By Dave Campbell — After Greg LeMond won the World Road Championship in 1983, cycling interest in America reached a level not seen since the heyday of Major Taylor and the Six Days at Madison Square Garden. 1984 was to be the year of his Tour de France debut. CBS Sports covered the 1984 Paris-Roubaix for the first time, with special interest in the man in the rainbow jersey, but he failed to finish. His spring had started well at Italy’s Tirreno-Adriatico where he notched three top four finishes in the road stages, second in the final time trial, and fifth overall. The classics, however, had been a bust with 9th in Ghent-Wevelgem and 15th in Flanders. He finally showed a glimmer of form in late April, finishing third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and then winning a stage at the Clasico RCN stage race in Colombia before disaster struck.
After returning from ten days of high-altitude mountainous racing in Colombia, he crashed hard in a small race in the Netherlands. Rushed to hospital, he was placed in intensive care for a day with one doctor even fearing brain damage. He told New York Times columnist Samuel Abt “The doctors wanted me to stay out of riding for ten days, but that would mean no Dauphiné Libéré, which meant no Tour de France”. Three days later he was indeed racing at the Dauphiné, which he won in 1983, in preparation for his first Tour. Placing third in the mountainous stage five, he won the final time trial to finish third overall but well behind Colombian sensation Martin Ramirez and former teammate and four-time winner Bernard Hinault. But he was clearly ready for his first Tour and the French newspaper editors at L’Équipe listed he and 1983 Tour champion Fignon as the favorites. Hinault, who was coming back from injury and on a new team (La Vie Claire) financed by French celebrity entrepreneur Bernard Tapie, was expected to be their closest challenger.
The longest race LeMond had ever finished was the 1982 Tour de l’Avenir, which was eleven days long but time-wise less than a third of the length of the Tour. L’Américain had started the 1983 Vuelta but lasted only sixteen stages, dropping out with bronchitis. Despite his status as reigning World Champion, he was charting new territory and turned just twenty-three a few days before the start. Riding for Renault-Elf-Gitane, he would share leadership responsibilities with recently crowned French Champion Fignon, a potentially difficult proposition. Again, he told Abt “You can always use two leaders, at least for the first week. Then we’ll see who’s in the best position. I know I would work for him, and I think he would work for me. I’m going to do as well as I can. I want to do the best that’s possible. If I don’t succeed this year, I’ve got five or six more tries. At my age, if I finish in the top three to five, I’ll be happy. Not many people win it the first time out like Merckx or Hinault.”
The previous best American finish in the race was twelfth by Jonathan Boyer the year before, and at that point he was the only American who had ridden the race. The 1984 Tour, the 71st edition, would begin on June 29 and run through July 22. Seventeen teams (seven French, two from Belgium, two Dutch, two from Spain, one from Switzerland, one from Italy, one from Portugal, and a team of amateurs from Colombia) of ten riders would contest 23 stages, 4020 kilometers, with just one rest day. There were five total time trials: a prologue, two individual tests, a mountain time trial, and a team test. There would be just one day in the Pyrénées mountains but a staggering four consecutive days in the Alps after the mountain time trial to La Ruchère.
LeMond was the only rider showing first-time jitters at the 5.4 km prologue from Montreuil to Noisy-le-Sec, forgetting to sign in and incurring a 75 franc fine. Held up by the American television crews that would hound him throughout the three weeks, he arrived late to the start ramp and was still tightening his toe straps as he received his countdown. Hinault won three seconds clear of Fignon, with LeMond in ninth twelve seconds further adrift. The enthusiastic LeMond mixed it up in the 148.5 km first stage field sprint into Saint Denis finishing ninth. The stage was won by Belgian Frank Hoste whose countryman Ludo Peeters took the yellow jersey. Greg’s teammate Marc Madiot won the 250 km, seven-hour stage two with a late attack as Dutchman Jacques Hanegraaf, a teammate of Peeters, took over the yellow jersey. Madiot today directs the French FDJ.com squad and his stage would be the first of a staggering ten wins by LeMond’s dominant team. Their next victory came on stage three’s team time trial where they defeated Panasonic-Raleigh by four seconds but Hanegraaf of third-placed Kwantum kept yellow.
Belgian Ferdi Van den Haute won the short Stage 4 into Bethune and Mathieu Van der Poel’s father, also on the Kwantum team took yellow with young LeMond now in sixth, just 19 seconds down. He had developed a cough, however, that would later turn to bronchitis and require him to be on antibiotics for nearly two weeks. On the 207 km stage five to Cergy-Pontoise, three “no hopers” were allowed to break clear and gain almost 18 minutes. Portuguese rider Paulo Ferreira won the sprint, but LeMond’s teammate and friend Vincent Barteau took the yellow jersey. He would not relinquish it until stage seventeen. Belgian Hoste won another sprint on stage six into Alençon with LeMond now eleventh overall. The 67 km stage seven time-trial to Le Mans was won decisively by Fignon on board his aerodynamic Gitane Delta low profile bicycle. Only sixteen seconds clear of second placed Sean Kelly, he put nearly a minute into Hinault. LeMond managed only tenth, over two minutes down and finished coughing, telling reporters “I didn’t expect to be beaten by that much”. He rose to eighth on GC but now trailed Fignon and Hinault significantly as well as his training partner and another race favorite Phil Anderson of Australia.
The following day’s flat stage into Nantes was won by another Renault man, Fignon’s close friend Pascal Jules with no change in the overall. Stage nine from Nantes to Bordeaux is the sort of thing that has been eliminated from modern tours…a 338-kilometer flat slog through the heat that took the riders nearly ten hours to complete. LeMond, known for his attention deficit difficulties told British Cycling Weekly that “Some of the older guys like those stages, but I would prefer a transfer. It’s so boring riding for ten hours on such a flat route. It’s not a physical thing, although you ache and get sore, but it’s longer than a flight across the Atlantic, and I get so bored doing them as well!” Dutchman Jan Raas won the day, but Renault had to chase hard when LeMond missed a split in the crosswinds, which was not ideal as the Pyrénées approached, nor were his sore feet. LeMond has flat feet and unique toes and developed a large corn that required a visit to the race doctor and nearly ended his race. Custom orthotics and shoes that spread out the pressure points didn’t exist in 1984, and all the riders used caged metal pedals with toe clips and straps which were especially problematic for Greg’s unique feet.
Eric Vanderaerden won another flat stage into Pau while Barteau maintained the lead as the Pyrénées loomed while LeMond visited the race doctor to have his feet treated. He suffered immensely in the seven-hour Pyrenean stage into Guzet-Neige that climbed 4500 meters. Dropped on the first climb, he showed wisdom beyond his years and didn’t panic, riding his own pace and limiting his losses with the help of teammates. He eventually finished 16th losing nearly four minutes to stage winner and King of the Mountains, Robert Millar. LeMond admitted he almost quit this day but wanted to honor coach Cyrille Guimard’s patience with him. He dropped to ninth, over four minutes behind Fignon, now clearly the team leader even though Barteau still wore yellow. Renault man Pascal Poisson won the next day’s flat stage while LeMond grabbed a bonus sprint to move up to seventh, but still trailed favorites Hinault, Fignon, and Anderson. The depth and strength of Renault were on display again when team helper Pierre-Henri Menthéour won the long hilly stage thirteen from Blagnac into Rodez. On another long and hilly transition stage the following day, LeMond was caught too far back when the field split and lost another dozen seconds to Hinault, Fignon, and Anderson. Greg rode strongly the following day, however, finishing eighth and moving up to sixth overall as the race arrived in Grenoble for the only rest day at the foot of the Alps prior to a brutal final week.
The stage sixteen time-trial saw Fignon trounce everyone, including the specialist climbers. He covered the 22 kilometers that climbed 1000 meters in just over forty-two minutes while LeMond, suffering from both his sore feet and breathing problems struggled to seventeenth nearly two minutes behind which dropped him back to eighth, now six minutes behind Fignon and three minutes back of Hinault. It was in the following days, however, that Greg began to recover and show his true class, growing stronger as the race progressed. Stage seventeen to l’Alpe d’Huez was only 151 km long but gained nearly 5500 meters. Colombian amateur Luis Herrera made history with his win at the famous ski resort while Barteau finally crumbled, losing ten minutes. Fignon dropped all the other contenders to finish second and take a yellow jersey he would never relinquish. Our American hero passed a fading Hinault on the final climb to finish sixth and leap up to fifth on the GC, 8:45 back of his dominant teammate.
Fignon had spoken publicly over the winter about his American teammate, predicting he would leave Renault for more money and during the evening at l’Alpe d’Huez, that scenario began to unfold. When LeMond stepped out to stretch his legs after dinner, he was approached by “a woman in a black leather suit, just like in a James Bond movie. She said Monsieur Tapie would like to see you, please come with me and so I hopped on the back of her motorcycle!” Arriving at Tapie’s chateau, LeMond was asked if he would “like to make more money than he ever dreamed of”. The dominance of his old team had made it abundantly clear to Hinault, who planned to retire at the end of 1986, that he needed a back-up leader and LeMond was offered a million dollars over three years. It was a significant raise from the $125,000 he was currently making at Renault, and he would eventually take the offer which subsequently improved the contracts for all riders.
On the following day’s queen stage to La Plagne, an Alpine monster climbing 6000 meters in 185 km, Fignon attacked on the final climb to win solo, over a minute clear. Behind, the rejuvenated LeMond attacked, claiming third on the stage just over a minute back and clawing back nearly two minutes from Hinault. He leapt up to third and took over the white neophyte jersey from Barteau, who lost over twenty minutes. The following day’s stage to Morzine was another brute, climbing 5500 meters in 185 km and the tired favorites all finished together behind solo winner Angel Arroyo of Spain. After winning the next day’s mid mountain stage, Fignon had over nine minutes on Hinault with LeMond a little over a minute further adrift. After another boring 320-kilometer flat stage, the 51 km final time trial was the only significant hurdle remaining. Fignon won it just a fraction ahead of Kelly with Hinault thirty-six seconds back and LeMond in fourth just forty-one seconds down. He would roll into Paris the following day in third overall, on the winning team and in the white jersey of best young rider. His final week was stunning, with experts wondering what the talented American would do at the Tour when healthy. After all, his coach Guimard noted he had effectively ridden his debut Tour “on one leg!”
Bibliography:
- Abt, Samuel (1985) Breakaway: On the Road with the Tour de France. Random House.
- De Vise, D. (2018) The Comeback: Greg LeMond, the True King of American Cycling, and a Legendary Tour de France. Atlantic Monthly Press.
- Martin, Pierre (1984). Tour 84. Kennedy Brothers.
- Moore, R. (2011). Slaying The Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France. Yellow Jersey Press.
- Sidwells, C. (2015). “Cycling Legends: Greg LeMond” presented by Cycling Weekly. P. 30-36
