Luxembourg's cycling pedigree, from Charly Gaul to today

Few small countries have a sporting record to match Luxembourg's in cycling. The Grand Duchy has produced winners of the Tour de France in three different eras — a remarkable return for a nation of around 670,000 people.

Three generations of champions

Charly Gaul, the ‘Angel of the Mountains’, won the Tour in 1958 with climbing feats that are still recounted today. Half a century later Andy Schleck stood on the top step in 2010, with his brother Fränk alongside him among the sport's best stage racers. Between and around them, riders like Bob Jungels have kept Luxembourg on the start lists of cycling's biggest races.

A culture, not just a result

The success rests on a deep amateur culture: club racing, junior development and a calendar built around the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg, a professional stage race that brings the world's teams to the country each summer. On the women's side, Christine Majerus has been a fixture of the international peloton for more than a decade.

The national team still lines up at the World Championships and the Olympics, carrying a tradition that is out of all proportion to the country's size — and that remains one of the clearest sources of Luxembourgish sporting pride.