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Reactions: Tour de France CNNSI.com users love LemondPosted: Wednesday July 12, 2000 07:30 PM
The Tour de France holds a special place in the hearts of many sports fans from around the world. CNNSI.com users recently shared their favorite moments. The unquestionable favorite of favorites was Greg Lemond winning by eight seconds over Lauren Fignon in 1989. A collection of some of our users' most interesting responses follows: Greg Lemond winning the Tour on the final stage in a time trial victory of eight seconds over Lauren Fignon. Who would have thought three weeks and 2,400 miles would be separated by eight seconds for the victory. Greg using the aero bars and aero helmet and Lauren riding with neither to allow his pony tail to blow in the wind! The greatest finish of all time for the TOUR!
I was working in Kosovo last year during the '99 Tour, and followed all the stages by shortwave radio. I had long been a Lance Armstrong booster, but when he won the Tour, I turned to my new colleagues (many of whom were French) and shouted "He's the Man!"
I have been watching the tour since I was 7-years-old growing up in France. I am now 37 years old. My favorite memory is Greg Lemond winning in 1989. What he did that final day in the time trial is the greatest sporting event I have ever seen. I have to explain to people what Greg did that day is like a pro baseball player hitting eight home runs in one game or a pro football player scoring 15 touchdowns in a game -- things you think could never happen. It was completely mind-boggling. It will always be the greatest sporting achievement of all time.
In the Summer of 1997, while visiting my brother in Paris, I watched the finale of the Tour de France on the Champs-Elysees. Having never attended a world sports event such as this, I was in awe of the spirit of the fans from all over the world. Fans draped in their favorite team's flag chanted cheers in French, German, Spanish, English and many other languages. Tour buses from all over Europe lined the Champs-Elysees and Avenid de La Grande Arme. They came with picnic baskets, wine, and cheese celebrating the event more than the winner. It was there that I caught the "Tour de France" fever. In 1999, from Austin, I not only followed the race, but celebrated the success of our hometown hero, Lance Armstrong!
My favorite memory is the moment leading up to Greg Lemond's Tour victory in 1989 as all eyes were watching the clock to see whether or not Lemond made up the 50 seconds he needed to defeat Laurent Fignon. The look of panic of Fignon's face was the epitome of the classic sports upset as he rode through the finish line eight seconds back of Lemond. Woohoo!
The 1989 tour had to be the best tour ever. Lemond coming back after not riding in the tour for two years and Fignon making such a big impact after being down for so long. It was like a Rocky movie, two heavyweights throwing punches and nobody backing down. The yellow jersey went back and forth until the final eight seconds. Everybody remembers Lemonds great ride but I believe that Fignon finished second in that time trial the final day. As happy as I was for Lemond, I felt bad for Fignon and he was a rider I had cared very little for before. My next memory is of Indurain and him on his time trial bike. It was truly a wonderful sight to watch him ride and motor along.
Well, it's hard to beat Armstrong's total domination in the first day of the mountains this year, but my favorite memory came in 1986, when Greg Lemond became the first American to ever win the Tour. I was checking into a campground in Belgium at precisely the same time Lemond was riding down the Champs-Elysees...as the announcer was describing the American's victory on the TV in the lobby, an old French guy hissed "American!" and spat. I let out a cheer, just so the old guy would know someone in Belgium was happy for Greg's great victory.
I got hooked on the Tour de France in 1985 when the Tour was featured on CBS Sports Spectacular with John Tesh. At some late stage in the mountains, Greg Lemond had escaped the pack and was ahead on the road when his team car came up beside him and forced him to drop back to the pack so that Bernard Hinault could win. He's on the bike, arguing with the team manager in French and eventually did as he was told. I'd never seen anything like it in all of sports.
In 1990, I was in France with my parents at just the right time to see the final stage of the tour. They didn't really care, however, and wanted to go see Versailles. Thankfully two of the people on our tour wanted to see the race, so I got to go. That year the stage ended with eight laps around the Champs Ellysee. We found a great spot to watch the first seven laps, then quickly hurried to near the finish to celebrate with other Americans as Greg Lemond won! Not only my finest tour memory, but one of the most memorable experiencs of my lifetime!
Well outside Lance Armstrong's tour win last year. The one memory I have is Greg Lemond's brilliant if not unbelievable comeback to win the 1989 touring the final stage making up 58 seconds to Laureaunt Fingon. Nobody thought Lemanod could make up the necessary time to win the Tour, but he went and just let it all go.
My favorite rider of all time is Miguel Indurain. I Remember in one the Tour De Frances when he and Tony Rominger battle for the Yellow Jersey through the French Alpes. During one of these mountain stages, Tony Rominger got a way and had built a pretty good lead over Indurain. However, Indurain, used his descending skills to catch back up with him. The problem with the last couple of Tours comes from the fact there always one rider a lot better than the rest. Nothing like the Greg Lemond/ Bernard Hinault, Greg Lemond/ Fignon, Indurain/Rominger rivalries. I think Armstrong was lucky last year. He earned the victory but with Ullrich, Jalabert, and Pantani.
I always remember the stars that brought me into the sport, and being just 16 years old, only one name comes to mind. That being the name of Miguel Indurain. I knew so little about cycling when he won his first, but five years later after his fifth, I understood what the race was all about, the main competitors in the field, and the greats throughout history. I was just blessed to be brought into the sport by perhaps the greatest of all time.
There are many memories that come to my mind, but maybe the most memorable came the year I became a Tour de France fan. It happened on 1982 or 1983 when I decided to witness on hand a mountain stage on the Alps. The day before, an unknown Spanish rider at the time, Pedro Delgado, had won a stage in the Alps and was second in the classification. I thought that it was a good moment to go up to the Alps and give a little support to Pedro and the rest of the riders. Once I arrived at a point to see the Caravan, I decided to climb up the road a few kilometers to get a better view. While I walked, I found it strange that there were so few people on the side of the road, normally it should have been packed with fans. Soon I found out why: the cyclists were riding DOWNHILL at 80 km an hour! I barely had time to see them go by...What a disappointment and no sight of Delgado. That day he lost more than 20 min. and lost all possibilities to win (he would win the Tour some years later).
My favorite Tour memory would have to be in 1996. When Indurain cracked and Bjarne Riis tore the race apart. Never before had Indurain been in such trouble and he looked so helpless. That stage also saw Luc LeBlanc's last moment of glory as he won one of the most dramatic stages in Tour history.
I was visiting Paris on a business trip, and staying at a hotel on the Ru Di Rivoli. I had been watching the Tour on TV, trying to sort out the "only in French" broadcaster's description of the status. Greg Lemond was very close to a French rider, and the race was to end the next day at the traditional spot in Paris. What I was not told, and did not know, was that I would be unable to catch a taxi from my hotel on the day of my departure because of the Tour finish. Good news as it turned out, as I was able to watch the finishers, and see Greg Lemond fly by using the newer aerodynamic devices. He ended up beating his closest rival by eight seconds!
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