Lanterne rouge

Sport	Road bicycle racing
Competition	Tour de France
Awarded for	Last in classification
English name	Red lantern
Local name	Lanterne rouge (French)
History
First award	1903
Editions	110 (as of 2023)
First winner	Arsène Millocheau (FRA)
Most wins	Wim Vansevenant (BEL) (3 times)
Most recent	Mark Cavendish (GBR)

Thelanterne rouge (French pronunciation:[lɑ̃tɛʁnʁuʒ]) is the competitor in last place in theTour de France. The phrase comes from the French for "Red Lantern" and refers to the red lantern hung on the rear vehicle of a passengerrailway 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.^[1]

In theTour 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.^[2] 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-Tourcriteriums.^[3]

In the1979 Tour de France,Gerhard Schönbacher andPhilippe Tesnière were on the last two spots in the general classification, less than one minute apart.^[4] Tesnière had already finished last in the1978 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,^[5] while Tesniere rode it in 1 hour, 23 minutes and 32 seconds; both were slower than all other cyclists.^[6] 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.^[6]

The Tour organisation did not like the attention that the lanterne rouge received, and for the1980 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.^[7] 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 leaderPatrick Lefevere told Schönbacher that he would not get the money, and after a heated discussion, Schönbacher was fired.^[8]

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 ofSam Bennett, who finished last after breaking a finger in the opening stage of the2016 Tour, but eventually won thegreen jersey in2020.^[9][10]

In 2018Lawson 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 fracturedscapula. 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 facegoing 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 byHurricane Harvey. AGoFundMe page was also setup for donations to go directly to thevelodrome. 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.^[11][12] In this case thelanterne rouge has been described as being worn as "a badge of courage" and winning it as "a triumph of sporting endeavour".^[11]

Wins	Name	Years
3	Wim Vansevenant (BEL)	2006,2007,2008
2	Daniel Masson (FRA)	1922,1923
	Gerhard Schönbacher (AUT)	1979,1980
	Mathieu Hermans (NED)	1987,1989
	Jimmy Casper (FRA)	2001,2004

Spain'sIgor Flores received thelanterne rouge in2002, and his brotherIker Flores received it in2005.

Wins	Country	First	Most Recent (if more than 1)
53	France	1903	2015
11	Italy	1934	2011
	Belgium	1963	2021
8	Netherlands	1938	2019
5	Spain	1960	2005
4	Switzerland	1947	1984
	United Kingdom	1955	2024
3	Germany	1932	2020
2	Luxembourg	1937	1954
	Austria	1979	1980
	Australia	1931	2022
1	Belarus	2009
	Canada	2013
	China	2014
	Denmark	2023
	Ireland	2016
	United States	2018

The first 24 red lanterns went to France between1903 and1930, with the French total reaching 53 in2015. The rest of the world received its first red lantern in1931, and eventually equaled France's total of 53 in2019, and overtook it with 54 in2020.

• Maglia nera
• Wooden spoon
• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race - last-placed competitor is known as the red lantern

• Tour de France classifications and awards
• French words and phrases
• Ironic and humorous awards

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• CS1 Dutch-language sources (nl)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
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