By Dave Campbell — The cycling world lost a true American pioneer and legend on January 15th to a climbing accident on the cliffs above Portuguese Beach in Mendocino State Park. Doug Shapiro, a two-time Olympian, and the third American to ride the Tour de France, was 65 years old.
Doug grew up just outside of New York City, playing soccer as a kid. At age 13 his coach suggested maintaining fitness in the off season through other sports. A German language professor at his school ran a cycling club and took some of the students to see a race in Central Park and young Doug thought it looked fun and exciting. He began racing, and soon was winning those same races, competing on the National level by his mid-teens. He made his first Olympic team in 1980 at just twenty years old, with help from his good friend and University of Florida college roommate Andy Weaver. They were teammates for many years, first on Austro-Daimler, then Gita/Pinarello, and finally the mighty 7-Eleven. Both would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House when the games were boycotted.
I first met Doug in 1983 at the Coors Classic, where his gritty riding on the final day pushed him into second overall in America’s biggest race. In 1983 and 1984 he became a core part of the American National Team that conquered Europe like never before at the biggest Amateur events. He always looked for ways to improve and spent the winter of 1983-84 going on long, hard training rides with none other than Greg Lemond, focused on the 1984 Olympics. As a result, he won a stage and placed fifth in Belgium’s Circuit des Ardennes and later played the perfect teammate for Thurlow Rogers in Italy’s prestigious Milan-Mendrisio ensuring the win for the Yanks. In their final event that spring Shapiro’s American team won the Team Time Trial at Italy’s Settimana Bergamasca over the mighty East Germans, with Doug winning another stage and earning fifth overall. The following year he triumphed in the Coors Classic, which he considered his biggest athletic achievement as the race featured most of that year’s Olympic riders. He made the Olympic team again, but unfortunately Doug, nicknamed “Bullet” due to his ferocious turn of speed, would be first alternate amongst a deep pool of talent.
In typical fashion, Doug continued to challenge himself, turning pro and contesting that year’s World Championships in Spain. A talent scout for top Dutch team Kwantum-Decosol had seen Doug’s Coors win and offered him a ride with a Composite team for the Dutch Olympia Tour. Performing well there, he was later signed to a contract supporting none other than past Tour and Vuelta winner Joop Zootemelk. Heady stuff considering Shapiro had posters of the great Dutchman on his walls growing up!
He started strongly with the Dutch squad in 1985, placing fifth in the Belgian semi-classic Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. He considered these “home roads” as he trained regularly there with Lemond and Phil Anderson. He also placed second in a stage of the French Midi-Libre stage race, earning a ride in the Tour de France as a domestique assigned to Zootemelk. He brought him food and drinks, sheltered him from the wind, and brought him to the front for the climbs, while managing a solid 74th place overall finish in Paris. He found he grew stronger as the race wore on. Always the consummate teammate, he helped the squad to second in the Team Time Trial and showed his strength with 24th in the long individual test on Stage 8. He and Lemond were the only Americans in that year’s event, both on foreign teams.
He returned to the states for his beloved Coors Classic, on loan to the 7-Eleven squad. He won the mountainous Stage ten from Golden into Boulder solo, but a last-minute course change meant the riders arrived fifteen minutes early and the course was still open to traffic. Undeterred, he wove his way through with great determination to post up victoriously in front of the Hotel Boulderado and ultimately finished the race third behind Lemond and Andy Hampsten. For 1986, he would race with 7-Eleven full-time and lend valuable experience to the first ever American team in the Tour de France but ultimately abandoned with illness. He came back to record three podium finishes and place eighth overall in the most competitive Coors Classic yet. Immediately after, he represented the USA at its first ever elite World Championships in Colorado Springs, riding prominently enroute to a solid 28th place finish.
Doug overcame significant adversity during his career. His 1987 season was marred by a horrible crash that broke his femur, and always gracious, he credited the help of his 7-Eleven teammate Eric Heiden, then a medical student, with saving his life. He recovered but a crash at the 1988 Coors aggravated the same injury, putting him in a wheelchair for a while. He once again rallied, earning sixth place in the prestigious GP Ameriques World Cup event in Canada and represented his country strongly with a lengthy breakaway in the 1988 Worlds, but admitted his injured leg was never the same.
1989 was his last year racing and he and Len Pettyjohn unknowingly were both pitching Coors (who had stopped sponsoring their stage race) to fund a professional team. They ultimately combined forces, with Len managing and Doug serving as a rider coach in his final year, and nurturing young talents like Greg Oravetz. In 1990, he wrote and advised the first ever cycling safety and technique video with his former 7-Eleven team which proved useful to both novice and experienced cyclists alike.
He initially worked as a sales rep for Serotta bicycles upon retirement and later software sales after a move to Marin County. By the early 2000s, however, he found his true calling. Shapiro had seen the devastation from collisions of cyclists with cars dating back to his teens. He ultimately formed a company to provide expert witness services and investigate crime scenes for those involved in bicycle car collisions, a cause close to his heart. One of the things he was most honored by was his induction into the National Jewish Athletes Hall of fame in 1999, just a short drive from his childhood home.
Doug is survived by Ally, his loving wife of 23 years, who notes “In 65 years he lived more than most humans ever could imagine their life to be like. First as a dedicated athlete and second as the most amazing husband and father”. He leaves behind sons Enzo and Cash, aged 13 and 11, 28-year-old stepdaughter Shana and two grandchildren, Elle and Kingston, aged 3 and 1.
