The 1986 Tour de France was a cycling race held in France, from 4 July to 27 July. It was the 73rd running of the Tour de France. Greg LeMond of won the race, ahead of his teammate Bernard Hinault. It was the first ever victory for a rider outside of Europe. Five-time Tour winner Hinault, who had won the year before with LeMond supporting him, had publicly pledged to ride in support of LeMond in 1986. Several attacks during the race cast doubt on the sincerity of his promise, leading to a rift between the two riders and the entire La Vie Claire team. The 1986 Tour de France is widely considered to be one of the most memorable in the history of the sport due to the battle between LeMond and Hinault.
Thierry Marie () took the first race leader's yellow jersey after winning the prologue time trial. The lead then moved to Alex Stieda () after stage 1, only for Marie to recapture the lead after his team won the team time trial on stage 2. After short stints in the lead for Dominique Gaigne and Johan van der Velde, Jørgen V. Pedersen took the yellow jersey following a breakaway on stage 7 and retained the lead even after the first long time trial, won by Hinault. Stage 12 saw Hinault attack with Pedro Delgado (), who won the stage, while Hinault moved into the lead. Hinault attacked again the following day, but was caught and dropped. LeMond gained back significant time, but still trailed his teammate by 40 seconds.
LeMond would move into the yellow jersey after stage 17, when Hinault fell behind on the climb of the Col d'Izoard. Stage 18 to Alpe d'Huez saw LeMond and Hinault finish hand-in-hand, with the latter winning the stage. LeMond's overall victory was sealed when Hinault was unable to overcome his deficit in the final time trial on stage 20. Urs Zimmermann () finished third, and was the only rider who posed a threat to the La Vie Claire team, who also had the 4th placed rider in Andy Hampsten.
In the race's other classifications, Hinault won the mountains classification, rider Eric Vanderaerden the points classification, and 's Andrew Hampsten won the young rider classification. finished at the head of the team classification by one hour 51 minutes, after placing four riders inside the final overall top-ten placings.
One of cycling's Grand Tours, the Tour consisted of 23 stages, beginning with a prologue in Boulogne-Billancourt and concluded on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The race was organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation and was shown on television in 72 countries, with the total viewers estimated at one billion.
Teams
In June, 23 teams had requested to start in the 1986 Tour. The Tour organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), accepted 21 applications, so a total of 21 teams participated in the 1986 Tour de France. The two teams whose application was denied were Skala-Skil and Miko. Joop Zoetemelk, the reigning road world champion, started and finished his 16th Tour de France, a record that stood until it was tied by Sylvain Chavanel in 2018.
The teams entering the race were: Prior to the start of the Tour, LeMond was confident of his chances, and pointed out that having Hinault, who he expected to take an early lead, would play to his advantage. Even with Hinault's assurances of support for LeMond, excitement over a possible record-breaking sixth Tour win was high in France. In a survey of 15 Dutch journalists, eight named Hinault as their main favourite for overall victory, just three chose LeMond. LeMond's season up to this point had been good, but had not yielded any major victories; he finished second at Milan–San Remo, third at Paris–Nice, fourth at the Giro d'Italia and third at the Tour de Suisse.
Laurent Fignon (), winner in 1983 and 1984, was working on his comeback, having won the La Flèche Wallonne classic in the spring. He had missed the chance to defend his title the year earlier due to surgery on an inflamed Achilles tendon. Juan Mora of El País believed that the race would be highlighted by a duel between Fignon and Hinault. He named LeMond and Frenchman Charly Mottet as potential contenders if their team captains – Hinault and Fignon, respectively – failed to perform to the level expected. Mora believed Pedro Delgado to be the best Spanish contender for the overall title citing that his should perform well in the team time trial. Fignon later recalled in his autobiography that he did not share the view of himself as a favourite, writing: "I felt terrible physically. [...] My body — and perhaps my mind as well — was registering deep fatigue rather than an urge to get on with it." Stephen Roche (), third overall the year before, had injured his knee in a crash at the Paris Six-Day event in the winter, necessitating surgery in April, which meant that he arrived at the Tour out of form. Five-time Tour winner Jacques Anquetil named Luis Herrera () as his main favourite. Herrera himself declared: "If I do not lose more than ten minutes before the mountains, I can win."
Sean Kelly () was considered the main favourite for victory in the points classification, having won the trophy a record-equalling third time the year before. The race was pushed back a week from its normal date in order to prevent overlap with the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and therefore started on 4 July. Covering a total of , it included four time trials (three individual and one for teams) and ten stages deemed as flat. The race took a counter-clockwise route around France. Following the prologue and opening stages in the Hauts-de-Seine region, the race moved north towards the Belgian border, before turning west to Brittany. The Tour then traveled south to Bordeaux, where a train transfer brought the riders to Bayonne, at the foot of the Pyrenees. From there, transition stages led the race to the Alps, before the final stages in the Massif Central and further north towards Paris.
The 1986 Tour de France had one rest day, after the finish on the Alpe d'Huez. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the Col du Galibier mountain pass on stage 18. The longest road-race stage was stage 11, at .
Tour director Levitan felt after the 1985 Tour de France that the race had been too easy, and made the course in 1986 extra difficult, including more mountain climbs than before. This angered Hinault, who threatened to skip the 1986 Tour.
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! scope="col" | Stage
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Course
! scope="col" | Distance
!colspan="2"|Type
! scope="col" | Winner
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! scope="row" | P
| style="text-align:center;" |4 July
| Boulogne-Billancourt
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=Individual time trial
| Individual time trial
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! scope="row" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" |5 July
| Nanterre to Sceaux
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| 20px|link=
| Plain stage
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! scope="row" | 2
| style="text-align:center;" |5 July
| Meudon to Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=Team time trial
| Team time trial
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|-
! scope="row" | 3
| style="text-align:center;" |6 July
| Levallois-Perret to Liévin
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 4
| style="text-align:center;" |7 July
| Liévin to Évreux
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 5
| style="text-align:center;" |8 July
| Évreux to Villers-sur-Mer
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 6
| style="text-align:center;" |9 July
| Villers-sur-Mer to Cherbourg
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 7
| style="text-align:center;" |10 July
| Cherbourg to Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 8
| style="text-align:center;" |11 July
| Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët to Nantes
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 9
| style="text-align:center;" |12 July
| Nantes
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=Individual time trial
| Individual time trial
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|-
! scope="row" | 10
| style="text-align:center;" |13 July
| Nantes to Futuroscope
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|alt=|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 11
| style="text-align:center;" |14 July
| Futuroscope to Bordeaux
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 12
| style="text-align:center;" |15 July
| Bayonne to Pau
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Stage with mountain(s)
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|-
! scope="row" | 13
| style="text-align:center;" |16 July
| Pau to Superbagnères
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Stage with mountain(s)
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|-
! scope="row" | 14
| style="text-align:center;" |17 July
| Superbagnères to Blagnac
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|alt=|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 15
| style="text-align:center;" |18 July
| Carcassonne to Nîmes
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|alt=|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 16
| style="text-align:center;" |19 July
| Nîmes to Gap
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|alt=|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 17
| style="text-align:center;" |20 July
| Gap to Serre Chevalier
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Stage with mountain(s)
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|-
! scope="row" | 18
| style="text-align:center;" |21 July
| Briançon to Alpe d'Huez
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=
| Stage with mountain(s)
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|-
! scope="row" |
| style="text-align:center;" | 22 July
| colspan="2" | Alpe d'Huez
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| colspan="2" | Rest day
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| style="text-align:center;" |23 July
| Villard-de-Lans to Saint-Étienne
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|alt=|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 20
| style="text-align:center;" |24 July
| Saint-Étienne
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|link=Individual time trial
| Individual time trial
|
|-
! scope="row" | 21
| style="text-align:center;" |25 July
| Saint-Étienne to Puy de Dôme
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|alt=|link=
| Plain stage
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|-
! scope="row" | 22
| style="text-align:center;" |26 July
| Clermont-Ferrand to Nevers
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|alt=|link=
| Plain stage
|
|-
! scope="row" | 23
| style="text-align:center;" |27 July
| Cosne-sur-Loire to Paris (Champs-Élysées)
| style="text-align:center;" |
| 20px|alt=|link=
| Plain stage
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Total
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center"|
|}
Race overview
Opening stages
thumb|upright|alt=A cyclist on a bicycle, with spectators behind a fence.| rider [[Thierry Marie (pictured in 1993) won the opening prologue, taking the lead of the 1986 Tour.]]
The prologue was won by Thierry Marie (), with Hinault in third place, just two seconds slower. Fignon and LeMond placed seventh and eighth, both four seconds back. On stage 1, Alex Stieda () attacked from the finish and collected time bonuses at the intermediate sprint, which would move him into the race lead. He was then joined in his breakaway by five other riders. The sextet held a small margin until the finish, with Pol Verschuere () taking the victory. Stieda, a Canadian, became the first rider from North America to wear the race leader's yellow jersey.
The same afternoon, the team time trial was held. The attempt at defending Stieda's race lead by his team proved unsuccessful. A crash by Eric Heiden slowed the team and forced several riders to take evasive action in order not to run into him, in the process scraping their tyres at the street curbing, which caused several punctures. In addition, Stieda was tired by his morning effort and fell back, getting in danger of missing the time limit. Chris Carmichael and Jeff Pierce had to fall back to lead him to the finish, which he reached in time but the yellow jersey was lost. It was regained by Marie, whose team won the time trial, while lost almost two minutes. Hinault personally instructed the team to wait for Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg, who were nursing the after-effects of crashes during the morning stage, accounting for 's comparatively poor performance. lost significant time and four of the team's riders were eliminated because they missed the time limit.
Johan van der Velde () won stage 5 and through time bonuses at both intermediate sprints and the stage finish, moved into the overall lead. He got the better of Joël Pelier () at the finish line. Both had been in a breakaway together, started after ridden. They finished 39 seconds ahead of van der Velde's teammate Eddy Planckaert, who in turn was followed by Miguel Induráin (), while the field, led by Alfonso Gutiérrez (), was 1:15 minutes behind. The stage saw a demonstration by workers in Lisieux, which did not impede the race. Van der Velde kept the race lead the following day. A five-man breakaway decided the outcome of the stage, won by Guido Bontempi of ahead of Roberto Pagnin ().
The yellow jersey changed hands again after stage 7. The stage began slowly, with the first breakaway established only after . The peloton was back together after , but another attack went shortly thereafter, including Ludo Peeters (), Jørgen V. Pedersen (), and Induráin. Other riders joined them later, but it was Peeters who eventually won the sprint from the group to win the stage, ahead of Ron Kiefel (). Pedersen took the race lead. On stage 8, after the peloton allowed Yvon Madiot () to drive ahead of the field to greet his family. Planckaert, not realising the situation, followed what he considered an attack in the company of Pelier, but all three were brought back. About later, another group broke away, containing Adri van der Poel (), Mathieu Hermans, () and Andrew Hampsten. Hampsten was considered a threat to the overall classification, which led the field to give chase. The peloton was united before their arrival in the finishing town, Nantes, where Silvano Contini () launched an unsuccessful breakaway attempt. Planckert, who only started the stage with the help of analgesic pills from his masseur due to back pain, won the sprint, beating out his teammate Eric Vanderaerden. Pedersen retained the overall lead.
First long time trial and transition to the mountains
The first real test for the general classification contenders came on stage 9, a individual time trial around Nantes. Hinault won the stage, 44 seconds ahead of LeMond, with Roche third, 1:01 minutes slower. Hinault benefited from a puncture by LeMond, which cost him time. Fignon finished in 32nd place, 3:42 minutes behind Hinault, a result he later described as "unworthy of my status". Pedersen did enough to retain the yellow jersey. Roche moved into second place, 1:05 minutes behind Pedersen, with Hinault a further five seconds behind in third. LeMond was eighth, 1:59 minutes behind the lead.
Stage 10 was won by Ángel Sarrapio (), who had been in a breakaway with Jean-Claude Bagot () during the stage. Pedersen kept the race lead, while Pelier used bonus seconds on the road to move ahead of Roche into second place in the general classification. On stage 11, a 12-man breakaway reached the finishing town of Bordeaux together. Rudy Dhaenens () escaped from the group from the finish. On the finishing straight, he was almost caught by the fast approaching Hermans and just held on to take the stage victory. Hermans would later say that the public announcer had aided Dhaenens' victory by warning him of Hermans over the PA system.
Pyrenees
thumb|left|200px|[[Pedro Delgado (pictured in 2016) won stage 12, but later dropped out after his mother died.]]
Following a train transfer from Bordeaux to Bayonne at the foot of the Pyrenees in the morning, stage 12 led the riders over to Pau. The stage featured five mountain passes, with the first-category rated Col de Marie-Blanque at the end, before a descent into the finishing town. Several attacks occurred over the first part of the stage, each covered by riders of . At around from the finish, Hinault raised the pace on the ascent of the Col de Burdincurutcheta, forcing other contenders to chase back on, such as Herrera. Others, such as Roche, Fignon, and race leader Pedersen, dropped behind and would lose a lot of time by the end of the stage. Shortly before an intermediate sprint after , Hinault told his teammate Jean-François Bernard to accelerate, and the two, accompanied by Delgado, made the bridge to a lead group containing Eduardo Chozas (). These four riders then broke clear at the front, before Chozas lost contact about later. Bernard, the work for his team leader done, fell back another down the road. Other favourites lost even more time: Robert Millar () finished 11th, 5:31 minutes behind. In 20th place was Fignon, arriving 11 minutes after Hinault. Frank Hoste () won stage 15 in a two-man sprint against Silvano Contini (). The main field came in just eight seconds behind, but Luis Herrera lost 49 seconds after failing to bridge a gap in the peloton.
The final day before the Alps was stage 16, ending in the town of Gap. The peloton had to endure significant crosswinds during the stage, accompanied by several attacks from the field. After , Hinault was part of a group of four riders splitting away from the field in the winds, quickly making contact with another four-man break to form an escape of eight riders. While Hinault was joined by teammates Rüttimann and Winterberg, the group also contained Zimmermann, third overall. LeMond, crucially, had missed the move, but his three teammates in the breakaway still rode hard tempo, drawing out an advantage of 52 seconds. LeMond, again bound not to chase his own teammates, asked Robert Millar for help, who agreed to have his team do the chase work, while LeMond promised to gift Millar a stage should they finish close together. After , the groups were back together. Jean-François Bernard from won the stage after the two other riders in the final breakaway both punctured a tyre on the descent of the Col d'Espreaux. He moved up into thirteenth place in the general classification, which meant that now had five riders in the top thirteen places. Because of Hinault's breakaway tactics during the stage, Lemond threatened to resign from the race and had to be calmed by Tapie. According to Hampsten, the team was split into three groups: the French riders around Hinault, the two Swiss riders in between, and the other riders on LeMond's side. Jean-François Bernard supported this view, saying: "The division was real. Even if it wasn't evident day-to-day, or on the surface, it was there the whole Tour. You could feel it." Hinault was unapologetic, saying: "What's his [LeMond's] problem? Are his legs hurting? It might be just as well if he quits if he doesn't want to win the race any more."
Alps
thumb|[[Bernard Hinault climbing the Col d'Izoard during stage 17. It was here that he lost significant time on rival Greg LeMond, losing the yellow jersey by the end of the stage.]]
Stage 17 finished on the Col du Granon, the highest mountain-top finish in Tour history up to that point, at an elevation of . Before the Col du Granon, the riders also had to ride across the Col de Vars and the Col d'Izoard. Eduardo Chozas () was in a solo breakaway and won the stage. Behind him, Hinault began to struggle on the climb of the Izoard, falling behind the other contenders. He suffered from pain in his left knee, a recurrence of an injury sustained in 1983. LeMond attacked as the group began the descent from the Col d'Izoard and was joined by Zimmermann. Zimmermann set a strong pace on the final climb to the Col du Granon and took second place on the stage, 6:26 minutes behind Chozas, with LeMond right behind him. Hinault came in thirteenth, losing 3:21 minutes to LeMond, who took over the race lead. LeMond led Zimmermann by 2:24 minutes, with Hinault a further 23 seconds behind. It was the first time that a rider from the USA wore the yellow jersey in the history of the Tour.
The night before stage 18 to Alpe d'Huez, Hinault called a team meeting, complaining about the fact that Zimmermann now split the two riders. He called for the team to attack Zimmermann the following day, "until he was broken". Another dispute broke out with LeMond, who pointed out that with a time trial still to come, a discipline that did not favour Zimmermann, there was no need for an all-out attack. Tapie had to talk to the riders until four o'clock in the morning to handle the situation. Shortly after the start of the stage in Briançon, the first climb of the day was the Col du Lautaret. A breakaway formed, including Herrera and Winterberg, who left their companions on the following climb, the Col du Galibier. Behind them, in the group of favourites, Zimmermann was closely guarding LeMond, while Hinault made several small accelerations to test the opposition. On the descent of the Galibier, Hinault attacked, only into the stage. He caught Herrera and Winterberg and they were joined by LeMond, Bauer and Ruiz Cabestany. As they reached the next small climb, the Col du Télégraphe, Hinault attacked again, going clear on his own. LeMond, having strict instructions from his team not to work with Zimmermann, was again stuck behind. LeMond dropped back to his team car for instructions by coach Paul Köchli, who urged him to attack Zimmermann instead of leading him towards Hinault, who at that point had a lead of about one-and-a-half minutes. LeMond attacked shortly before the summit and opened up a gap to Zimmermann on the descent, eventually catching up to Hinault, together with Bauer and Ruiz Cabestany. Bauer then did the lead work until the foot of the next climb, the Col de la Croix de Fer, where he dropped back. Ruiz Cabestany fell behind soon after. On the ascent, Hinault asked LeMond to ease the tempo, due to his aching knee, and set the pace himself. By the summit, they led Zimmermann by 2:50 minutes. On the descent, both set a high tempo, extending the lead over Zimmermann to 4:30 minutes as they reached the climb of Alpe d'Huez. Sensing that the French public, clearly favouring Hinault, made LeMond nervous, the former led all the way up the climb, with both riders steadily increasing their advantage over everybody else. Close to the finish line, LeMond drove alongside Hinault, putting his arm around him for a short conversation. At the finish, Hinault took LeMond's hand in an apparent gesture of comradery and they crossed the line together, with Hinault taking the stage win. Tapie later revealed that he had orchestrated the moment, having told LeMond before the climb to Alpe d'Huez that he had effectively won the race and that he should let Hinault take the stage. Zimmermann finished third, 5:15 behind the pair.
The illusion of a détente between the two leaders lasted only a few hours. In the evening, both appeared on French television in a joint interview with Jacques Chancel. Asked if the battle between them was over, Hinault answered that it would not be until the final time trial in Saint-Étienne. He reiterated the statement on the following day, the only rest day of the Tour. During a press conference, he declared: "I'm very proud of what we did together, but let me say one more time: the Tour isn't over. Who was stronger on the climb? Go on, ask Greg." LeMond felt betrayed by Hinault's apparent unwillingness to honour the deal between the two riders. Hinault in turn promised that, should LeMond still lead the Tour after the final time trial, he would not attack again. This pledge came at the insistence of Tapie, after LeMond had once again threatened to leave the race should Hinault continue attacking. Pedro Delgado, winner of stage 12 and lying fifth overall, retired from the race during stage 18, having learned of the death of his mother. Robert Millar, having been fourth at the summit of the Galibier, lost over 19 minutes during the later part of the stage, dropping from fourth to eighth overall. In 2015, cycling journalist Peter Cossins called stage 18 "the best remembered on the mountain [Alpe d'Huez]", while describing it as "a victory parade rather than a sporting contest."
Conclusion
thumb|left|alt=A cyclist wearing a yellow jersey.|'s [[Greg LeMond (pictured in 1990) took the lead in the general classification on stage 17 and went on to win the race.]]
As the conclusion of the race drew closer, LeMond suspected that the public and a large part of the riders would prefer a record-breaking victory for Hinault. Before the start of stage 19, a journalist suggested to him that 80 per cent of the riders would support Hinault, to which he jokingly replied that he was surprised if twenty per cent supported him. Indeed, Hinault attacked once more during the stage, during the feed zone, a clear breach of cycling etiquette which dictates that no rider should attack while his competitors take on food and drinks. Bauer and Hampsten assisted LeMond in bringing Hinault back into the field. During an intermediate sprint, Hinault gained back two seconds to cut his disadvantage to 2:43 minutes. Julián Gorospe won the stage for , ahead of Anderson. Robert Millar, fighting sickness, dropped out during this stage.
Guido Bontempi won the final two stages of the race, first stage 22 into Nevers, edging out Hoste and Vanderaerden in a sprint finish. On the final, ceremonial stage into Paris, LeMond crashed and Hinault made a point to personally escort him back into the field. Hinault then contested the final sprint, won by Bontempi, and finished fourth to close out his Tour de France career. LeMond became the first rider from an English-speaking country to win the event,
Classification leadership and minor prizes
thumb|A group of riders on the climb of the [[Col d'Izoard during stage 17. Robert Millar (front row center) wears the polka-dot jersey as leader of the mountains classification and Greg LeMond (right of Millar) wears the jersey for the combination classification.]]
There were several classifications in the 1986 Tour de France, six of them awarding jerseys to their leaders. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour. No time bonuses were given at stage finishes, a change from the 1985 edition. Time bonuses were given for the intermediate sprints. Over the first half of the race, each intermediate sprint gave 12, 8, and 4 bonus seconds to the first three riders across the line, while during the second half, 6, 4, and 2 seconds were awarded. There were 94 intermediate sprints over the course of the 1986 Tour, a record number. In the team time trial on stage 2, the real time of the finishing teams was used to calculate the overall classification, taken on the sixth rider of each team to cross the finish line. The time that could be lost was limited at five minutes, however, if a rider did not finish with the rest of his team, his real time was used, even if it exceeded five minutes.
Additionally, there was a points classification, where cyclists were given points for finishing in the top 25 on a stage. All stages awarded the same number of points: 25 for the winner, with each subsequent place receiving one fewer point. In this edition, no points were awarded at intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and was identified with a green jersey. Eric Vanderaerden was the winner of this classification.
There was also a mountains classification. The Tour organisers categorised some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. Climbs rated hors catégorie gave 40 points to the first rider across, down to one point for the 15th rider to reach the summit. First-category climbs awarded 30 points, second category ones 20 for the first rider. Third- and fourth-category mountains awarded 7 and 4 points respectively to the first man across. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and wore a white jersey with red polka dots. Bernard Hinault won the mountains prize.
There was also a combination classification. This classification was calculated as a combination of the other classifications; its leader wore the combination jersey. Being in first place in the general, points, mountains, or intermediate sprints classification awarded 25 points, down to one point for 25th place. For the second consecutive year, Greg LeMond was the winner of this classification.
Another classification was the debutant classification. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders that rode the Tour for the first time were eligible, and the leader wore a white jersey. 79 out of the 210 starters were eligible. Andrew Hampsten was the first-placed rider in this classification.
The sixth individual classification was the intermediate sprints classification. This classification had similar rules as the points classification, but points were only awarded on intermediate sprints. Its leader wore a red jersey. Gerrit Solleveld () won this classification.
For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. The riders in the team that led this classification were identified by yellow caps. There was also a team points classification. Cyclists received points according to their finishing position on each stage, with the first rider receiving one point. The first three finishers of each team had their points combined, and the team with the fewest points led the classification. The riders of the team leading this classification wore green caps. won the team classification, while won the team points classification.
In addition, there was a combativity award, in which a jury composed of journalists gave points after each mass-start stage to the cyclist they considered most combative. At the conclusion of the Tour, Bernard Hinault won the overall super-combativity award, also decided by journalists. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Galibier on stage 18. This prize was won by Luis Herrera. Other minor prizes given included one for the best teammate, won by Bruno Leali (). An award for the "most amiable" rider was given to Ruiz Cabestany. Zoetemelk received a prize for fairplay.
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! scope="col" style="width:1%;" rowspan="2" | Stage
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Stage winner
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | General classification<br />25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Points classification<br />25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Mountains classification<br />25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Debutant classification<br />25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Combination classification<br />25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Intermediate sprints classification<br />25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:18%;" colspan="2" | Team classifications
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Combativity award
|-
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" | By time
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" | By points
|-
! scope="row" | P
| Thierry Marie
| style="background:#FFEB64;"| Thierry Marie
| style="background:#9CE97B;"| Thierry Marie
| not awarded
| style="background:white;"| Jesús Blanco Villar
| style="background:lightblue;"| Thierry Marie
| not awarded
| rowspan="7"|
| rowspan="4"|
| not awarded
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| Pol Verschuere
| style="background:#FFEB64;"| Alex Stieda
| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan="23"| Eric Vanderaerden
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="5"| Alex Stieda
| style="background:white;"| Alex Stieda
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="3"| Alex Stieda
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="3"| Alex Stieda
| Alex Stieda
|-
! scope="row" | 2
|
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="2"| Thierry Marie
| style="background:white;" rowspan="7"| Éric Boyer
| not awarded
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| Davis Phinney
| Federico Echave
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| Pello Ruiz Cabestany
| style="background:#FFEB64;"| Dominique Gaigne
| style="background:lightblue;"| Eric Vanderaerden
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="20"| Gerrit Solleveld
|
| Régis Simon
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| Johan van der Velde
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="2"| Johan van der Velde
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="4"| Johan van der Velde
|
| Joël Pelier
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| Guido Bontempi
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="6"| Régis Simon
| rowspan="2"|
| Bruno Leali
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| Ludo Peeters
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="5"| Jørgen V. Pedersen
| rowspan="5"|
| Miguel Induráin
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| Eddy Planckaert
| rowspan="16"|
| Bernard Vallet
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| Bernard Hinault
| style="background:white;" rowspan="3"| Bruno Cornillet
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="3"| Joël Pelier
| not awarded
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| Ángel Sarrapio
| Jean-Claude Bagot
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| Rudy Dhaenens
| Sean Yates
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| Pedro Delgado
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="5"| Bernard Hinault
| style="background:#FFA8A4;"| Ronan Pensec
| style="background:white;"| Jean-François Bernard
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="2"| Bernard Hinault
| rowspan="12"|
| Bernard Hinault
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| Greg LeMond
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="5"| Robert Millar
| style="background:white;" rowspan="11"| Andrew Hampsten
| Dominique Arnaud
|-
! scope="row" | 14
| Niki Rüttimann
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="10"| Greg LeMond
| Christophe Lavainne
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| Frank Hoste
| Paul Haghedooren
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| Jean-François Bernard
| Julián Gorospe
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| Eduardo Chozas
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="7"| Greg LeMond
| Eduardo Chozas
|-
! scope="row" | 18
| Bernard Hinault
| style="background:#FFA8A4;"| Greg LeMond
| Bernard Hinault
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| Julián Gorospe
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="5"| Bernard Hinault
| Julián Gorospe
|-
! scope="row" | 20
| Bernard Hinault
| not awarded
|-
! scope="row" | 21
| Erich Maechler
| Dirk De Wolf
|-
! scope="row" | 22
| Guido Bontempi
| Éric Caritoux
|-
! scope="row" | 23
| Guido Bontempi
| not awarded
|-
! scope="row" colspan="2" | Final
! style="background:#FFDB00;"| Greg LeMond
! style="background:#46E800;"| Eric Vanderaerden
! style="background:#FF3E33;"|
! style="background:white;"| Andrew Hampsten
! style="background:#B2FFFF;"| Greg LeMond
! style="background:#FF033E;"|
!
!
! Bernard Hinault
|}
Final standings
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="4" | Legend
|-
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France|alt=A yellow jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the general classification
| 20px|link=Points classification in the Tour de France|alt=A green jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the points classification
|-
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with red polka dots.
| Denotes the winner of the mountains classification
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the young rider classification
|-
| 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the combination classification
| 20px|link=Intermediate sprints classification in the Tour de France|alt=A red jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the intermediate sprints classification
|}
General classification
{| class="wikitable" style="width:44em;margin-bottom:0;"
|+ Final general classification (1–10)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Time
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 110h 35' 19"
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=Polka dot jersey|| || style="text-align:right;" | + 3' 10"
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 10' 54"
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|| || style="text-align:right;" | + 18' 44"
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 24' 36"
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 25' 59"
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 30' 52"
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 33' 00"
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 33' 22"
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 33' 27"
|}
{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:44em;margin-top:-1px;"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="4" | Final general classification (11–132)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Points
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=Points classification in the Tour de France || || style="text-align:right;" | 277
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 232
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=Polka dot jersey|| || style="text-align:right;" | 210
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 210
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 166
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 156
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 149
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 146
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 132
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 125
|}
Mountains classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final mountains classification (1–10)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Points
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=Polka dot jersey|| || style="text-align:right;" | 351
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 270
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 265
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 191
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 172
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 162
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 139
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|| || style="text-align:right;" | 133
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 123
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 105
|}
Young rider classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final young rider classification (1–10)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Time
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|| || align=right | 110h 54' 03"
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || align=right | +7' 15"
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 17' 01"
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || || align=right | +44' 32"
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 51' 56"
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 55' 56"
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 57' 03"
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 03' 34"
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 17' 51"
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 21' 59"
|}
Combination classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final combination classification (1–10)
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Time
|-
! scope="row" |1
| || style="text-align:right;" | 331h 35' 48"
|-
! scope="row" |2
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 51' 50"
|-
! scope="row" |3
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 00' 50"
|-
! scope="row" |4
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 23' 50"
|-
! scope="row" |5
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 26' 36"
|-
! scope="row" |6
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 28' 52"
|-
! scope="row" |7
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 31' 08"
|-
! scope="row" |8
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 43' 36"
|-
! scope="row" |9
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 43' 36"
|-
! scope="row" |10
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 55' 45"
|}
Team points classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Points
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| || style="text-align:right;" | 1523
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || style="text-align:right;" | 1674
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || style="text-align:right;" | 1869
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || style="text-align:right;" | 2110
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || style="text-align:right;" | 2124
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || style="text-align:right;" | 2149
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || style="text-align:right;" | 2243
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || style="text-align:right;" | 2263
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || style="text-align:right;" | 2342
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || style="text-align:right;" | 2483
|}
Super Prestige Pernod ranking
Riders in the Tour competed individually for points that contributed towards the Super Prestige Pernod ranking, an international season-long road cycling competition, with the winner seen as the best all-round rider. The 250 points accrued by Greg LeMond moved him from fourth to the top of the ranking, replacing Sean Kelly, who did not ride the Tour.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Super Prestige Pernod ranking on 27 July 1986 (1–10)
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
See also
- 1986 Giro d'Italia
- 1986 Vuelta a España
- 1986 in sports