Lanterne Rouge (Red Lantern): The Honor of Finishing Last in the Tour De France

The French sporting public likes compatriot champions. They also cheer for any countrymen in the Tour de France - even if he has no chance of winning but displays perseverance.

A French rider hasn't claimed the Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1985, so sometimes fans resort to etching favorite former riders' names in chalk on race roads.

On other occasions, fans wave huge handmade signs on mountaintops for retired French riders as if their ghosts are still in the race.

With nearly equal fervor, enthusiasts who camp for days in the Alps and Pyrenees to watch Tour de France riders pass in a flash, appreciate the underdog.

Nothing demonstrates this more than the tradition of the lanterne rouge or red lantern. It's the honor given to the rider who finishes in last place in the overall Tour de France standings.

Named after the red lantern on the caboose of a train, the lanterne rouge honor began in the first Tour de France in 1903.

It's never been an official designation, but the last-place cyclist receives his share of admiration.

In recent years, Tour organizers have discouraged any publicity about the red lantern because riders fervently began to abuse its original intention.

Since the second-to-last rider in the final standings' wouldn't earn anything for his status, back-of-the-back riders took crafty measures to finish last. They'd hide behind buildings, coast along routes or feign injury in order to be last.

The last rider doesn't receive prize money for his finish, either. But in yesteryear, it was common for lanterne rouge honorees to receive sizable appearance fees to compete in post-Tour appearance criteriums, the fast-paced races on short, enclosed courses throughout Europe.

"It adds nothing," Jean Marie Leblanc, the now-retired Tour de France race director said of the red lantern designation. "Today it is part of the lore of the Tour de France, but it no longer exists officially or unofficially."

Yet the red lantern is still a revered Tour accomplishment.