Cyclist
How significant is joining the 100 wins club?
After her victory at Gent-Wevelgem, SD Worx-Protime’s Lorena Wiebes is the latest to join the ranks of riders with 100 pro wins. She won’t be the last this year either, with four male riders on the cusp of getting into the 100 club.
But what does 100 wins actually say about a rider’s career? Where does that place them among the all-time greats? And does it actually depend on what kind of rider they are?
We’ve had a look at those who have broken the barrier in the past and those who are approaching it to assess just how good you have to be to break 100 pro wins.
The 100 wins club (and beyond)
Four riders in the current men’s peloton are approaching the 100-win club including Alexander Kristoff and Arnaud Démare, who are both on 97.
Kristoff has been in the professional ranks for almost two decades, and his palmarès includes four Tour de France stage wins and Monuments wins at Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. While he’s not the strongman he once was, Kristoff is still managing to grab wins here and there, with seven victories in 2024 including two at both the Arctic Race of Norway and Cro Race last year. He’s won one so far this season at the Vuelta a Andalucía in February, but has had high placings in some big races, with fourth at Gent-Wevelgem, fourth at a stage in Paris-Nice and eighth at Scheldeprijs.
With sprinters, it’s not easy to stay at the top level for many years with younger, fresher stars coming to the fore every few seasons. Arnaud Démare has certainly found himself relegated a few steps from the top tier. Over the years the 33-year-old Frenchman has won eight stages at the Giro d’Italia and two at the Tour de France, and he took the victory at Milan-San Remo in 2016 too. Even though he hasn’t won this season, Démare has come second three times in sprints – two at Étoile de Bessèges and one on the opening day at Paris-Nice. He might not have much of a shot when up against the likes of Tim Merlier, Jasper Philipsen or Jonathan Milan, but he can still get the job done in smaller races – incidentally where he’ll likely be sent so his Arkéa-B&B Hotels team can pick up precious UCI points.
On a very different side of the coin, Tadej Pogačar has racked up 93 wins since signing for UAE Team Emirates in 2019. The world champion will no doubt hit 100 and beyond very soon, and he’ll do it at the highest level of pro racing. He’s already won most of the big races on the calendar, and has taken multiple stage wins at most stage races he’s entered. Given he’s still only 26 years old he will undoubtedly be sitting towards the top of all-time victories in cycling when he hangs up his cleats.
The fourth rider nearing the 100 marker is Primož Roglič on 91. He has five Grand Tours titles in the bag including four Vuelta a España wins and has also taken the top step in many stage races, with plenty of stage wins along the way, over 12 years in the professional peloton. He also has one Monument to his name in the 2020 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
There are currently only two active riders with 100 wins or more. Lorena Wiebes notched her milestone win at Gent-Wevelgem, her eighth win of the season so far. There’s then a monumental gap to the rider at the top: Marianne Vos. The oft-proclaimed GOAT currently has 255 pro wins on the road alone. After winning the world championships in her first pro season, she’s gone on to win pretty much everything there is to be won, including Olympic gold in London 2012 and two further road world titles. Her 250th victory came at Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2024. Since then, she has added the Amstel Gold Race, stages at La Vuelta Femenina, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and the points classification at the Tour de France Femmes. Not too shabby. And this doesn’t include all her victories in cyclocross, track, MTB and even gravel.
The style of rider
There are two categories of 100-win riders: sprinters and all-rounders. The likes of Wiebes and Démare are pure sprinters who have racked up their wins through fast bunch finishes on flat or flat-ish stages. Wiebes has been completely dominant in the women’s sprinting field. Until this year she was the only winner of the women’s Scheldeprijs, which began in 2021, was the winner of the last four editions of Ronde van Drenthe, and has swept multiple editions of the RideLondon Classique.
When it comes to all time victories, a few sprinters sit near the top including Mark Cavendish (165), Mario Cippolini (163) and Andre Greipel (158). Perhaps no surprise given the sheer volume of sprint stages throughout each season, but as mentioned longevity is a limiting factor, with Marcel Kittel only managing 89 and Thor Hushovd finishing on 67, despite racking up ten Tour de France stage wins, three Vuelta stage wins and a World Championship.
The versatility of all-rounders means that they have a more races throughout the season they’re capable of winning. While Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel are tied on eight Monument wins, Pogačar is about to pass 100 total wins while Van der Poel is only on 54. And for a GC contender to make the list they need to be taking several stage wins on their way to overall victory. Chris Froome has won each Grand Tour, including four Tour de France titles, as well as plenty of small stage races, but he only has 46 total wins.
Of the all-time victory list, Eddy Merckx has the most with 279, quite a way ahead of the second most successful man, which is Cavendish on 165. Merckx’s wins include, but are by no means limited to five Tour de France overall and 34 stages, five Giro d’Italia overall and 24 stages, one Vuelta and six stages, three world titles, seven Milan-San Remo, two Tour of Flanders, three Paris-Roubaix, five Liège-Bastogne-Liège and two Il Lombardia. There’s a reason he’s long been seen as the greatest rider the sport has seen.
On the women’s side, Vos has the most wins on 255, with French rider Jeannie Longo in second on 178. The stats for women’s cycling are certainly skewed by the number of races on offer over the years, with modern riders much more likely to break into the echelon of all-time wins thanks to the growth in the women’s side of the sport. Wiebes, for example, is already seventh on the all-time list with her 100 victories. However Vos has been a force in all kinds of racing for her whole career.
Other all-rounders high on the all-time list include Sean Kelly and Rik Van Looy, both sitting on 159 career wins with a vast amount of victories in both Classics and stage races, with Kelly winning Paris-Nice seven times in a row and Van Looy taking 40 total stage wins at just the Giro and Vuelta alongside their Monument successes.
Is it significant?
100 is a nice number. It feels complete. It seems like a strong legacy to leave behind. Kristoff has specifically stated that he’s looking to notch 100 wins before he retires.
With 100 wins, can we conclude that Démare has been underrated? He’s not been seen on the same level as his top level contemporaries, however the closest sprinter to 100 after him and Kristoff is Elia Viviani (89), then there’s a gap to Dylan Groenewegen (74), Sam Bennett (71) and Caleb Ewan (65). Démare has eight stage wins at the Giro d’Italia and during the 2020 edition, where he hoovered up half of those victories, beat the likes of Peter Sagan, Michael Matthews, Ewan and Viviani for glory.
For some it can also immediately showcase their place among the all-time greats. Just look at Vos – even though her career is still ongoing, she’s far and away the most successful woman in road cycling history, add that to her success in other disciplines and it’s hard to argue she’s not the best ever.
With Roglič, it’s mightily impressive given his absence in one day-races. Despite a victory at Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2020, he’s only ever ridden nine Monuments throughout his career. The same can be said for Classics, while Pogačar is like a kid in a sweet shop here, Roglič has not participated in Strade Bianche since 2018, the Amstel Gold Race since 2021 and La Flèche Wallonne since his second place that same year. Instead he chooses to prioritise stage races, sitting atop the general classification for Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta Catalunya in 2023 and riding both Paris-Nice and Itzulia Basque Country prior to winning the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2024. He may not have managed to win the Tour de France, but 100 wins (and more, you’d think) surely cements his place in cycling history.
When living through eras of dominance, whether it be Merckxian or Pogačarian, it’s much harder for riders to reach 100 wins, especially if they keep racing against the very best. There are only so many races to be won.
100 wins is certainly a good benchmark for a great career Plenty of riders haven’t reached a century: Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Marcel Kittel, Fabian Cancellara, Miguel Induráin, Philippe Gilbert and Johan Museeuw to name just a few. Look above 100 though and it’s exclusively riders we see as having had great careers, so for Kristoff and Démare, it’s a job well done, and for Wiebes, Roglič and Pogačar, it’s how high can you go?
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