Greg LeMond

Gregory James "Greg" LeMond (born June 26, 1961 in Lakewood, California) is an American road racing cyclist who raced as a professional from 1981 to 1994.

He became the first American to win the Tour de France in 1986. In 1987 he was injured in a shooting accident, and could not race again until 1989, when he won the Tour de France again. He beat the French cyclist Laurent Fignon in an individual time trial using aero bars, which made him more aerodynamic (able to move through air easily). He won the Tour de France again in 1990. He now runs a bicycle company, and works to help people who are victims of sexual abuse. He has been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.^[1]

Major achievements and accolades[change | change source]

1979: UCI Road World Championships U23 Road Race
1980: Member, United States Olympic Cycling Team
1981 – Renault-Elf-Gitane

First year as a professional.

Coors Classic (1st overall; 2 stage wins); Tour of Oise (1 stage win)
1982 – Renault-Elf-Gitane: Tour de l'Avenir (1st overall; 3 stage wins); UCI Road World Championships Road Race (2nd-Silver Medal); Tour Méditerranéen (2nd overall); Giro di Lombardia (2nd); Grand Prix des Nations (2nd)
1983 – Renault-Elf-Gitane: UCI Road World Championships Road Race (1st - Gold Medal); Dauphiné Libéré (1st overall; 3 stage wins); Tour Méditerranéen (Stage 1 win)
1984 – Renault: Tour de France (3rd overall; 1st young rider, 1st Stage 3 Team Time Trial); Liège-Bastogne-Liège (3rd); Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (3rd overall; Stage 7b win); Tirreno-Adriatico (5th overall)
1985 – La Vie Claire: UCI Road World Championships Road Race (2nd - Silver Medal); Coors Classic (1st overall; Stage 5 win); Tour de France (2nd overall; 2nd points; 1st Stage 21 ITT); Giro d'Italia (3rd overall); Vuelta al País Vasco (2nd overall); Paris-Roubaix (4th); Omloop Het Volk (4th)
1986 – La Vie Claire: Tour de France (1st overall; Stage 13 win; 7 days in maillot jaune); Giro d'Italia (4th overall; Stage 5 win); Milan-Sanremo (2nd); Coors Classic (2nd overall; Stage 5 win); Tour de Suisse (3rd overall; 1st points classification); Paris-Nice (3rd overall); Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (6th overall; Stage 4 win)
1988: Tour of the Americas (2nd overall)
1989: Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year; ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year; UCI Road World Championships Road Race (1st - Gold Medal); Tour de France (1st overall; Stage 5 ITT win; Stage 19 win; Stage 21 Champs-Élysées ITT; 7 days in maillot jaune); Tour of the Americas (3rd overall); Giro d'Italia (39th overall)
1990 – Z: ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year; Tour de France (1st overall; 2 days in maillot jaune); Züri-Metzgete (2nd); UCI Road World Championships Road Race (4th); Giro d'Italia (105th overall)
1991 – Z: World's Most Outstanding Athlete Award, Jesse Owens International Trophy; Tour de France (7th overall; 6 days in maillot jaune); Tour DuPont (12th overall)
1992 – Z: USA Cycling's Korbel Lifetime Achievement Award; Tour DuPont (1st overall; Prologue (ITT))
1996: Inductee, United States Bicycling Hall of Fame