Lanterne rouge

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Last classified rider in the Tour de France

title: "Lanterne rouge" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["tour-de-france-classifications-and-awards", "french-words-and-phrases", "ironic-and-humorous-awards"] description: "Last classified rider in the Tour de France" topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanterne_rouge" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Last classified rider in the Tour de France ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Sports award"]

FieldValue
nameLanterne rouge
sportRoad bicycle racing
competitionTour de France
givenforLast in classification
englishRed lantern
localnamesfr
first1903
number112 (as of 2025)
firstwinnerArsène Millocheau
mostwinsWim Vansevenant (3 times)
mostrecentSimone Consonni
::

| name = Lanterne rouge | image = | sport = Road bicycle racing | competition = Tour de France | discipline = | givenfor = Last in classification | english = Red lantern | localnames = fr | nickname = | first = 1903 | number = 112 (as of 2025) | firstwinner = Arsène Millocheau | mostwins = Wim Vansevenant (3 times) | mostrecent = Simone Consonni The lanterne rouge () is the competitor in last place in the Tour de France. The phrase comes from the French for "Red Lantern" and refers to the red lantern hung on the rear vehicle of a passenger railway train or the brake van of a freight train, which signalmen would look for in order to make sure none of the couplings had become disconnected.

Cultural uses

In the Tour de France the rider who finishes last, rather than dropping out along the way, is accorded the distinction of lanterne rouge. Because of the popularity it affords, riders may compete for the last position rather than settling for a place near the back. Often the rider who comes last is remembered while those a few places ahead are forgotten. The revenue the last rider will generate from later appearance fees can be greater than if he had finished second to last, although this was more true when riders still made much of their income from post-Tour criteriums.

In the 1979 Tour de France, Gerhard Schönbacher and Philippe Tesnière were on the last two spots in the general classification, less than one minute apart. Tesnière had already finished last in the 1978 Tour, so he was aware of the publicity associated with being the lanterne rouge. In the 21st stage, a time trial, Tesnière therefore rode slowly. The winner of the time trial, Bernard Hinault, took 1 hour, 8 minutes and 53 seconds to cover the 48.8 km, Schönbacher used 1 hour, 21 minutes and 52 seconds, while Tesniere rode it in 1 hour, 23 minutes and 32 seconds; both were slower than all other cyclists. Tesnière's time was more than 20% slower than Hinault's, which meant that he had missed the time cut, and was taken out of the race.

The Tour organisation did not like the attention that the lanterne rouge received, and for the 1980 Tour devised a rule to make it more difficult to finish last: between the 14th and the 20th stage, the rider last in the general classification was removed from the race. Still, Schönbacher managed to finish last in that race. Before the Tour, Schönbacher was promised by his sponsor that he would receive extra money if he finished in last place. After the last stage of the Tour, his team leader Patrick Lefevere told Schönbacher that he would not get the money, and after a heated discussion, Schönbacher was fired.

Red lantern holders are often great sprinters or great riders of shorter races who are not fit enough for such a long race as the Tour de France, or who try to finish the race despite injury, as in the case of Sam Bennett, who finished last after breaking a finger in the opening stage of the 2016 Tour, but eventually won the green jersey in 2020.

In 2018 Lawson Craddock became the first rider in the history of the Tour de France to have the distinction of lanterne rouge for all stages of the entire tour. He crashed in the 1st stage resulting in facial lacerations and a fractured scapula. Despite his left eye being smashed and the pain of fractured scapula, he continued to race and finished the stage which led to a picture of his bloodied and grimacing face going viral. Later that day he posted an announcement on social media that he was donating $100 for every stage he finished to the Greater Houston Cycling Association to help rebuild the Alkek Velodrome that had been damaged by Hurricane Harvey. A GoFundMe page was also setup for donations to go directly to the velodrome. Craddock continued to ride all the remaining stages which garnered much publicity for the fundraising efforts and eventually over US$250,000 being raised for the cause. In this case the lanterne rouge has been described as being worn as "a badge of courage" and winning it as "a triumph of sporting endeavour".

''Lanternes rouges'' of the Tour de France

Multiple ''lanternes rouges'' of the Tour de France

::data[format=table]

WinsNameYears
3Wim Vansevenant2006, 2007, 2008
2Daniel Masson1922, 1923
Gerhard Schönbacher1979, 1980
Mathieu Hermans1987, 1989
Jimmy Casper2001, 2004
::

Spain's Igor Flores received the lanterne rouge in 2002, and his brother Iker Flores received it in 2005.

''Lanternes rouges'' of the Tour de France by nationality

::data[format=table]

WinsCountryFirstMost Recent (if more than 1)
53France19032015
12Italy19342025
11Belgium19632021
8Netherlands19382019
5Spain19602005
4Switzerland19471984
United Kingdom19552024
3Germany19322020
219371954
19791980
Australia19312022
12009
Canada2013
China2014
Denmark2023
2016
United States2018
::

The first 24 red lanterns went to France between 1903 and 1930, with the French total reaching 53 in 2015. The rest of the world received its first red lantern in 1931, and eventually equaled France's total of 53 in 2019, and overtook it with 54 in 2020.

References

References

  1. Strickland, Bill. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121691877739881571 "The Tour's Master of Last Place"]. The Wall Street Journal, 25 July 2008.
  2. (14 July 2012). "Lanterne Rouge".
  3. (July 2025). "Lanterne Rouge: The Honor Of Being Last In The Tour de France}}{{Dead link".
  4. (19 July 1979). "Tour: Clasificaciones Oficiales". El Mundo Deportivo.
  5. "66ème Tour de France – 21ème étape". Memoire du Cyclisme.
  6. (20 July 1979). "Kostbare vergissing Tesnière". Regionaal Archief Leiden.
  7. "67ème Tour de France". Memoire du Cyclisme.
  8. (21 July 1980). "Schönbacher weer laatste". Regionaal Archief Leiden.
  9. Startt, James. (24 July 2016). "Aérogramme: Red Lantern". Peloton Magazine.
  10. Michel, Lucas. (20 September 2020). "TOUR DE FRANCE : BENNETT S’IMPOSE AU SPRINT SUR LES CHAMPS-ELYSÉES (Tour de France: Bennet wins the sprint on the Champs-Élysées)". [[Le Figaro]].
  11. Ingle, Sean. (August 6, 2018). "Last but not least: Craddock wears Tour's red lantern as badge of courage".
  12. (July 29, 2018). "American cyclist Lawson Craddock is last in Tour de France, raises $192K for velodrome". USA TODAY.

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