So far, there is no sign of globalization in cycling in this year's Tour de France. With five stages remaining, it even looks like no non-European will win a stage or be in the top ten of the GC. The 2012 and 1983 editions were the last Tour de France editions where all the stages were won exclusively by European riders. However, in those years, Americans and Australians still featured in the top ten overall, which is no longer the case today.
In last year’s Tour de France, Biniam Girmay set the African riders on fire with three stage wins and the green jersey, South America also celebrated thanks to Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz in the stage to SuperDévoluy. The year before, Jai Hindley (Australia) and Michael Woods (Canada) were among the successful breakaway winners. In 2022, Australians Simon Clarke and Michael Matthews, as well as Canadian Hugo Houle, claimed stage victories.
The last Tour de France where all stages were won exclusively by Europeans was the 2012 edition won by Bradley Wiggins. Yet American Tejay van Garderen (5th) and Australian Cadel Evans (7th) still finished in the top ten overall in Paris.
The penultimate time non-Europeans failed to win a stage was 1983, the year Laurent Fignon took his first Tour title. However, Phil Anderson gave Australia some reason to celebrate by finishing ninth in the final GC.
This year, no stage has yet been won by a non-European rider, and none are in the top ten GC. Ben O’Connor, in 12th place, is the highest-ranked rider outside Europe. He trails Frenchman Jordan Jegat, who is right above him in the standings, by 8’58.”
In the stage results, Girmay (Eritrea) finished second in the opening stage, and Quinn Simmons (United States) took second in Vire Normandie. Michael Storer (Australia), Kaden Groves (Australia), and Santiago Buitrago (Colombia) each secured a third-place finish.
