The True Cycling American Hero. Did it clean. Stood for his principles and survived!!!
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I never knew he had been shot and nearly died
The only American to win the Tour de France
Love it!
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I am sure a certain Mr Blacksocks would make an argument about that 
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I get chills thinking about his time trial performance to win the '89 tour by 8 seconds in the final 24.5KM ITT stage. He told his DS not to give him time splits. I can’t find the quote, but I recall that when asked why, he said something to the effect of “…in supreme effort, there is no strategy”.
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Everyone remembers the final stage, but few remember how epic the 89 Tour was overall. Fignon, Lemond and Delgado, all throwing haymakers at each other in the mountains. Yellow jersey changing hands constantly…Lemond grabs it after the first TT (which was over 60km IIRC 
), loses it in the Pyrennes to Fignon…only to take it back again on the uphill TT to again lose it on the Alpe…the amazing stage into Aix-les-Bains.
The whole damn race was on another level…no domestiques guiding their leaders to the last 2km. It was mano-a-mano from the mid-point in most mountain stages to the finish.
No TdF has touched it since.
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Slaying the Badger is an excellent look back at early Lemond and his relationsihp with Hinault. This film looks to be a nice companion piece.
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I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Delgado had got to the start of the prologue on time.
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So hard to predict…you also have to remember that he lost even more time the next day when his team dropped him in the TTT.
As a result, he was given some leash in the mountains when he normally would not have…at the end of the day, I think the end result would have been similar w/ Delgado in 3rd. Whether the resulting tactics would have been enough for Fignon to eventualy triumph over Lemond? 
For those who have never seen it, here is the classic Famous Cycling Videos version…2 parts:
ETA - Forgot Erik Breukink won the prologue using toe clips. 
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I got a little laugh when I saw this shot in the trailer and immediately my mind went to Tour de Pharmacy.
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I will show them… I will not ride slow… I WILL RIDE FAST!!!
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I’ll watch it when it comes out but from the trailer, it looks like a rehash of everything I’ve seen before.
Meh… I don’t think much would have changed had Delgado shown up on time for the prologue. Fignon and Lemond let him go on a few stages. That wouldn’t have happened had he been closer in the GC. Also, people tend to forget that Lemond’s team, ADR, was not exactly considered a powerhouse. Greg probably benefited from having friends in the peloton from other teams, but still… not the same type of team dynamics you seem today. And FWIW, no race radios!
Also, one thing to consider is that Lemond won the two ITTs and literally dragged ADR to 5th in the TTT, so it seems likely that he was the strongest rider, although I concede that the strongest rider does not always win the TdF. Personally, I believe if it were not for the hunting accident (and later, the prevalence of doping), I think Lemond might have won at least 6 TdFs. And he wasn’t a dick, like a later American rider.
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If EPO hadn’t come along, Indurain probably wouldn’t have won a Tour and Lemond would have probably won another. The hunting accident surely derailed him for a couple of years. He may have won in 87 (Roche) or 88 (Delgado).
Indurain won in 1991 and that would have been the end of the line for Lemond without pharma help.
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I agree on Slaying THe Badger.
Sadly the author, Richard Moore passed away last year. He was a founder of the Cycling Podcast and I really enjoyed his work there
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Unfortunately, the podcast has not been the same since he passed.
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I’ve noticed this. Lionel doesn’t seem to have his heart in stepping up or only seems to be able to commit so much energy to TCP. Daniel has taken the leadership role but I can’t take so much of him and the wine talk.
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Lionel has been pretty open about his mental health struggles….I do wonder if Richard’s passing exacerbated them. But I am glad he is taking the time he needs and getting help.
But Richard was the lynchpin to the podcast with Daniel and Lionel in support roles. I don’t think either one has the right personality to be the new core of the podcast, as much as I enjoy them both.
That was one of the reasons I was kinda hoping Caley Fritz would end up there when Outside screwed up CT.
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