I will start this story out with a quote from ESPN First Take Host Stephen A. Smith….when he and Skip Bayless were debating the issue of whether 7-time Tour de France” champion cyclist Lance Armstrong was using PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) or not…..as Stephen A said, “You know what you know …..and you don’t know what…
Alex Stieda is a former professional road bicycle racer from Canada…..who led five classifications of the Tour de France on the second day of the 1986 Tour de France…..including the general classification, the mountains classification, the combination classification, the intermediate sprints classification and the young rider classification….thus becoming the first North American to lead the Tour de France. Stieda finished in 120th place in his only Tour de France….while riding on the…
In this 1986 Tour de France video seen herewith…..CBS race analyst Phil Liggett takes the viewer on a historical journey of the great French bicycle race…..from it’s humble beginnings…..when the cyclists had to carry their own bikes…..as there were no team cars and technicians to fix bikes that break…..or trainers and masseuse to fix the…
One of the truly great sports rivalries took place on top of racing bike seats during the cycling seasons of 1984, 1985 and and culminating in 1986 at the Tour de France…..and although it was a short lived rivalry…..while vividly and vibrantly taking place really over a total of about 72 or so days (…
Stage 5 of the 1986 Tour de France took place on July 8th….which covered the 124.5 km / 77.4 mile course from Evreux to Villers-sur-Mer, France…..and was a “plain stage” won by NED Johan van der Velde….who is a former Dutch cyclist…..when in the 1980 Tour de France, he won the young rider classification….while also placing 12th in the general classification that year….after he…
Following the success of Bernard Hinault in the1985 Tour de France….the La Vie Claire team was heavily favored in 1986….as Hinault had promised to return Greg LeMond’s support to win the 1985 Tour…. however, continuing attacks cast doubt on Hinault’s sincerity….when he claimed that his tactics were simply to wear down LeMond’s opponents….and that he ultimately knew that LeMond would…
Stages 9, 10 and 11 were flat….although the lead changed several times….first to Dominique Gaigne….then to Johan van der Velde….and later to Jørgen V. Pedersen…..as there were no significant time differences between the favorites…..with the only real test being the ninth stage…..which was an individual time trial won by Benard Hinault….which put him in third place just 49 seconds…
The race route for the 1986 edition of the Tour de France was unveiled on October 8th, 1985 by both Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan…..as the race’s holding was pushed back a week from its normal date in order to prevent overlap with the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Covering a total of 4,094 km / 2,544 mi…. which included four time trials….with three…
Stage 20 of the 1986 Tour de France was run on July 24 over a 58 km / 36 mile course around the city of Saint-Etienne….which was an individual time trial…..as FRA Bernard Hinault still had a small chance of beating his teammate USA Greg LeMond…..and one of those chances was in the individual time…