Cycling fanatic from Ireland here. I always respected Greg as a great cyclist and a super human being. He was a phenomenal rider and when you look at the quality of his opposition, Hinault/Fignon/Moser/Kelly/Roche/Delgado/Millar : his record is second to none. I hated him when he beat Sean Kelly at Chambery in 1989 : I'm delighted that truth has come out. LeMond is a man of courage and principle.
@Willie Duggan........Hi Willie - I am English and was a spectator at the 1989 Cycling World Championships as I had gone to live with my French girlfriend in Chambery 6 months earlier. [I also managed to see several key mountain stages of arguably the best ever TDF when Lemond beat Fignon]. The Sunday of the Worlds elite men's race started off very cloudy and soon disintegrated into an absolutely torrential thunderstorm - unlike the previous day when the Junior's race was run off in a virtual heat-wave! [all of the British riders abandoned due to the heat!] I actually rode the course and if you watch videos of the race, it simply doesn't do it justice as to just how hard and technically demanding it was! There were 21 laps of an extremely testing Chambery course, including a brutal 'corkscrew'-like climb with a very twisty and perilous descent. In fact, I clearly remember riders falling like nine-pins as the weather conditions worsened - including many of the main contenders. [there was a story going round after the race that Lemond himself had come off and rode the last 2 laps with a buckled front wheel to win!] Another memorable event for me was whilst riding the circuit a few days before the road races began - the then pre-eminent PDM squad came cruising past including the likes of Alcala, Breukink, Theunisse, Rooks, Early - and of course, 'King Kelly'. [who was having an really excellent season]. But for me, Lemond's gritty performance that day - was simply staggering! If you consider that he won that years' TDF with virtually no team [his ADR squad was probably the weakest in pro-cycling] and then took the World's when everyone in the sport had written him off - it's a stunning testament to the man's sheer will-power. I am not that keen of anything 'American' but like you, I have nothing but the greatest respect and admiration for Lemond - both as a cyclist and as a man.
@Richard Dixon He's not gay but your boyfriend certainly is, bud. If you didn't have an "older" name like Richard (if that is your actual name, of course?), I'd simply write your inane comments off as those of an annoying 8 y/o but what makes someone write such consistently stupid $hit, may I enquire?!
So…….I just turned 43. Your not that old. Get to work. My dad was working 60-70 hours a week when He was 55 as a highly skilled mechanic/automotive electric expert.
Stopped riding the bike in 1979. Ten years later, a few weeks after watching the final TT of the 89 tour I was driving to Cannock in Staffordshire to pick up a Rourke road bike and have been riding ever since, thanks Greg...
33 mph average for 15 miles . . . with wind resistance increasing exponentially the higher the speed. Eight seconds for the win, wiping out a 50 second lead . . . my best average was 22 mph on the flats for 50 miles, at age 50, but I wasn't pushing myself very hard. I am seven years older than LeMond, and biked in my teens on Schwinn, and later any frame I could cobble together, once using a long steel pipe for a seat post (I am 6'6"). I would just put the chain on the smallest rear cog and go . . . 1999 I was hit by a car, broke three vertebra, ribs, collar, wrist . . . it took me two years to recover. Enjoyed three years of strong riding, and then at age 50 sidelined by Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. At 67, I am on the bike again, restarting from less than zero.
THANK YOU!! I was just explaining to a friend the other day how much better (& genuine) Greg's comeback from a near-fatal shooting (that left his heart, liver & other areas of his body riddled with lead shotgun pellets that couldn't be removed) was, when compared with that of Pharmstrong...sure, the latter's comeback from a shocking case of testicular, brain & lung cancer was also amazing but his method of competing upon his return (the PED use, the bullying & the payoffs to the UCI to hide positive drug tests) was absolutely revolting, & should NEVER be forgotten, nor forgiven...
We were juniors together. They often put him in with the seniors, but some days he raced in his age category, with us. In one short criterium he lapped the rest of the field .... twice. I remember being impressed when he blew by the first time. When he came around for the second time, I was devastated. It’s like he was a different species. That was 1980 and he was winning races against Cat 1 seniors.
@@jimbutler1189 It took me a long time to get over him beating me because I was top in socal states 79,80 but when he started winning cat I,II , I became proud of him, I wasn't alone. he beat everybody.
Make no mistake about it, LeMond was using all the best PEDs during the 80s. He beat you because he knew someone who worked at the local pharmacy is all.
Merckx was great but for me Greg Lemond was just the greatest. Thanks Greg you are very special to me. From Tom in Lancashire England, peace and god bless.
I´m from Germany, 33 and obviously I´ve never seen him race during his professional career. But for some reason he´s my idol when it comes to cycling LOL
Yep, to think that the former Tour champions from '83, '84 & '86, who first rode together as teammates in '84 at Renault, who were never separated by more than 50 seconds in the '89 Tour, from start to finish, when Greg pulled back that 50-second deficit in the final TT to win by a mere 8 seconds!! If you had written a fictitious novel or Hollywood movie with this exact plot, people would have laughed afterward, saying that it's not at all believable!! When one takes into account the devastating effects of the shooting upon Greg's body & just how crap the ADR-Agrigel team were that year, with no climbers to support him, it's even more incredible & is still the only TDF that was won with Mavic SSC components!!
I can remember watching him when he was a Junior racing the Nevada City Crit. Not only did he win, but he lapped everyone else not once, but twice! Little did I realize then, that I was witnessing the emergence of a multi Tour de France winner and an incredible human being.
After seeing what Lemond went through and what his family went through....and how he came back, I gained a lot of respect for them. This was a really good doc.
Its wonderful seeing Greg at TDF these days! Hes got way more fans in Europe! I dont think they abandoned him like Americans did during the ‘lancehole’ years. Im American and I never did. Hes one of my few heroes. Its not hard to recognize good (or bad) character in humans. After I read Lanceholes 1st book, reading between the lines, I knew there was something flawed about him. There was something in his character. He was too arrogant. Turns out he’s quite the narcissist!
For a special occasion, my wife bought me a Lemond Chambery. I'm 72 now and I still participate in the Pacific Northwest STP, a two-day event from Seattle to Portland. What is the weapon of my choice? You guessed it, my Lemond. Why, it reminds me of who put America on the map when it comes to representing the best.
Watched Greg from his first arrival in the TDF and knew he had the stuff to win that race, and what a fabulous humble fella he was and is. Mr Armstrong should have taken a leaf out of Greg's book but instead he defined the word "asshole" , hurting many people including Greg. Greg remains for me one of the true greats in cycling from that era and if not for that shooting accident he would have had his 5 tour wins, because there was nobody with his class at that time. VIVE LE GREG .
I'm old enough to know most of this story well. So inspirational. I'm just wondering when are they going to make it a Hollywood movie? I've been waiting for years.
Me too. My first experience watching the Tour was in 85 when I was in England. I saw him being told to slow down so Hinault could win and I felt wronged. Like it was ME. Then I got heavy into it. Then I saw how strong he was in 86 and I went nuts lol. I immediately wanted to be like him.
In 1989 I saw Greg close up as he walked past me to the time trial start house at The Tour de Trump in Richmond Va. He didn't look well and seemed a bit gray. That was in May. By late June I saw him again at the US Pro Cycling championships in Philadelphia as he raced by seemingly talking strategy with Alexi Grewal. In America Greg raced for the Coors team. This time he was tan and looked extremely healthy. That's when I knew he had a genuine shot at that years Tour. By the way, if memory serves me right I think he finished 10th at the 89 US pro championship.
I watched the Tour every summer when I was a kid and I remember this era vividly. I was routing for you man and I loved Hinault, he was a father figure to a lot of us French kids back then. You got all the credit in the world in my book.
As a former competitor Greg was my hero. Because I wasn't a doper, I was far from a standout.. The way Lance Armstrong treated Greg Le Mond,, Betsey Andrei and many other people is even more shameful than his doping. Greg Is still my hero. After watching Lance for two years I new what was up. I would prefer to be a moderately successful crit racer than lie my way into Grand Tours. Greg Is the only American to ever win the Tour! We have a long time to wait before we have another one!. It's a phenomenal accomplishment and Greg has done it three times!
Greg Lemond sparked my road cycling interest which you can consider probably the Golden years of cycling during the 80s, for me Greg LeMond is the epitome of the greatest time of cycling ever
greg's win over fignon was the most amazing Ive ever seen. he dominated and for my money he did when he wasnt winning in 87-88 after the gunshot. he was a long run champion. he was just in another league. I loved riding, was a fast rider and used to easily passing most guys, but then I had a stroke in the off season that wrecked my whole right side and literally overnight I was like an old man at the back of every pack and cycling was ruined for me.
I learned about greg when i was 13yrs old reading his book in 1984 he was the inspiration for me to ride a bike & then the cycling bug bit me.i always wanted to become a pro cycelist & become the first american indian to ride the TOUR DE FRANCE (every young cyclist boys dream right?) but only managed to make cat2. but how would i ever know that in the circle of life 35yrs later i would end up living in Carson city NV. driving & cycling the same roads around carson city & Reno NV. thru Washoe valley that greg once rode. i also learned that Greg built a road bike called the WASHOE in witch he named after the Washoe Indians of Washoe Valley NV.Even tho i can't ride anymore because of being wounded i still have a great passion for steel classic road bikes & restore them in my home shop where I donate them to my fellow veterans.Its a great life. .(NATIVE AMERICAN DISABLED COMBAT VETERAN GULF WAR/SOMALIA US NAVY) FORMER RIDE TO RECOVERY MEMBER /PROJECT HERO RENO NV.
Truly sorry to hear you can't ride anymore. We're both the same age and I can relate to your youthful passion for cycling from the 80s. It was a great era! Steel is real!
Wow.Thats cool.I grew up in gardnerville & still live here.I watched greg train around here as well b4 the comeback in 89.Good on u & thanks for your service. Huh didn't think many remember Lemond around here.Good to see.
'85 TDF was also his for the taking but he gave in to his loyalty to his mentor, Hinault (who had only just lured him to the team from Renault that year) & the lies of the La Vie Claire team's DS, Koechli (who, years before the advent of race radio, lied to Greg about how far behind Hinault really was upon Luz-Ardiden & instructed Greg to wait for him, when Hinault was more than 3 minutes behind) & who really knows what would have happened from '91 onward (when Greg said that he felt the very best he ever had before a Tour) had EPO not arrived within the peloton as it did? But as Fignon used to say, suddenly mules became thoroughbred horses from one season to the next, such was the effect of EPO (& growth hormone, cortisone, etc) upon the peloton.
There would be no Lance without Greg. Greg tells the story of Bernard Tapie whisking him around 007 style to meet him on Slaying the Badger. That was the deal that brought the kingpin level money into cycling. Without Tapie's money, the doping in cycling would've stayed low-key. Tapie's money made doping become professional. Greg may not see it that way, but he was part of the influx of money that would bring in the hard doping that led to Lance's rise and fall. So he's no angel, but he's not the Walter White of cycling either.
Lance was just playing the Europeans’ game. What was really awful about Armstrong was how he treated people along the way. I would guess if he hadn’t been such a horrible human being, he wouldn’t have made so many enemies and been busted. He should have stopped while he was ahead. When he came back to race again, he pissed a lot of people off.
"Had I been able to race in 87 and 88 -I would have dominated the sport" . Greg -give yourself a break -will ya. You made cycling HISTORY as no one else had ever done before .
@@ritid69 LeMond was much, much better than Lance. He got his wins without teammates, while Lance was delivered to the finish line by a superteam of dopers that controlled every race. Besides... dope.
@@mcaleerjm Thats right. In 81, Lemond took on the Russian "amateur" team at the Coors classic, and with basically no help, he beat them. Lemond was a cycling phenom. Without his accident and being teammates with Hinault, he wouldve won 6 tours. Without PED'S, he couldve won even more.
In '89 he pretty much won the TDF on his own. ADR was one of the weakest teams in that peloton. They didn't have any climber who could support him, much less anyone who could even keep up. The only other racer I remember doing that was Stephen Roche in '87. His Italian teammates hated him but Roche had one Belgian teammate who still helped.
I moved to Reno around 94 and went into a bike shop knowing my size and got something nice used for $200. I wondered at the time why Lemond was plastered all over their walls.
Back in 1977, Greg won the junior national championship after crashing twice. The story in Velo News was a classic view of things to come. He got second in 78 and then won again 79 with a solo finish (I was there). Then he goes on to win the junior world championships, the first American world male cycling champion ever. ( I believe there was a female world champion from America in the 60s). His talent was obvious from the beginning.
My sister and I chased Greg after a stage of the Coors Classic, trying to get an autograph. He literally rode straight into the hotel lobby and we never got the autograph. But it was a fun memory.
I remember in 1989 the ADR team basically abandoned the Tour. He had 1 team mate left who (loaded up with water bottles) he took to Z-Peugeot. The lead swapped almost day by day in the mountains, with the last stage to decide it. The last TT in Paris resulted in the closest finish ever so far.
Great story of a great person and true champion and he didn't have to shit on his friends to do it like LA. The director who made the film The Program with Ben Foster said he had no interest in interviewing LA because he is still playing mind games and lying, mixing in enough truths to fool the gullible.
Could you say Greg was part of, almost at the culmination of the golden age of cycling, before it was corrupted and its integrity ruined. It seems he was the real deal a cycling hero before the cheaters took over.
Greatest cyclist ever. I believe two things went against Greg towards the end of his cycling career, the effects of his injury came back that began robbing him of his health and the peloton resorting to using performance enhancing drugs.
It’s so strange how his story is very similar to Armstrong. The American cyclist who made a remarkable comeback from adversity. One is good and the other is evil..
Lancehole is a liar, a cheater and a thief. He belongs in prison. Lancehole betrayed his own , friends, coworkers and supporters. Lancehole destroyed peoples lives and looked down at everyone below his level. He NEVER ‘won’ anything. Greg tried to help Lance when he was starting out in cycling. Lancehole was so full of himself, he demanded Greg sell him his house in Belgium. Greg always showed class and sportsmanship during his career. Lancehole has no idea what those words even mean. These two men have practically nothing in common besides racing bikes.
@@rollinrat4850 And yet people still cling to his myth, like the Emperor's New Clothes or true believer syndrome. Even Bradley Wiggins called him an "icon" recently, although there's more than a little irony in that given Wiggo's own "revelations".
uz1l0v3r There is plenty more evidence that Lemond raced clean than that he didnt. Look at the science, times and numbers. Lemond had one of the highest VO2s ever tested among elite endurance athletes, not just cyclists. His was either 92.5 or 94. Ive seen both #s published. ‘94 was the last year he raced. In ‘94 his fitness #s were at the same level as they were during his 1st TDF victory in ‘86, the year he and Hinault dropped the peloton and dominated in TDF. Yet he was dropped for dead in ‘94. During most of his career the powerful oxygen drugs were not yet on the scene. Theres also the scientific fact that these drugs dont benefit some physiologies in the same manner. The more natural talent one has, the less benefit you get. So the whole level playing field argument is blown out the door. Tyler Hamilton explained this stuff really well in his book. I believe this is really important and often overlooked. Lancehole’s VO2 was 85. Much higher than an average cyclist but not at elite levels like Lemond. Lancehole had a great ability to recover and ‘superior’ training methods with oxygen drugs. Since he had a lesser natural talent, he gained more benefit from the drugs. He said himself he couldnt imagine competing in TDF without the drugs! Lancehole never had the natural ability to win TDF without drugs, plain and simple. He was a good one day racer or maybe in a week long tour. All that and much more scientific evidence aside, and this is what makes him ‘Lancehole’ in my mind, Lemond NEVER FAILED a test! Lemond never betrayed his teammates, friends and coworkers AND FANS. Lemond is more of a hero now in Europe, more there than the US know of his fame. Lemond was never a bad role model to those who idolized him and HIS KIDS! Lemond never tried to destroy the lives of those he saw as competitors or illuminators. Lemond NEVER bribed the UCI to cover failed testing and also to destroy his competitors. The comparisons could go on and on. The 2 had little in common besides racing bikes. The FACTS show Lancehole as a flawed character. He is a narcissist. He was completely consumed by his ego, fame, money and power. To ignore all these facts, one has to be a delusional fanboy!
Not taking anything away from Greg LeMond, he deserves mad respect for what he accomplished and overcame, but I beg to differ with the narrative... the first great American cyclist would have been Major Taylor.
I agree with you, mate. Anyone who has read Dan De Visé's awesome book "The Comeback" would now know of Major Taylor & although I like to think that I'm very knowledgeable about this wonderful sport, I knew absolutely nothing about him before having read the book! Chapeau, mon ami!!
@@fredpearson5204 and don't forget he had bronchitis in '84. Even though fignon seemed to have that one in the bag.....imagine finishing 3rd in the tour with bronchitis... Damn
Before he was shot, Greg raced the entire season. He podiumed in both the Classics and the Grand Tours. In 1985 Greg was 2nd at the TdF, 3rd at the Giro, 4th at Paris Roubaix, 2nd at the Worlds and won the Coors Classic.
I can relate to wanting to quit after the accidental shooting. I am not the same after getting shingles in my eye and all the problems I had from the anti-viral medications they had me on for months that messed up my kidneys and liver. It's taken two years to get almost back to where I was before all that stuff happened. But it doesn't seem that I'm ever going to completely get there.
John Agresti - Yes. I’ve learned to rest more. When I got the shingles I had a huge amount of stress in my life in like every area. Since then things have gotten better and I’ve learned some better ways of coping. The bike helps with that, I just have to not go overboard like you suggest.
As a 15-16 yr old he beat every 18-34 cat one rider. I watched he tear the legs off any rider who tried to race him. In the Butterfly classic in Pacific Grove he finished 2 1/2 laps ahead of 2nd place. He was just 16 years old
Behind. Greg is a painting/picture of a newly plowed field...odd. but maybe not so...it represents raw potential. Possibility.. belief in growth and youself
Wait! It's Greg Lemond here. THE most talented rider of his generation, fantastic palmares, and a great guy. If it wasn't for Lemond, you'd all be following soccer or tennis. I don't get the bitterness and criticism. He spoke French well, stood up for his fellow rider, and blazed a rainbow striped trail for US (and North American) Cycling. Results in MSR, Paris Roubaix, and Tour of Flanders. Not to mention WRR champion a couple of times. Doping? Really? That's your beef with Greg Lemond? C'mon!
Cycling fanatic from Ireland here. I always respected Greg as a great cyclist and a super human being. He was a phenomenal rider and when you look at the quality of his opposition, Hinault/Fignon/Moser/Kelly/Roche/Delgado/Millar : his record is second to none. I hated him when he beat Sean Kelly at Chambery in 1989 : I'm delighted that truth has come out. LeMond is a man of courage and principle.
@Willie Duggan........Hi Willie - I am English and was a spectator at the 1989 Cycling World Championships as I had gone to live with my French girlfriend in Chambery 6 months earlier. [I also managed to see several key mountain stages of arguably the best ever TDF when Lemond beat Fignon].
The Sunday of the Worlds elite men's race started off very cloudy and soon disintegrated into an absolutely torrential thunderstorm - unlike the previous day when the Junior's race was run off in a virtual heat-wave! [all of the British riders abandoned due to the heat!] I actually rode the course and if you watch videos of the race, it simply doesn't do it justice as to just how hard and technically demanding it was!
There were 21 laps of an extremely testing Chambery course, including a brutal 'corkscrew'-like climb with a very twisty and perilous descent. In fact, I clearly remember riders falling like nine-pins as the weather conditions worsened - including many of the main contenders. [there was a story going round after the race that Lemond himself had come off and rode the last 2 laps with a buckled front wheel to win!]
Another memorable event for me was whilst riding the circuit a few days before the road races began - the then pre-eminent PDM squad came cruising past including the likes of Alcala, Breukink, Theunisse, Rooks, Early - and of course, 'King Kelly'. [who was having an really excellent season].
But for me, Lemond's gritty performance that day - was simply staggering! If you consider that he won that years' TDF with virtually no team [his ADR squad was probably the weakest in pro-cycling] and then took the World's when everyone in the sport had written him off - it's a stunning testament to the man's sheer will-power.
I am not that keen of anything 'American' but like you, I have nothing but the greatest respect and admiration for Lemond - both as a cyclist and as a man.
It wasn't Lance Armstrong who made the greatest comeback. It was Greg Lemond. And he did it the honest way.
@Richard Dixon He's not gay but your boyfriend certainly is, bud. If you didn't have an "older" name like Richard (if that is your actual name, of course?), I'd simply write your inane comments off as those of an annoying 8 y/o but what makes someone write such consistently stupid $hit, may I enquire?!
@Richard Dixon Certainly not by you, Dick!
Lance is what he had to do to be competitive. He was a jerk for sure. But a winner just like Greg.
@@roblee278 Lance has 0 tour wins and Lance was a sociopath who ruined peoples lives, much worse than just a doper.
Pick up your Greg Fan Boy badge when you turn in your shoes.
I'm 48 and gregs still my hero ,a true monster on the bike thanks for the memories 👍🇬🇧
I wish that I had my team Z jersey and hat.
im 48 ua-cam.com/video/Pm7YtFuk4YI/v-deo.html
i still have one but i was 16 when i had it.. so.. i do enjoy the sight of it still ^^
So…….I just turned 43. Your not that old. Get to work. My dad was working 60-70 hours a week when
He was 55 as a highly skilled mechanic/automotive electric expert.
Stopped riding the bike in 1979. Ten years later, a few weeks after watching the final TT of the 89 tour I was driving to Cannock in Staffordshire to pick up a Rourke road bike and have been riding ever since, thanks Greg...
Have always admired Greg and what he did for the sport of cycling in the USA. He’s a true American Hero!
Greg LeMond will always be my greatest cycling hero!
33 mph average for 15 miles . . . with wind resistance increasing exponentially the higher the speed. Eight seconds for the win, wiping out a 50 second lead . . . my best average was 22 mph on the flats for 50 miles, at age 50, but I wasn't pushing myself very hard. I am seven years older than LeMond, and biked in my teens on Schwinn, and later any frame I could cobble together, once using a long steel pipe for a seat post (I am 6'6"). I would just put the chain on the smallest rear cog and go . . . 1999 I was hit by a car, broke three vertebra, ribs, collar, wrist . . . it took me two years to recover. Enjoyed three years of strong riding, and then at age 50 sidelined by Guillain-Barre' Syndrome. At 67, I am on the bike again, restarting from less than zero.
He made the greatest comeback ever.
THANK YOU!! I was just explaining to a friend the other day how much better (& genuine) Greg's comeback from a near-fatal shooting (that left his heart, liver & other areas of his body riddled with lead shotgun pellets that couldn't be removed) was, when compared with that of Pharmstrong...sure, the latter's comeback from a shocking case of testicular, brain & lung cancer was also amazing but his method of competing upon his return (the PED use, the bullying & the payoffs to the UCI to hide positive drug tests) was absolutely revolting, & should NEVER be forgotten, nor forgiven...
@@lavielemond It was Lance's best effort to neutralize suspicions
And clean. Not everyone can say that.
@@alexanderh9878 Yes that is true and especially in the epo area there he was the last clean top rider.
34:47 lol
Never clicked on anything so quickly in my life. I admire Greg. My inspiration.
One of the great honors of my life is that I lost races to Greg LeMond.
No doping in your era?
That is FREAKING AWESOME, Jim!! Chapeau, mon ami!
We were juniors together. They often put him in with the seniors, but some days he raced in his age category, with us.
In one short criterium he lapped the rest of the field .... twice. I remember being impressed when he blew by the first time. When he came around for the second time, I was devastated. It’s like he was a different species.
That was 1980 and he was winning races against Cat 1 seniors.
@@jimbutler1189 It took me a long time to get over him beating me because I was top in socal states 79,80 but when he started winning cat I,II , I became proud of him, I wasn't alone. he beat everybody.
Make no mistake about it, LeMond was using all the best PEDs during the 80s. He beat you because he knew someone who worked at the local pharmacy is all.
I STILL tear up after watching the end of the 89 just like I saw it on day he won
Merckx was great but for me Greg Lemond was just the greatest. Thanks Greg you are very special to me. From Tom in Lancashire England, peace and god bless.
Well said Tom
I first saw Greg race in Santa Cruz Ca in 1978 when he was 15 or 16. He beat everyone and I instantly knew he would go on to race the Tour de France.
I´m from Germany, 33 and obviously I´ve never seen him race during his professional career. But for some reason he´s my idol when it comes to cycling LOL
Abnsdllnnlosnfd I have seen Greg Lemond his prime and I can tell that you could not make a better choice.
@@alainhessch Agreed 100%, Hess!!
Just an amazing human, rider, father, husband...
He gave determination a real new meaning...
Hat goes off to this gentleman...
89 the best Tour I've seen
Yep, to think that the former Tour champions from '83, '84 & '86, who first rode together as teammates in '84 at Renault, who were never separated by more than 50 seconds in the '89 Tour, from start to finish, when Greg pulled back that 50-second deficit in the final TT to win by a mere 8 seconds!! If you had written a fictitious novel or Hollywood movie with this exact plot, people would have laughed afterward, saying that it's not at all believable!! When one takes into account the devastating effects of the shooting upon Greg's body & just how crap the ADR-Agrigel team were that year, with no climbers to support him, it's even more incredible & is still the only TDF that was won with Mavic SSC components!!
I can remember watching him when he was a Junior racing the Nevada City Crit. Not only did he win, but he lapped everyone else not once, but twice! Little did I realize then, that I was witnessing the emergence of a multi Tour de France winner and an incredible human being.
I raced for the Davis bike shop back then. Greg is the real deal. We all saw it. He is amazing.
SUCH a great athlete! SUCH a solid, stand-up man! And STILL the only American to win the Tour de France!
My hero: Greg LeMond.
After seeing what Lemond went through and what his family went through....and how he came back, I gained a lot of respect for them. This was a really good doc.
Its wonderful seeing Greg at TDF these days! Hes got way more fans in Europe! I dont think they abandoned him like Americans did during the ‘lancehole’ years. Im American and I never did. Hes one of my few heroes. Its not hard to recognize good (or bad) character in humans. After I read Lanceholes 1st book, reading between the lines, I knew there was something flawed about him. There was something in his character. He was too arrogant. Turns out he’s quite the narcissist!
Just the greatest of all time. And a man of honour. I had the great good fortune to watch the finish of the 89 TfF live on TV in the UK. Incredible.
For a special occasion, my wife bought me a Lemond Chambery. I'm 72 now and I still participate in the Pacific Northwest STP, a two-day event from Seattle to Portland. What is the weapon of my choice? You guessed it, my Lemond. Why, it reminds me of who put America on the map when it comes to representing the best.
Watched Greg from his first arrival in the TDF and knew he had the stuff to win that race, and what a fabulous humble fella he was and is. Mr Armstrong should have taken a leaf out of Greg's book but instead he defined the word "asshole" , hurting many people including Greg. Greg remains for me one of the true greats in cycling from that era and if not for that shooting accident he would have had his 5 tour wins, because there was nobody with his class at that time. VIVE LE GREG .
My endurance athlete heroes: Greg Lemond and Michael Phelps.
Both have inspired me in cycling and swimming.
I'm old enough to know most of this story well. So inspirational. I'm just wondering when are they going to make it a Hollywood movie? I've been waiting for years.
He's a white male.Not gonna happen in today's world.Sad a great story.
if there's movie about greg lemond, i want to see christian bale as greg lemond...
Que de souvenirs ! A great champion ! One of the best in the cycling history ! Congratulations from France 🇫🇷
Greg ----- THE LEGEND...... forthcoming movie.
Greg is one of the reasons I got into cycling in the first place. Thanks for posting this - I'm in Australia and would never have seen it otherwise
Me too. My first experience watching the Tour was in 85 when I was in England. I saw him being told to slow down so Hinault could win and I felt wronged. Like it was ME. Then I got heavy into it. Then I saw how strong he was in 86 and I went nuts lol. I immediately wanted to be like him.
Me too.
Read his book in my teens. What an inspiration. Head to head with Lance in their prime this guy wins the tour easy.
I went out and rode today for the first time in several months on account of this. Thanks Greg 🙏👍.
Greg is still the real deal. Great video!
A true champion! An amazing cycling career.
The only American winner of the Tour de France. A class act.
In 1989 I saw Greg close up as he walked past me to the time trial start house at The Tour de Trump in Richmond Va. He didn't look well and seemed a bit gray. That was in May. By late June I saw him again at the US Pro Cycling championships in Philadelphia as he raced by seemingly talking strategy with Alexi Grewal. In America Greg raced for the Coors team. This time he was tan and looked extremely healthy. That's when I knew he had a genuine shot at that years Tour. By the way, if memory serves me right I think he finished 10th at the 89 US pro championship.
I watched the Tour every summer when I was a kid and I remember this era vividly. I was routing for you man and I loved Hinault, he was a father figure to a lot of us French kids back then. You got all the credit in the world in my book.
True Legend.
As a former competitor Greg was my hero. Because I wasn't a doper, I was far from a standout.. The way Lance Armstrong treated Greg Le Mond,, Betsey Andrei and many other people is even more shameful than his doping. Greg Is still my hero. After watching Lance for two years I new what was up. I would prefer to be a moderately successful crit racer than lie my way into Grand Tours. Greg Is the only American to ever win the Tour! We have a long time to wait before we have another one!. It's a phenomenal accomplishment and Greg has done it three times!
Greg Lemond sparked my road cycling interest which you can consider probably the Golden years of cycling during the 80s, for me Greg LeMond is the epitome of the greatest time of cycling ever
As a teen, I rode fast bikes downhill because of Greg Lemond...thinking I was racing down the Pyrenees. I wasn't, of course, but a kid can dream.
One of my all time favourites and one of the few from that era that I think rode clean.
greg's win over fignon was the most amazing Ive ever seen. he dominated and for my money he did when he wasnt winning in 87-88 after the gunshot. he was a long run champion. he was just in another league. I loved riding, was a fast rider and used to easily passing most guys, but then I had a stroke in the off season that wrecked my whole right side and literally overnight I was like an old man at the back of every pack and cycling was ruined for me.
Much respect for you Greg
Supreme levels of honor, power, and intellect... with a VO2 max of 92.5. A superhuman.
Lemond is a god among men.
Lol superhuman you mean super EPO user
@@m.amonroy4465 where do they get u guys.
@@manuelaguirre1062 Probably Pharmstrong himself, for all that we know!! I wouldn't put ANYTHING past that colossal prick...
I learned about greg when i was 13yrs old reading his book in 1984 he was the inspiration for me to ride a bike & then the cycling bug bit me.i always wanted to become a pro cycelist & become the first american indian to ride the TOUR DE FRANCE (every young cyclist boys dream right?) but only managed to make cat2. but how would i ever know that in the circle of life 35yrs later i would end up living in Carson city NV. driving & cycling the same roads around carson city & Reno NV. thru Washoe valley that greg once rode. i also learned that Greg built a road bike called the WASHOE in witch he named after the Washoe Indians of Washoe Valley NV.Even tho i can't ride anymore because of being wounded i still have a great passion for steel classic road bikes & restore them in my home shop where I donate them to my fellow veterans.Its a great life. .(NATIVE AMERICAN DISABLED COMBAT VETERAN GULF WAR/SOMALIA US NAVY) FORMER RIDE TO RECOVERY MEMBER /PROJECT HERO RENO NV.
Thank you for your service sir! And your dedication to cycling and your brothers in arms! Its people like you that can make a difference in the world!
Truly sorry to hear you can't ride anymore. We're both the same age and I can relate to your youthful passion for cycling from the 80s. It was a great era! Steel is real!
Wow.Thats cool.I grew up in gardnerville & still live here.I watched greg train around here as well b4 the comeback in 89.Good on u & thanks for your service. Huh didn't think many remember Lemond around here.Good to see.
I agree, you would have won the tour 87, 88 Greg. Your a legend mate.👍👍
'85 TDF was also his for the taking but he gave in to his loyalty to his mentor, Hinault (who had only just lured him to the team from Renault that year) & the lies of the La Vie Claire team's DS, Koechli (who, years before the advent of race radio, lied to Greg about how far behind Hinault really was upon Luz-Ardiden & instructed Greg to wait for him, when Hinault was more than 3 minutes behind) & who really knows what would have happened from '91 onward (when Greg said that he felt the very best he ever had before a Tour) had EPO not arrived within the peloton as it did? But as Fignon used to say, suddenly mules became thoroughbred horses from one season to the next, such was the effect of EPO (& growth hormone, cortisone, etc) upon the peloton.
After the 70s my heroes were not hockey players anymore. These guys Marco Pantani, Greg Lemond and Tyler Hamilton are my new heroes.
Well, although I always liked Marco & Tyler as personalities, at least Greg, of those three, raced clean!!
Still get goose bumps watching that final time trial.....great battle between two great Champions
It makes me happy for Greg that Lance was caught and stripped of his wins. Greg told the truth while Lance was a liar and a cheater.
There would be no Lance without Greg. Greg tells the story of Bernard Tapie whisking him around 007 style to meet him on Slaying the Badger. That was the deal that brought the kingpin level money into cycling. Without Tapie's money, the doping in cycling would've stayed low-key. Tapie's money made doping become professional. Greg may not see it that way, but he was part of the influx of money that would bring in the hard doping that led to Lance's rise and fall. So he's no angel, but he's not the Walter White of cycling either.
Greg was an even bigger cheater than Lance.
Lance was just playing the Europeans’ game. What was really awful about Armstrong was how he treated people along the way. I would guess if he hadn’t been such a horrible human being, he wouldn’t have made so many enemies and been busted. He should have stopped while he was ahead. When he came back to race again, he pissed a lot of people off.
@@lordnosebergshekelmasterde6025
BS. You’re full of the proverbial substance.
My first hero as a boy. Still so much respect for Greg lemond.
"Had I been able to race in 87 and 88 -I would have dominated the sport" . Greg -give yourself a break -will ya. You made cycling HISTORY as no one else had ever done before .
Well said, John!! But as he added, no amount of wins would EVER have been sufficient for him...LEGEND!
@@lavielemond Yeah . I understand what lies beneath that comment. Guess I'll watch the video again now that I'm here.
He was fearless and also peerless! The greatest and only US winner of the Tour de France! 😁
Greg is the best American cyclist. His comeback was legit and should be celebrated and revered. Unlike the fraudulent story of POS Lance Armstrong.
Greg LeMond: The greatest American cyclist.
9Ballr except for lance......
@@ritid69 LeMond was much, much better than Lance. He got his wins without teammates, while Lance was delivered to the finish line by a superteam of dopers that controlled every race. Besides... dope.
@@mcaleerjm Thats right. In 81, Lemond took on the Russian "amateur" team at the Coors classic, and with basically no help, he beat them. Lemond was a cycling phenom. Without his accident and being teammates with Hinault, he wouldve won 6 tours. Without PED'S, he couldve won even more.
In '89 he pretty much won the TDF on his own. ADR was one of the weakest teams in that peloton. They didn't have any climber who could support him, much less anyone who could even keep up.
The only other racer I remember doing that was Stephen Roche in '87. His Italian teammates hated him but Roche had one Belgian teammate who still helped.
Inspirational, True, Hardworking Champion and Survivor - I am Chuffed to Own a Le Mond Bike !
Legend.
The first and only American to win the Tour.
AND I must say a wonderful wife to support him!! :-)
I moved to Reno around 94 and went into a bike shop knowing my size and got something nice used for $200. I wondered at the time why Lemond was plastered all over their walls.
Greg LeMond is one of the nicest gentlemen and incredible cyclists I have ever met!
That was close (got shot)... I am so glad Greg made it through.
I am 57 years old and Greg is the reason I got into cycleIng I have not loved anyone or anything as much as cycling don’t tell my wife
Greg was a machine since we raced as intermediates .
@Doug Scott no not until nationals at juniors in Seattle
@Doug Scott did you start racing in california? i Got 4th socal states, twice was the best i could do.
Nice to see Steve Bauer again! Great video!
used to like Bauer till he hooked
The Fenwick flyer!!😁🚴♂️🚴♂️🏁🍺
One of the two riders who I admired.....Phil Anderson the other
Back in 1977, Greg won the junior national championship after crashing twice. The story in Velo News was a classic view of things to come. He got second in 78 and then won again 79 with a solo finish (I was there). Then he goes on to win the junior world championships, the first American world male cycling champion ever. ( I believe there was a female world champion from America in the 60s). His talent was obvious from the beginning.
Thanks Greg. The only champ who was clean and stayed true to himself and us.
You are the one that keeps me riding. Thanks again.
My sister and I chased Greg after a stage of the Coors Classic, trying to get an autograph. He literally rode straight into the hotel lobby and we never got the autograph. But it was a fun memory.
You are loved Greg
I remember in 1989 the ADR team basically abandoned the Tour. He had 1 team mate left who (loaded up with water bottles) he took to Z-Peugeot.
The lead swapped almost day by day in the mountains, with the last stage to decide it.
The last TT in Paris resulted in the closest finish ever so far.
Great story of a great person and true champion and he didn't have to shit on his friends to do it like LA. The director who made the film The Program with Ben Foster said he had no interest in interviewing LA because he is still playing mind games and lying, mixing in enough truths to fool the gullible.
BEST DOCUMENTARY IVE EVER WATCHED ON CYCLING N LIFE..THANK YOU FOR THIS!
Thanks for uploading all of these.
The best U.S cyclist ever bar none! Way better than the drug cheat known as Lance Pharmstrong, the fake cancer survivor.
What an great American 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Could you say Greg was part of, almost at the culmination of the golden age of cycling, before it was corrupted and its integrity ruined. It seems he was the real deal a cycling hero before the cheaters took over.
Greatest cyclist ever. I believe two things went against Greg towards the end of his cycling career, the effects of his injury came back that began robbing him of his health and the peloton resorting to using performance enhancing drugs.
.
Greg!
It’s so strange how his story is very similar to Armstrong. The American cyclist who made a remarkable comeback from adversity. One is good and the other is evil..
Greg lemond is much more real than the other American bicycling champion, lance Armstrong.
To call Armstrong a champion is an insult to Greg.
Lancehole is a liar, a cheater and a thief. He belongs in prison. Lancehole betrayed his own , friends, coworkers and supporters. Lancehole destroyed peoples lives and looked down at everyone below his level. He NEVER ‘won’ anything.
Greg tried to help Lance when he was starting out in cycling. Lancehole was so full of himself, he demanded Greg sell him his house in Belgium. Greg always showed class and sportsmanship during his career. Lancehole has no idea what those words even mean. These two men have practically nothing in common besides racing bikes.
@@rollinrat4850 And yet people still cling to his myth, like the Emperor's New Clothes or true believer syndrome. Even Bradley Wiggins called him an "icon" recently, although there's more than a little irony in that given Wiggo's own "revelations".
uz1l0v3r There is plenty more evidence that Lemond raced clean than that he didnt. Look at the science, times and numbers.
Lemond had one of the highest VO2s ever tested among elite endurance athletes, not just cyclists. His was either 92.5 or 94. Ive seen both #s published. ‘94 was the last year he raced. In ‘94 his fitness #s were at the same level as they were during his 1st TDF victory in ‘86, the year he and Hinault dropped the peloton and dominated in TDF. Yet he was dropped for dead in ‘94.
During most of his career the powerful oxygen drugs were not yet on the scene. Theres also the scientific fact that these drugs dont benefit some physiologies in the same manner. The more natural talent one has, the less benefit you get. So the whole level playing field argument is blown out the door. Tyler Hamilton explained this stuff really well in his book. I believe this is really important and often overlooked.
Lancehole’s VO2 was 85. Much higher than an average cyclist but not at elite levels like Lemond. Lancehole had a great ability to recover and ‘superior’ training methods with oxygen drugs. Since he had a lesser natural talent, he gained more benefit from the drugs. He said himself he couldnt imagine competing in TDF without the drugs! Lancehole never had the natural ability to win TDF without drugs, plain and simple. He was a good one day racer or maybe in a week long tour.
All that and much more scientific evidence aside, and this is what makes him ‘Lancehole’ in my mind, Lemond NEVER FAILED a test!
Lemond never betrayed his teammates, friends and coworkers AND FANS.
Lemond is more of a hero now in Europe, more there than the US know of his fame.
Lemond was never a bad role model to those who idolized him and HIS KIDS!
Lemond never tried to destroy the lives of those he saw as competitors or illuminators. Lemond NEVER bribed the UCI to cover failed testing and also to destroy his competitors. The comparisons could go on and on. The 2 had little in common besides racing bikes.
The FACTS show Lancehole as a flawed character. He is a narcissist. He was completely consumed by his ego, fame, money and power. To ignore all these facts, one has to be a delusional fanboy!
Richard Dixon Simply by your comment we can tell what sort you are
Big salute 🫡 to the surgeon! Seeing the mess Greg was in and she pulled him out of certain death is under appreciated.
Not taking anything away from Greg LeMond, he deserves mad respect for what he accomplished and overcame, but I beg to differ with the narrative... the first great American cyclist would have been Major Taylor.
I agree with you, mate. Anyone who has read Dan De Visé's awesome book "The Comeback" would now know of Major Taylor & although I like to think that I'm very knowledgeable about this wonderful sport, I knew absolutely nothing about him before having read the book! Chapeau, mon ami!!
What a story man.... just wow.
Watch any videos from the 1986 TdF. If Greg had not been shot, he would have won 5 TdFs and at least 2 Giro-Tour doubles
I agree. I watched him live and was a massive fan. So sad he was shot. How he came back is amazing.
Absolutely. He could have beaten Hinault in 1985, then he won the Tour in 86, then missed two years after being shot, then won in 89 and 90.
@@fredpearson5204 and don't forget he had bronchitis in '84. Even though fignon seemed to have that one in the bag.....imagine finishing 3rd in the tour with bronchitis... Damn
Your math is amazing,
That's 2 less than Lance is in it?
John McLeod Lance nearly died of cancer and he won 7 Tours in a row. Nobody better. Greg a wanna be
What a badass. Unreal.
Fignon also said cycling changed in 91 when doping went nuclear. EPO was now widely used, added to the drugs menu. The speeds went nuts
The reason I got into cycling...
I truly believe Lance Armstrong never should’ve got removed from the history books. He was just the best doper amongst all of them dopers.
The real mvp
Amazing story and life should have had a movie off him made allready
SUPERB
Before he was shot, Greg raced the entire season. He podiumed in both the Classics and the Grand Tours. In 1985 Greg was 2nd at the TdF, 3rd at the Giro, 4th at Paris Roubaix, 2nd at the Worlds and won the Coors Classic.
He should have won TDF in ‘85!
I can relate to wanting to quit after the accidental shooting. I am not the same after getting shingles in my eye and all the problems I had from the anti-viral medications they had me on for months that messed up my kidneys and liver. It's taken two years to get almost back to where I was before all that stuff happened. But it doesn't seem that I'm ever going to completely get there.
@Steely Dan 5000 -- Thanks, will keep pressing forward like I have been
Don't over train . Remember -the word "health" begins with "heal".
John Agresti - Yes. I’ve learned to rest more. When I got the shingles I had a huge amount of stress in my life in like every area. Since then things have gotten better and I’ve learned some better ways of coping. The bike helps with that, I just have to not go overboard like you suggest.
@@VegasCyclingFreak OK . Take care of yourself.
As a 15-16 yr old he beat every 18-34 cat one rider. I watched he tear the legs off any rider who tried to race him. In the Butterfly classic in Pacific Grove he finished 2 1/2 laps ahead of 2nd place. He was just 16 years old
Greg Lemond. The Greatest American Cyclist.
The Tour Le Monds!!!
Behind. Greg is a painting/picture of a newly plowed field...odd. but maybe not so...it represents raw potential. Possibility.. belief in growth and youself
I wish Greg's coaches would have let him race the TDF from age 19 on. He was Awesome as a teen racer. I believe he would have won every race.
Wait! It's Greg Lemond here. THE most talented rider of his generation, fantastic palmares, and a great guy. If it wasn't for Lemond, you'd all be following soccer or tennis. I don't get the bitterness and criticism. He spoke French well, stood up for his fellow rider, and blazed a rainbow striped trail for US (and North American) Cycling. Results in MSR, Paris Roubaix, and Tour of Flanders. Not to mention WRR champion a couple of times. Doping? Really? That's your beef with Greg Lemond? C'mon!
brilliant