I thought I’d reminise a little about the 1989 Tour de France, quite possibly the greatest one ever.
Greg Lemond used Aerodynamics to beat Laurent Fignon to the 1989 Tour de France by 8 Secs Notice Skinsuit - Aero Helmet and Disc Wheel.
Perhaps you have other favorite years, but its the greatest I can actually remember, as I was thirteen at the time.
It was the 76th Tour de France, and the closest one EVER. Heres a brief recap:
Greg Lemond was tailing Laurent Fignon by a mere 50 seconds on the final run into Paris. In the time trial Lemond got is bike up to 54.545km (32.52mph for non-Europeans). Thats a fair old pace, in fact it goes down in history as one of the fastest time trials ever. He achieved this by making use of his 55 x 12 gears, superior aerodynamics due to his handlebars, and a little help from his superhuman legs.
He ultimately made up the 50 second gap on Fignon, and won the race by eight seconds. Eight seconds!!!
This is why I’m nominating the 1989 tour as the greatest ever, and since then there has not been a situation where an individual time trial has decided the race.
Check it out here: Spectacular stuff, powering down towards the Arc de Triomphe…
If you’ve got any other fave years, let us know, as this one I think is hard to beat.