Photograph by Brian Lanker

"It was a ride every bit as shocking to cycling enthusiasts as Bob Beamon's long jump in Mexico City was to track fans--a performance the experts believed simply could not be done. Not with the Tour de France on the line. Not by a mere mortal, made of flesh and blood and sinew."

"Certainly not be 28-year-old Greg LeMond, whose body is all those things plus approximately 30 small lead pellets."

Text by E.M. Swift
Issue Date: December 25, 1989

In 1989 Greg LeMond returned to competition after recovering from a near-fatal hunting accident that had occurred two years earlier. In championship form, LeMond closed a seemingly insurmountable 50-second gap in the last stage of the Tour de France to overtake leader Laurent Fignon and win his second Tour championship.