For sure. Those were the early days for me cycling. I got into cycling while watching the 89 Tour. I had just gotten out of the military six months before and started cycling while the Tour was ongoing. Still going 32 years later
Stationed at Hahn Air Base (USAF) from 1986-1990, and got to drive to Versailles to see his ITT effort in 1989, and went again to see the far less dramatic but still impressive 1990 victory. Pedro Delgado went flying by in that ITT in '89 and in far fewer seconds than we could even imagine, Greg comes hammering by on that l-o-u-d Mavic Comete disk wheel-equipped Bottechia. What a thrilling Grand Boucle finish & fantastic memory!
I saw this back when it actually happened, so I know how it ends, yet every time I watch the finish, I still get a chill. The greatest sprint finish I have ever seen. Sheer will and determination on Lemond's part. No one was going to beat him.
Lloyd Hlavac……..I was also there for the entire 1989 WC road races. [I had re-located from the UK to Chambery to stay with my French girlfriend]. I had watched the Tour de France a few months earlier as it came through Aix-les-Bains and Chambery [which was one of my favourite training rides!] then waited expectantly for the Worlds as they were being held in my adopted 'home' town. In fact, I rode the course many times and have to say it was pretty brutal - especially that last climb [where Lemond bridges up to Fignon]. But to make matters worse the weather was atrocious that Sunday. Oddly enough, it was baking hot for the juniors race the day before - with many riders abandoning due to the heat! But by Sunday the weather had completely changed and from early morning onwards there was a black ominous sky and soon a torrential downpour which persisted most of the day. There are a number of things that stand out - not least the brave efforts of the Russian neo-pro Dimitri Konyshev, who could easily have been the star of the race. He was so close to winning the race and even after being in the breakaway most of the day, still had the strength to take second. By all accounts, Konyshev was a bit of a party animal and really loved the girls, but he won the hearts of the crowd for his amazing ride that day. But the biggest star was Greg Lemond - who had such determination and like you say, wanted the win more than anyone else. [remember he just come back from the tragic shooting accident that had nearly ended his career and no team would touch him]. He washed up on the relatively minor ADR squad - and was on a mission to prove to everyone that he was still a force. He had won the TDF [with little or no team support] and winning the Worlds would be the icing on the cake. Something that's not very well known is that because of the heavy rains, the final twisty, technical descent became absolutely treacherous. Many riders had come off on the highly dangerous hairpin bends and one was Greg Lemond himself. Although he quickly remounted he soon discovered that his bike was damaged - but has there weren't the levels of service support in those days compared to now, Lemond didn't want to stop as he knew he wouldn't be able to make up the gap. As a result Lemond rode the last two laps with a badly buckled front wheel! [I later heard from several spectators around the course that his wheel was so badly buckled that it was catching on his front brakes and Lemond had to completely release them!] Imagine descending at possibly 70kph+ on a really technical fast decent with no front brakes and with a virtual river of rain water as the only contact you had with the road! Ever since that day, and despite being a 'Brit' - I have always admired Greg Lemond and feel his 'comeback' in 1989 didn't really receive the recognition it deserved. [although to be fair, he became the first 'million dollar' rider in history when he signed for Z-Peugeot a few months later!] He went on to win two more TDF's before eventually succumbing to the scourge of EPO-fueled riders whose numbers had grown exponentially in the early 1990's. He has one of the leading anti-drug advocates and his confrontations and disgusting treatment at the hands of the sociopathic Lance Armstrong - bear testimony to his dignity and character. I feel privileged to have seen him in person that day whilst he was still at his peak and can honestly say - he was a truly astonishing and gifted rider. Chapeau Greg!
It was magic. Watch Hinault win Paris Roubaix, won from the front, also makes me smile. There was a zero percent chance he was going to lose that race once they hit the velodrome.
American cyclist Greg Lemond wins the tour de France and the world championship in France during the same year of 1989. A remarkable comeback after a 1987 hunting accident derailed his professional cycling career. Greg lemond won the 1986 tour de France and wrote a book, the complete book of bicycling.
Brian Drebber - the narrator here - tried SO hard to make cycling mainstream in the US hoping to ride it to a career like Phil Liggett's. He never really made it. He eventually covered fitness competitions (which were later spoofed by Key and Peele) and tractor pull and monster truck competitions on ESPN2 hoping that would lead to something. I think his style was too 'old school' to really make him popular, even in the 90s. But he worked his ass off trying to ride cycling to the top. Ironically, John Tesh - who had a fraction of the cycling journalism experience - had a bigger career at it. I seem to recall that Drebber paid for the American TV rights to the race footage with his own money and contacted Gordis to produce this. It was an expensive gamble that also didn't take him very far. But you have to give him credit for trying, right?
John Tesh is awful at everything, cheesy new age music, Entertainment Tonight, and most of all - cycling commentary. Drebber has that "Wide World of Sports" delivery that I remember as a very young kid, watching ski jumping and luge and all those other sports I knew nothing about.
@@JamieSmith-fz2mz Brian , Jack Simes , who I drink with 😀🍺 Dave Chauner , Artie Greenburg and Fred Patton !!! You bet !!! Racing my bike at the Lehigh County Velodrome!!!😁😁😁😁🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🏁🏁🏁🍺🍺🎤🎤
Like the photo with the Della Santa jersey. Sadly Roland is no longer with us. I met Mr. Lemond in like 2010 when he came into the bike shop I worked at. Had a long interesting chat no one else was there.
Honestly I dont know why Lemond was allowed to use the aerobar while others were not using one. It gave him too much of an aero advantage. IMO, Fignon should been the declared the winner. Lemond was always critized by Fignon as being a drafter in the peloton.
Stupid comment. That wasn't a Vitus. It was a TVT carbon frame (painted as a Concorde frame) just like LeMond's. Also, Vitus frames were light for their time. Kelly was beaten fair and square. Go ride your Trek.
why a so strong Claveyrolat have to finish his energy in very long breakaway? he didn't have enough energy to help Fignon in the final epic kilometers.. unlucky there was no radio on the peloton
Fignon is such a crybaby. He wants everybody to lead and do the work in chases so HE himself can attack and win. Then when he doesn’t win.. he flies outta there like a sore loser. Everyone has equal chance and everyone has work to do but when he loses omg... he’s such a little boy about it.
I sat next to Lemond on a flight from LA to Minn. I think it was 1996. We were both flying standby. I was the only person on the plan who knew who he was. I said something about the eight second win. He said "thanks". That was it.
Its a niche sport here and always will be. I was a cat. 1 throughout the mid 90's to 2001. In 1996 when I told people I was a cyclist in the US, they thought I meant motorcycle racer. That changed in 1999 with Armstrong. I do remember Lemond in a Taco Bell commercial in 1989 or 1990, and some people knew about him - but in general it wasn't until Armstrong that people knew what I was talking about. Armstrong went mainstream. Lemond was the real deal though, I think he had more natural talent, the accident cost him a few years.
Greg Lemond inspired me during the 1980s when he won the 1986 tour de France. I purchased and read his complete book of bicycling. I became a road bike enthusiast during 1981 when I owned my first serious road bike, a Miyata steel frame road bike.
Yeah, I'd have to say Greg inspired me a bit too. (There must br thousands of us.) I didn't get his training book, instead I got Eddy Borysewik's (The Polish coach who coached Lemond in his earlier years.) Used to ride behind a guy who did the club rides where i lived before I raced myself. Had to get a better bike, eventually a Colnago). And that guy rode a blue Miayata! I don't think it was a steel frame, though. I did well, getting 3rd in the cat. 4 sectional championships back in I think either '87 or'88. (should have won it, but that's another story.) Good times, good memories. I must have seen this race, going on 10 times now, but it never gets old.
I bought my first real road bike in the late 80's. It was a Nishiki 105 equipped red number with toe straps. Bought used from them on till i got a kuota kobalt DI2 in 2018. Still riding 30 years later. Back in those days i saw a lot of serotta's, rock lobster's, alan's, ciocc's, botteccia's, merckx, univega's and the odd japanese like fuji and nishiki. Our weekly tues, thurs an sat group had nearly 200 so i saw a lot of bikes.
@@danielarimborgo5410Great story. I also read the “Eddy B” book aged 17 and trained in all my spare time reaching the state institute of sports. The 1986 Lemond victory (along with the excellent John Tesh presentation and music) was the real catalyst for me, and 33 years later I’m living in the alps and training twice a week still.
Greg Lemond was the first modern professional cyclist, ushering in the modern era of equipment, training, position, tactics, and rider compensation. His career inspired me and an entire generation of American cyclists into a lifelong love affair with the bicycle. Kudos to Phil Liggett for bringing us the action for all these years!
Saw a photo of Greg in a bike magazine, back in the day. He was using clipless pedals, of course, but also had straps binding his feet to the shoe. I copied him. During a long ride - once around Yosemite, 300 miles in three days, someone chided me for the extra straps. I left that guy so far behind I never saw him again, even at the parking lot! I'm an old man now. Got the Speedplay pedals, Sidi Genius...and the extra straps, still.
@@jthepickle7 I've always been a Lemond fan and loved that look with the strap over the shoes. Back in the day, as a teenager, I was never able to afford time pedals and time shoes but now u can get a pair of pedals for about $20 and shoes for about $50. So I got me a few pedals and a pair of shoes, the one thing I noticed is that the shoes tend to slide inward while riding, I wonder if that had anything to do with it.
@@kk.-_ Actually, Eddy Merckx is the best since he wasn't a specialist like Lance was and therefore won almost all the professional races available at the time.
@@tonyfranklin8306 Yeah but that was how the 80s TT and Triathlons always were. It wasn't until Greg Lemond smashed it with these aero bars that the trend exploded and from the 1990s onwards was when people started using the common aerobar setups we see today.
@@KandiKlover Oh I know, but aero position was already known about from decades before, I simply don't understand his thinking that his open chest position was more aerodynamic, it makes no sense whatsoever. Even here on the British amateur cycling time trial scene back to at least the 1950s they knew that getting low/tucked was far more beneficial even if that was on a set of standard handlebars. ALL the time triallers BITD knew you had to get low down to penetrate the 'wind' better, Fignons open position is utterly illogical and bucks what people already knew, even then.
@@dansprague2 100%. You'll still see this happen today. If a non-sprinter winds up in a break with sprinters they really have no other choice but to go early and hope for the best. It's the just the way it is.
Jim Butler totally agree-one of the last men standing when it comes to performance enhancing drugs. A real hero to look up to-including the most remarkable comeback in cycling. He showed what you can do when your will is strong!💨🚴💦
@@dansprague2 Best cyclist ever is Merckx. Period. 5 Tours, 5 Giro's, 1 Vuelta, 3 WC titles, victories in Spring Classics, World Hour record. Etc etc. As much as i love LeMond, even if he had won five Tours, which is not unlikely had he not been shot, than he'd still be like a US Indurain. Great Tour rider and time trial specialist. Greg is top 5 material, but certainly not the GOAT
The Rollmeister rolling along...seems like if he can make a few more laps get home early, have a tasty meal bit of red wine, a massage, then it's all good for the Rollmeister 1989 style. Jeez lol Roll gets the call last minute to join team...thinks should I do this? I might be seen as "being not the least bit serious" by certain tv commentators. Naah fck it, yeah why not, out of shape, whatever, haven't trained for a month, I'll train the day before yeah that'll do and I think my tyres have enough air in them. Let's do this ! 20:33
@- F 'Fignon doped to the gills'. Whilst he admitted to doping, it was never anything like what followed (i.e. EPO). The stuff he took was only in the realm of pain killing drugs, it didn't transform riders like EPO did for guys like Chiappucci. The consensus from those in the know was that Lemond was clean. You can scoff all you may want, but thats a fact.
- F copy/paste reply... I know my history and watched it live at the time. Even his competitors at the time admitted he was massively naturally talented, he had a huge VO2 max which has zero to do with PEDS and he never failed a single test. This means you know very little and are making unfounded assertions based on a personal opinion. I am basing mine on observable facts.
@- F Learn my history? Always great advice, and as you say Rooks used several PEDs in his career. I don't see however how Lemond 'decimated' Rooks here, who was right behind him in the sprint in 4th place. But back to 'history', compare the reputation with which Lemond entered the peloton with, the regard he was held in (Guimard actively pursued him), whilst conversely any suggestion he was ever doping. Or find a reference to where Rooks was ever spoken about in such terms, he had two great years whilst outside of 88-89 he was a solid rider who could climb a bit but was no GT contender. Your argument is underpinned by a logical error, where if a doped rider is successful, then if he is beaten then his conqueror is also doping (either/or thinking). This is sometimes true, but not always.
At the world championship in 1983 myself and Gibby Hatton went on a ride in Zurich. We were racing on the track and rode short. Another guy was riding with us and he went long !!! The next day he was World Champion!!!! Greg Le Mond !!🍺🍺🍺🍺🚲🚲🚲😀😀
@G P …….Agree completely! [please read my full comment below in response to Lloyd Hlavac - but this is the most relevant [about the 1989 WC road race] to your point - ''.....There are a number of things that stand out - not least the brave efforts of the Russian neo-pro Dimitri Konyshev, who could easily have been the star of the race. He was so close to winning the race and even after being in the breakaway most of the day, still had the strength to take second. By all accounts, Konyshev was a bit of a party animal and really loved the girls, but he won the hearts of the crowd for his amazing ride that day....''
TheSoulTwins - The Soviet missed out on the last East German women swimmer's booster shot. He got passed by other dopers and the last natural Greg Lemond. Sport went completely dirty by the late 80s.
Greg lemons en 89 gana tour y gana campeonato del mundo llega tour 90 el unico ciclista vestido con sueter del campeon del mundo y vuelve a ganar tour 90 refireindose a ciclista de nuestra era grande lemons....
This was back when cyclists still rode on steel framed bikes. And looked like athletes! Not like these anarexic pansies today that use a 38x28 to climb a 7 percent grade.
Lemond rode a carbon fiber bike in this race. Do you think riders should climb with 10 extra pounds of muscle, so they can look like athletes, whatever that means? Riders today turn 10-20 more rpm's than in the era of this race. And like most modern endurance athletes, they are on high protein and fat, low carb regimes. Carbo loading is a thing of the past, but that doesn't cause anorexia. ;-)
always noticed this for classic races. as they don't have STI back then, before opening up the sprint they are already in their sprint gear (smallest cog or 2nd smallest cog). crazy strong men turning those big gears after 6 to 7 hours of racing.
The difference between cycling now and cycling then ... when Lemond was pulling Fignon up to the leaders, in the modern era he would have just quit and refused to let Fignon and Claveyrolat have the numbers advantage. And yet he won - go figure. Cycling now is pretty hard to watch without a lot of caffeine to keep you awake.
There was plenty of shite BITD, loads of just rolling through and not doing very much, letting a break get away and bringing them back or not. yoo now get massively greater coverage of all the days racing from the gun to the flag. Plus ca change.
I'm going to say it was 1996, due to fact that Fabio Casartelli died in the Tour in 1995 due to head injuries. Interestingly, the rule still wasn't 100% wear a helmet, as for about a decade you could get rid of your helmet if the race (or stage) was a mountain finish. You can see in many or all of Armstrong's wins that as soon as they hit the bottom of a finishing climb, they toss their helmets off. I'd say that rule was changed around 2005 to make helmets mandatory for the entire race. I do not think there were any incidents that caused that change, the rumors on the forums back then were that helmet sponsors didn't like the images of pros taking them off as if they were "not important."
Fignon lost by 8 seconds without any tt helmet, no tt bars and was barely in any aero position. Take that and think what time Fignon would of had if he added TT bars and a TT hellmet, he would of had minutes over Lemond.
Don’t forget he was carrying Greg on the mountain stages. Fignon was the stronger rider and SHOULD of won the tdf. I believe he was robbed by technology. Time moves fast.
@@ralphc1405 Well Lemond was no slouch but was actually behind Fignon until the time trial at the end. It’s this reason why Lemond had to put on the TT bars and the aero helmet. Fignon protested about the TT bars but the UCI did not ban them. Fignon could of easily won this Tour but he was also arrogant and that was his biggest mistake, he left his ego get the best of him. Fignon should of been on TT bars and helmet. Myself I am switching to a recumbent soon for longer rides with more speed and comfort. Going with a fast front wheel drive model the CruzBike V20 seems pretty fast and with good comfort.
All of those things are his fault though. He lost fairly due to poor personal choice, but yes, it would've been interesting to see the result if he had used the same equipment and strategies as LeMond.
@@danfuerthgillis4483 He would've won if he had just assumed a more aero position really. Why was he standing straight up like an amateur anyway? Really poor form when he was a better cyclist than that.
Looking back at Lemonds time trial and his 8 seconds win, I tend to start agreeing with Durianrider and think they were all on the juice... Sad but true. Great champion nevertheless.
Like a BOSS, Lemond winning from the front, leading out the sprint. The way he closed down Rooks, Lemond definitely had the most power.
who knows what he would have done without that hunt injuries
Spoiler Alert ! 🙈😤
Great video! Especially fun to watch for those of us of a certain age.
For sure. Those were the early days for me cycling. I got into cycling while watching the 89 Tour. I had just gotten out of the military six months before and started cycling while the Tour was ongoing. Still going 32 years later
We need more riders like Greg LeMond. A real champion! So much greater than Lance (Bully) Armstrong!
Stationed at Hahn Air Base (USAF) from 1986-1990, and got to drive to Versailles to see his ITT effort in 1989, and went again to see the far less dramatic but still impressive 1990 victory. Pedro Delgado went flying by in that ITT in '89 and in far fewer seconds than we could even imagine, Greg comes hammering by on that l-o-u-d Mavic Comete disk wheel-equipped Bottechia. What a thrilling Grand Boucle finish & fantastic memory!
I saw this back when it actually happened, so I know how it ends, yet every time I watch the finish, I still get a chill. The greatest sprint finish I have ever seen. Sheer will and determination on Lemond's part. No one was going to beat him.
Did you see the 2019 Amstel Gold Race?
@@DolleHengst Yes I did. VDP's win was fantastic, but I still think Lemond's was better. Just my opinion.
@@lloydhlavac6807 Yep and it was a friggin' WC ! Capped off an epic year in cycling, one of the best...
Lloyd Hlavac……..I was also there for the entire 1989 WC road races. [I had re-located from the UK to Chambery to stay with my French girlfriend]. I had watched the Tour de France a few months earlier as it came through Aix-les-Bains and Chambery [which was one of my favourite training rides!] then waited expectantly for the Worlds as they were being held in my adopted 'home' town.
In fact, I rode the course many times and have to say it was pretty brutal - especially that last climb [where Lemond bridges up to Fignon]. But to make matters worse the weather was atrocious that Sunday. Oddly enough, it was baking hot for the juniors race the day before - with many riders abandoning due to the heat! But by Sunday the weather had completely changed and from early morning onwards there was a black ominous sky and soon a torrential downpour which persisted most of the day.
There are a number of things that stand out - not least the brave efforts of the Russian neo-pro Dimitri Konyshev, who could easily have been the star of the race. He was so close to winning the race and even after being in the breakaway most of the day, still had the strength to take second. By all accounts, Konyshev was a bit of a party animal and really loved the girls, but he won the hearts of the crowd for his amazing ride that day.
But the biggest star was Greg Lemond - who had such determination and like you say, wanted the win more than anyone else. [remember he just come back from the tragic shooting accident that had nearly ended his career and no team would touch him]. He washed up on the relatively minor ADR squad - and was on a mission to prove to everyone that he was still a force. He had won the TDF [with little or no team support] and winning the Worlds would be the icing on the cake.
Something that's not very well known is that because of the heavy rains, the final twisty, technical descent became absolutely treacherous. Many riders had come off on the highly dangerous hairpin bends and one was Greg Lemond himself. Although he quickly remounted he soon discovered that his bike was damaged - but has there weren't the levels of service support in those days compared to now, Lemond didn't want to stop as he knew he wouldn't be able to make up the gap.
As a result Lemond rode the last two laps with a badly buckled front wheel! [I later heard from several spectators around the course that his wheel was so badly buckled that it was catching on his front brakes and Lemond had to completely release them!] Imagine descending at possibly 70kph+ on a really technical fast decent with no front brakes and with a virtual river of rain water as the only contact you had with the road!
Ever since that day, and despite being a 'Brit' - I have always admired Greg Lemond and feel his 'comeback' in 1989 didn't really receive the recognition it deserved. [although to be fair, he became the first 'million dollar' rider in history when he signed for Z-Peugeot a few months later!] He went on to win two more TDF's before eventually succumbing to the scourge of EPO-fueled riders whose numbers had grown exponentially in the early 1990's.
He has one of the leading anti-drug advocates and his confrontations and disgusting treatment at the hands of the sociopathic Lance Armstrong - bear testimony to his dignity and character. I feel privileged to have seen him in person that day whilst he was still at his peak and can honestly say - he was a truly astonishing and gifted rider. Chapeau Greg!
It was magic. Watch Hinault win Paris Roubaix, won from the front, also makes me smile. There was a zero percent chance he was going to lose that race once they hit the velodrome.
American cyclist Greg Lemond wins the tour de France and the world championship in France during the same year of 1989. A remarkable comeback after a 1987 hunting accident derailed his professional cycling career. Greg lemond won the 1986 tour de France and wrote a book, the complete book of bicycling.
Can’t remember Bob Roll ever having a good day .....😂😂😂😂
He was always happy a breakfast though!
Brian Drebber - the narrator here - tried SO hard to make cycling mainstream in the US hoping to ride it to a career like Phil Liggett's. He never really made it. He eventually covered fitness competitions (which were later spoofed by Key and Peele) and tractor pull and monster truck competitions on ESPN2 hoping that would lead to something. I think his style was too 'old school' to really make him popular, even in the 90s. But he worked his ass off trying to ride cycling to the top.
Ironically, John Tesh - who had a fraction of the cycling journalism experience - had a bigger career at it.
I seem to recall that Drebber paid for the American TV rights to the race footage with his own money and contacted Gordis to produce this. It was an expensive gamble that also didn't take him very far. But you have to give him credit for trying, right?
I'm not familiar with the man, but if what you say is true, then yea, I give him big "props."
John Tesh is awful at everything, cheesy new age music, Entertainment Tonight, and most of all - cycling commentary. Drebber has that "Wide World of Sports" delivery that I remember as a very young kid, watching ski jumping and luge and all those other sports I knew nothing about.
Brian Drebber , my good friend from way back at the Lehigh County Velodrome!!!! R.I.P. RIPSAW 😪😪😪😪😪🚲🚲🚲🏍🏍🏍🏍🍺🍺🍺
@@artmchugh5644 The days of Event Services were my favorite part of life.
@@JamieSmith-fz2mz Brian , Jack Simes , who I drink with 😀🍺 Dave Chauner , Artie Greenburg and Fred Patton !!! You bet !!! Racing my bike at the Lehigh County Velodrome!!!😁😁😁😁🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🏁🏁🏁🍺🍺🎤🎤
Lemond is still my hero , what a rider,thanks for the memories 💂♂️🇬🇧
I was lucky to be in Chambery, fabulous race...
Fantastic champion AND he rode clean amongst cheats.. chapeau Mr Lemond
What ever happened to the Greg Lemond movie?
Like the photo with the Della Santa jersey. Sadly Roland is no longer with us.
I met Mr. Lemond in like 2010 when he came into the bike shop I worked at. Had a long interesting chat no one else was there.
Campagnolo Delta Brakes! RIP Thierry Claveyrolat! RIP Laurent Fignon!
RIP Brian Drebber
RIP Laurent Fignon.
Diving in!!!
Almost forgot, Le Monster vs the Jamaican Jet at the Presidio Road Race.
Honestly I dont know why Lemond was allowed to use the aerobar while others were not using one. It gave him too much of an aero advantage. IMO, Fignon should been the declared the
winner. Lemond was always critized by Fignon as being a drafter in the peloton.
Kelly,said in his biography,years later, that he put the wrong gear sprocket on the back.And choose a big sprocket over a 11,sprocket.
They didn’t have 11’s back then. Kelly had a 13 when he should of had a 12. Lemond DID have a 12. That’s how he beat Kelly and won.
Should add,that Kelly thought the hilly natural of the course,meant he select a bigger sprocket,and the race would not come down to a sprint.
Love Lemond, but damn, poor Sean Kelly. If he'd had a carbon bike instead of that heavy ass Vitus, who knows what would have happened.
Kelly pensait qu'un pignon de 13 dents suffirait, vu la difficulté du parcours, il a eu tord...
Stupid comment. That wasn't a Vitus. It was a TVT carbon frame (painted as a Concorde frame) just like LeMond's. Also, Vitus frames were light for their time. Kelly was beaten fair and square. Go ride your Trek.
I still don’t and will probably never get it: did Fignon really think that he looked good with that haircut and the glasses ?
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😎
why a so strong Claveyrolat have to finish his energy in very long breakaway? he didn't have enough energy to help Fignon in the final epic kilometers.. unlucky there was no radio on the peloton
By breaking away it forced the other teams to use energy chasing. Fignon and his team could just sit in and conserve energy.
Fignon is such a crybaby. He wants everybody to lead and do the work in chases so HE himself can attack and win. Then when he doesn’t win.. he flies outta there like a sore loser. Everyone has equal chance and everyone has work to do but when he loses omg... he’s such a little boy about it.
Classic
Two Irish in the top ten ☘❤️🚴🏻🇮🇪
I sat next to Lemond on a flight from LA to Minn. I think it was 1996. We were both flying standby. I was the only person on the plan who knew who he was. I said something about the eight second win. He said "thanks". That was it.
Its a niche sport here and always will be. I was a cat. 1 throughout the mid 90's to 2001. In 1996 when I told people I was a cyclist in the US, they thought I meant motorcycle racer.
That changed in 1999 with Armstrong.
I do remember Lemond in a Taco Bell commercial in 1989 or 1990, and some people knew about him - but in general it wasn't until Armstrong that people knew what I was talking about. Armstrong went mainstream.
Lemond was the real deal though, I think he had more natural talent, the accident cost him a few years.
@@tranzco1173 i was probably the only kid in my whole school who recognized Greg Lemond on the taco bell commercial when it aired lol.
Greg Lemond inspired me during the 1980s when he won the 1986 tour de France. I purchased and read his complete book of bicycling. I became a road bike enthusiast during 1981 when I owned my first serious road bike, a Miyata steel frame road bike.
Yeah, I'd have to say Greg inspired me a bit too. (There must br thousands of us.) I didn't get his training book, instead I got Eddy Borysewik's (The Polish coach who coached Lemond in his earlier years.)
Used to ride behind a guy who did the club rides where i lived before I raced myself. Had to get a better bike, eventually a Colnago). And that guy rode a blue Miayata! I don't think it was a steel frame, though. I did well, getting 3rd in the cat. 4 sectional championships back in I think either '87 or'88. (should have won it, but that's another story.) Good times, good memories. I must have seen this race, going on 10 times now, but it never gets old.
Same here! Still have my Schwinn Super Sport purchased in 1986! also still have my 87 Paramount!
@@DeanJohnson67 87 Panasonic here :D
I bought my first real road bike in the late 80's. It was a Nishiki 105 equipped red number with toe straps. Bought used from them on till i got a kuota kobalt DI2 in 2018. Still riding 30 years later. Back in those days i saw a lot of serotta's, rock lobster's, alan's, ciocc's, botteccia's, merckx, univega's and the odd japanese like fuji and nishiki. Our weekly tues, thurs an sat group had nearly 200 so i saw a lot of bikes.
@@danielarimborgo5410Great story. I also read the “Eddy B” book aged 17 and trained in all my spare time reaching the state institute of sports. The 1986 Lemond victory (along with the excellent John Tesh presentation and music) was the real catalyst for me, and 33 years later I’m living in the alps and training twice a week still.
Greg Lemond was the first modern professional cyclist, ushering in the modern era of equipment, training, position, tactics, and rider compensation. His career inspired me and an entire generation of American cyclists into a lifelong love affair with the bicycle. Kudos to Phil Liggett for bringing us the action for all these years!
Saw a photo of Greg in a bike magazine, back in the day. He was using clipless pedals, of course, but also had straps binding his feet to the shoe. I copied him. During a long ride - once around Yosemite, 300 miles in three days, someone chided me for the extra straps. I left that guy so far behind I never saw him again, even at the parking lot! I'm an old man now. Got the Speedplay pedals, Sidi Genius...and the extra straps, still.
@@jthepickle7 I've always been a Lemond fan and loved that look with the strap over the shoes. Back in the day, as a teenager, I was never able to afford time pedals and time shoes but now u can get a pair of pedals for about $20 and shoes for about $50. So I got me a few pedals and a pair of shoes, the one thing I noticed is that the shoes tend to slide inward while riding, I wonder if that had anything to do with it.
Lance Armstrong is the best!!!!
@@jthepickle7 Kudos on being an "old man" and leaving the chider but, nevertheless, time to get rid of the straps! ;)
@@kk.-_ Actually, Eddy Merckx is the best since he wasn't a specialist like Lance was and therefore won almost all the professional races available at the time.
Twenty years on, it never gets old.
Umm...THIRTY years!!
@@Enigma71559 Umm...THIRTY THREE years!! (and 7 months)
@@lazurm Haha. Funny how it's thirty three years now. Three years after my original comment.
Jesus, the way Lemond fucking owned Fignon... poor Laurent probably was thinking "sacre bleu! Pas encore!"
Gosh, let the guy breath. I get claustrophobia at the end there!
Wow, what riding!!! What times...
Fignon was not patient enough. He wanted to win it so badly that he kept on taking the lead.
That wide open 'hybrid flat bar position cost him huge chunks in that TT.
@@tonyfranklin8306 Yeah but that was how the 80s TT and Triathlons always were. It wasn't until Greg Lemond smashed it with these aero bars that the trend exploded and from the 1990s onwards was when people started using the common aerobar setups we see today.
@@KandiKlover Oh I know, but aero position was already known about from decades before, I simply don't understand his thinking that his open chest position was more aerodynamic, it makes no sense whatsoever. Even here on the British amateur cycling time trial scene back to at least the 1950s they knew that getting low/tucked was far more beneficial even if that was on a set of standard handlebars. ALL the time triallers BITD knew you had to get low down to penetrate the 'wind' better, Fignons open position is utterly illogical and bucks what people already knew, even then.
maybe french guys had wrong tactic. but there were not much alternatives and energies to spend
@@dansprague2 100%. You'll still see this happen today. If a non-sprinter winds up in a break with sprinters they really have no other choice but to go early and hope for the best. It's the just the way it is.
I'm far too lazy too look it up, but the non-Phil narrator sounds like the same guy who called Kevin Costner's races.
American Flyers
I miss the days when it was easy to tell who the riders were by the consistency of the countries jersey designs.
The last 15 seconds of this race
The filming was abysmal.
Couldn’t see nothing. Yikes
Lemond is a god among men. Best US cyclist ever.
Jim Butler totally agree-one of the last men standing when it comes to performance enhancing drugs.
A real hero to look up to-including the most remarkable comeback in cycling.
He showed what you can do when your will is strong!💨🚴💦
that was evident when he was 15 and beating men 18-14
Don't forget Hampsten!
@@dansprague2 Best cyclist ever is Merckx. Period. 5 Tours, 5 Giro's, 1 Vuelta, 3 WC titles, victories in Spring Classics, World Hour record. Etc etc.
As much as i love LeMond, even if he had won five Tours, which is not unlikely had he not been shot, than he'd still be like a US Indurain. Great Tour rider and time trial specialist. Greg is top 5 material, but certainly not the GOAT
Lanc... never mind
This was back when each country wore their traditional national jerseys at the worlds. Nowadays it’s hard to tell which country is which.
"He's not the least bit serious" (about Bob Roll -- LOL)
beats a day job i guess lol
Victory of an ordinary man with an unordinary talent.
Thanks for the post, it is awesome to watch this again.
20:34 Bob Roll with the "peace TF out" bottle toss. Classic.
Chris Wagner that was the best part of the entire video hahaha
The Rollmeister rolling along...seems like if he can make a few more laps get home early, have a tasty meal bit of red wine, a massage, then it's all good for the Rollmeister 1989 style.
Jeez lol Roll gets the call last minute to join team...thinks should I do this? I might be seen as "being not the least bit serious" by certain tv commentators. Naah fck it, yeah why not, out of shape, whatever, haven't trained for a month, I'll train the day before yeah that'll do and I think my tyres have enough air in them. Let's do this ! 20:33
One of my all-time favourite cyclist. lemond could climb, TT and sprint and I am sure he was clean. An utter legend.
- F any credible evidence to support this statement
- F no it doesnt...its your unfounded opinion, nothing more. Innocent until proven guilty. Justice wins.
@- F 'Fignon doped to the gills'. Whilst he admitted to doping, it was never anything like what followed (i.e. EPO). The stuff he took was only in the realm of pain killing drugs, it didn't transform riders like EPO did for guys like Chiappucci. The consensus from those in the know was that Lemond was clean. You can scoff all you may want, but thats a fact.
- F copy/paste reply... I know my history and watched it live at the time. Even his competitors at the time admitted he was massively naturally talented, he had a huge VO2 max which has zero to do with PEDS and he never failed a single test. This means you know very little and are making unfounded assertions based on a personal opinion. I am basing mine on observable facts.
@- F Learn my history? Always great advice, and as you say Rooks used several PEDs in his career. I don't see however how Lemond 'decimated' Rooks here, who was right behind him in the sprint in 4th place. But back to 'history', compare the reputation with which Lemond entered the peloton with, the regard he was held in (Guimard actively pursued him), whilst conversely any suggestion he was ever doping. Or find a reference to where Rooks was ever spoken about in such terms, he had two great years whilst outside of 88-89 he was a solid rider who could climb a bit but was no GT contender. Your argument is underpinned by a logical error, where if a doped rider is successful, then if he is beaten then his conqueror is also doping (either/or thinking). This is sometimes true, but not always.
LeMond wasn't struck down in a flurry of gunfire, nor riddled with buckshot. It was one shot from a shotgun, and it was birdshot.
The GOAT!
second times that someone making a bad joke to FIgnon, after '84 GIro d'Italia. that's a pity
"Bob Roll... he's not the least bit serious." 20:32 Yeah, but... that's what we love about Bobke!
At the world championship in 1983 myself and Gibby Hatton went on a ride in Zurich. We were racing on the track and rode short. Another guy was riding with us and he went long !!! The next day he was World Champion!!!! Greg Le Mond !!🍺🍺🍺🍺🚲🚲🚲😀😀
Some random Soviet cyclist is suddenly riding at the front in 1989? It's a miracle that guy's body didn't explode from all the dope...
@G P …….Agree completely! [please read my full comment below in response to Lloyd Hlavac - but this is the most relevant [about the 1989 WC road race] to your point -
''.....There are a number of things that stand out - not least the brave efforts of the Russian neo-pro Dimitri Konyshev, who could easily have been the star of the race. He was so close to winning the race and even after being in the breakaway most of the day, still had the strength to take second. By all accounts, Konyshev was a bit of a party animal and really loved the girls, but he won the hearts of the crowd for his amazing ride that day....''
100% was doping
@@kless001 …….and you know this how?
TheSoulTwins - The Soviet missed out on the last East German women swimmer's booster shot. He got passed by other dopers and the last natural Greg Lemond. Sport went completely dirty by the late 80s.
Sean Kelly............ Always in the lead, always taking the pulls, never sitting in on anyone's wheel(s). No, never that.
Great era. The background music in this is HILARIOUS.
The KORG M1 at its "finest" late 80's moments... ;)
The intro and the tracking noise are priceless...either someones about to get murdered or do the murdering..
What a great race. Tense all the way thru the last lap. Just great gamesmanship by everyone. They just do not race like anymore!
Wow carbon fiber in 89 that’s crazy what are the new technology are they using in 2023?
Poor figgy,he just can't win 😭😭😭
He's my #1 hero. And I've seen a lot of shit.
Greg lemons en 89 gana tour y gana campeonato del mundo llega tour 90 el unico ciclista vestido con sueter del campeon del mundo y vuelve a ganar tour 90 refireindose a ciclista de nuestra era grande lemons....
14:08
If I could I would name my next child LEMOND.
Anyone know what the music track at 22:53 is?
19:50 - The commentator sounds a lot like the person who commentates in the movie "American Flyers" cycling movie.
It is !!!! My friend the late Brian Drebber!!! 😪😪😪😪🚲🚲🏍🏍🍺🍺🍺
RIP Brian Drebber :(
Tupelo honey
My friend Brian Drebber narrator of this video!!!! R.I.P. RIPSAW 😦😦😦😦😦🚲🚲🚲🚲🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
This was back when cyclists still rode on steel framed bikes. And looked like athletes! Not like these anarexic pansies today that use a 38x28 to climb a 7 percent grade.
And yet more modern cyclists are fasted than any from this era. Maybe there's something more effective about not being overgeared?
Lemond rode a carbon fiber bike in this race. Do you think riders should climb with 10 extra pounds of muscle, so they can look like athletes, whatever that means? Riders today turn 10-20 more rpm's than in the era of this race. And like most modern endurance athletes, they are on high protein and fat, low carb regimes. Carbo loading is a thing of the past, but that doesn't cause anorexia. ;-)
9:30 carbon
The early carbon bikes had breakage issues.
gianni bugno sembrava gia sfavato prima di partire..
Starting the sprint just after the 300m mark after 6 plus hrs of racing is crazy!...🤘
always noticed this for classic races. as they don't have STI back then, before opening up the sprint they are already in their sprint gear (smallest cog or 2nd smallest cog). crazy strong men turning those big gears after 6 to 7 hours of racing.
Armstrong was following Lemond
Brian Drebber, what an awful presenter.
Jim Butler: Agree.
The difference between cycling now and cycling then ... when Lemond was pulling Fignon up to the leaders, in the modern era he would have just quit and refused to let Fignon and Claveyrolat have the numbers advantage. And yet he won - go figure. Cycling now is pretty hard to watch without a lot of caffeine to keep you awake.
There was plenty of shite BITD, loads of just rolling through and not doing very much, letting a break get away and bringing them back or not. yoo now get massively greater coverage of all the days racing from the gun to the flag. Plus ca change.
Goosebumps!
The adventurous africa usually tumble because calendar comprehensively brush worth a low spring. squalid, attractive snowstorm
I want what your smoking!
So that is what the Martians would say !!???😂😂😂😂😂😂
An AI bot struggling to make sense in 2021.
Does anybody know when wnd why they starting make professional riders wear helmets?
I'm going to say it was 1996, due to fact that Fabio Casartelli died in the Tour in 1995 due to head injuries. Interestingly, the rule still wasn't 100% wear a helmet, as for about a decade you could get rid of your helmet if the race (or stage) was a mountain finish. You can see in many or all of Armstrong's wins that as soon as they hit the bottom of a finishing climb, they toss their helmets off. I'd say that rule was changed around 2005 to make helmets mandatory for the entire race. I do not think there were any incidents that caused that change, the rumors on the forums back then were that helmet sponsors didn't like the images of pros taking them off as if they were "not important."
Andrei Kivilevs death had a lot to do with it, though not immediately after.
Fignon lost by 8 seconds without any tt helmet, no tt bars and was barely in any aero position. Take that and think what time Fignon would of had if he added TT bars and a TT hellmet, he would of had minutes over Lemond.
Don’t forget he was carrying Greg on the mountain stages. Fignon was the stronger rider and SHOULD of won the tdf. I believe he was robbed by technology. Time moves fast.
@@ralphc1405 Well Lemond was no slouch but was actually behind Fignon until the time trial at the end. It’s this reason why Lemond had to put on the TT bars and the aero helmet. Fignon protested about the TT bars but the UCI did not ban them. Fignon could of easily won this Tour but he was also arrogant and that was his biggest mistake, he left his ego get the best of him. Fignon should of been on TT bars and helmet. Myself I am switching to a recumbent soon for longer rides with more speed and comfort. Going with a fast front wheel drive model the CruzBike V20 seems pretty fast and with good comfort.
All of those things are his fault though. He lost fairly due to poor personal choice, but yes, it would've been interesting to see the result if he had used the same equipment and strategies as LeMond.
@@desertrainfrog1691 Yep 8 seconds was the difference in the end very damn close.
@@danfuerthgillis4483 He would've won if he had just assumed a more aero position really. Why was he standing straight up like an amateur anyway? Really poor form when he was a better cyclist than that.
Dope helps things "work out".
Looking back at Lemonds time trial and his 8 seconds win, I tend to start agreeing with Durianrider and think they were all on the juice... Sad but true. Great champion nevertheless.