacques Anquetil
Alberto Contador
Stat by stat
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The verdict
Jacques Anquetil leads 2 of 2 categories. Our all-time ranking places Jacques Anquetil at #5 and Alberto Contador at #12.
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The case for Jacques Anquetil
Maitre Jacques was the first rider to win five Tours de France, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964, and he did it by mastering the discipline others feared: the time trial. His position on the bike was so refined that he could gain minutes against the clock and then defend a lead in the mountains with cold calculation. Anquetil took eight Grand Tours in total, adding two Giri d'Italia and the 1963 Vuelta a Espana, and in 1964 became the first man to win the Giro and Tour in the same season since Coppi. He also dominated the Grand Prix des Nations time trial, winning it nine times. His rivalry with the popular Raymond Poulidor, the eternal runner-up, transfixed France even as Anquetil coolly beat him time and again.
The case for Alberto Contador
El Pistolero was the most explosive Grand Tour climber of his generation, a rider who attacked where others calculated. Contador won all three Grand Tours, a feat achieved by only a handful of riders, and his official palmares lists seven Grand Tour titles, two Tours de France, two Giri d'Italia and three Vueltas a Espana, after two further wins were annulled following a contested clenbuterol case. His signature was the sudden, dancing acceleration on a steep gradient, and his rivalries with Andy Schleck and later Chris Froome produced some of the most dramatic mountain racing of the 2000s and 2010s. Aggressive to the end, he attacked from distance even in his final Vuelta in 2017, winning atop the Angliru on the day he retired, ensuring he left the sport exactly as he had raced it.