The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is a prize presented by the organizers and awarded yearly in the Tour de France. It is awarded to honor TdF founder Henri Desgrange, who died in 1940. The prize is won by the rider who crosses the highest summit in the Tour.

Following the death of Desgrange in August 1940, an award was given in his honor for the first time in the 1947 Tour, the first Tour since 1939, having been cancelled during World War II. The first prize was awarded on Stage 11 in 1947, when to Tour passed Desgrange's final residence, the "Villa Mia" in Beauvallon, Grimaud, on the French Riviera.

The Souvenir Henri Desgrange would evolve and in the 1965 Tour, the Galibier (Desgrange’s favorite climb) became ‘THE’ climb of the SHD. It has always been used when it was on the race route for that year.

The Souvenir Henri Desgrange List in the Tour de France

1978: Stage 11 the SHD was awarded to Christian Seznec (Fra) at the legendary village of Sainte-Marie de Campan in the valley between the Col du Tourmalet and Col d'Aspin. The site became famous during the 1913 Tour. Eugène Christophe came walking down the Tourmalet carrying his bicycle with a broken front-fork before repairing it at a forge in Campan. The controversy came after a young boy helped pump the forge. Per the rules no assistance could be given. Christophe received a time penalty. After this the forge became a national monument.

1981: Strange happening, the award was first planned for the final kilometers of stage 1a beside the Carrefour Supermarket on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The prize line was considered by the media to be disrespectful to the race and the legacy of Desgrange. The night before the “prize banner” was stolen. The prize was moved to the final kilometers of stage 7 in the Landes Forest in Bordeaux. Theo de Rooij on the front of the breakaway rolled over the line to win the SHD.

**** 1996: the Col du Galibier climb had to be cancelled due to severe weather (snow). The SHD was replaced by the Col d'Aubisque (1,709 m).