The Lantern Rouge and Cheng Ji

In the Tour de France, the Lantern Rouge is the last rider in the GC, that's general classification or in local parlance, overall standings. "Lantern Rouge" means red lantern in French and it comes from the red lantern hanging on the caboose of railway trains for conductors to check if the couplings are still intact.

For most sports, it is a most unpleasant position to be in, but in the Tour, it is an award that some riders fight for– popularity and cash. It's an opportunity to be invited to a money-rich, Post-Tour Crit(read this on Sunday).

Gerhard Schönbacher and PhilippeTesnière were one minute apart in last place during the 1979 Tour. Tesnière, the lantern rouge of the previous Tour was also the leader of the points classification. He got greedy and wanted to win both. He was worried the Schönbacher would get the last place and rob him of the financial windfall of the post-tour crits. So, during the last stage, a time trial, he raced to a crawl, hoping that he would be at the tail end. Unfortunately for him, he finished 20% slower than Bernard Hinault's time, stage winner, and as per Tour rule, was eliminated from the race, on the last day!

Frenchman Jimmy Casper won the lantern rouge back in 2001 and 2004. In 2006, Belgian WimVansevenant won it by finishing one minute slower then Casper. The following year, Jimmy Casper miscalculated a finish, missed the time cut and was DQ'd. This led to Vansevenant's three-year run of lanterne rouge titles.

Cheng Ji

China is not very popular in this country today, but in the Tour, Cheng Ji is very popular. He is the first Chinese to ride the Tour, and most of all, he sits in last place, almost 5 hours behind Vincenzo Nibali. If he finished the Tour this Sunday in Paris, he'll be the first Chinese to do so and the Lantern Rouge! Cheng is an important cog in Team Giant-Shimano and is a tireless worker in the lead out train of Marcel Kittel netting the team three stage wins.

I used to think that Daisuke Imanaka was the first Japanese and Asian rider to ride the Tour in 1996 but it was his countryman KissoKawamuro who got the honors back in 1926-27!!! Just simply a jaw-dropping achievement in context of the era he raced.

While both Kawamuro and Imanaka didn't finish the race, it was FumiyakiBeppu (Skil-Simano) and Yukiya Arashiro (BboxBoygues Telecom who) became the first Japanese riders to finish the Tour back in 2009.