in terms of nationality, riders from belgian have the most tour de france wins.
in terms of nationality riders from what country have the most tour de france wins?
belgian
belgian cyclists have also performed very well in the 3 big tours. ten cyclists have won the tour de france, making of belgium the second country with the most tour de france wins (18) behind france. besides eddy merckx (5 wins), philippe thys won the most prestigious tour 3 times (1913, 1914 and 1920) while firmin lambot (1919 and 1922) and sylvère maes (1936 and 1939) both won twice. the latest belgian winner at the tour de france however was lucien van impe in 1976. belgian cyclists have been more successful at winning the "maillot vert" for best sprinter, with 19 wins. eddy merckx and freddy maertens (3 wins) and stan ockers (2 wins) are the multiple winners in this classification. tom boonen won the shirt recently in 2007. the "maillot à pois" for best climber was won 6 times by lucien van impe, the last time in 1983, equalling the record of federico bahamontes, and twice by félicien vervaecke and eddy merckx. in 2004 however, the record of 6 "maillot à pois" wins was beaten by richard virenque. at the giro d'italia, belgium has had 7 wins, being the second country most successful country after italy (66 wins). michel pollentier and johan de muynck (the latest belgian to have won the giro in 1978) are with eddy merckx (5 wins) the 3 belgian winners of this tour. other achievements in this tour include 6 "maglia verde" of best climber (including 2 for lucien van impe) and 5 "maglia ciclamino" for best sprinter (3 for roger de vlaeminck and 2 for eddy merckx). belgium also has had 7 wins at the vuelta a españa, with 2 wins by gustaaf deloor, the first winner of this tour in 1935 and 1936. the latest belgian winner was freddy maertens in 1977. in the other classifications, belgian cyclists have won 13 times the points classification, including greg van avermaet in 2008 but never the mountains classification.
cycle racing in belgium
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