Cycling: Tour de France - Was '03 The Best Ever?

By JAMES RAIA

The Tour de France celebrated its 100th anniversary last July with what many believe was the best of the race's 90 editions.

Lance Armstrong overcame several well-documented obstacles on and off the bike to claim his fifth straight title.

In all, 53 different cyclists have now won the race. Some years, of course, have been more memorable than others.

Beyond last summer's epic three weeks, many journalists, authors and former riders cite Greg LeMond's 1989 final-stage performance as the race's greatest concluding day.

LeMond, returning to the race from a near-fatal accidental gunshot wound two years earlier, claimed a 15-mile time trial along the Champs Elysees in Paris. He averaged 33.8 mph -- still the fastest time trial in race history -- and overcame a 50-second deficit to beat defending titlist Laurent Fignon of France by eight seconds.

Few thought Fignon's margin was in jeopardy entering the final day, except LeMond, who instructed his team not to tell him his time splits during his ride.

"The Tour de France was determined in the final 100 meters on the final day. That's what cyclists dream of," said Frenchman Laurent Jalabert, twice honored as the best climber in the Tour and now a consultant for a French TV network. "It is what we still dream of."

With Fignon still on the course, LeMond crossed the line and was greeted by family and friends. When the time gap elapsed on the clock, LeMond was overcome with excitement.

When Fignon, the last rider on the course, who had begun two minutes after LeMond, finished, he buried his head into his hands and collapsed off his bike.

LeMond, Fignon and 23 other Tour winners attended the announcement in October of this year's race. And all are expected in Paris for the race's final day July 27.

Fignon, now a race organizer, remains bitter about his loss. "People still remember my loss more than they remember the winner," he said recently.

LeMond's stunning victory was the closest in history. But his 1986 victory, which ended the reign of five-time winner and French hero Bernard Hinault, also is mentioned among the Tour's best.

Other top Tours:

• Perhaps the most famous image in Tour history was on the Puy de Dome ascent in 1964. Frenchman Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor are shown touching shoulders as they rode side-by-side. Poulidor won the stage; Anquetil won his fifth title.

• "The 1986 (LeMond) and 1999 (Lance Armstrong) Tours were pretty gripping," says Jeremy Whittle, editor of Procycling, a British cycling magazine. "People always talk about the LeMond/Fignon year, but I think the '86 Tour was really exciting. It was thrilling because a whole new world was coming into cycling."

LeMond's victory in '86, the first of his three titles, was the first by an American.

"It was new for the English-speaking world; LeMond usurped Hinault," says Whittle, author of the book, A Century of the Tour de France. "It was thrilling to watch on TV. That was the Tour that got me into the sport."

Samuel Abt, author of numerous cycling books including his current Off To The Races, has covered the Tour for more than 20 years. He concurs that LeMond's second title was the event's finest year.

"Certainly, it was the most exciting," said Abt, who also cited LeMond's victory in 1986, Italian Marco Pantani's title in 1998 and Armstrong's victory in 1999.

"When LeMond won, it ended the French domination of the race after Bernard Hinault won five times," Abt said. "Armstrong's first title was exciting because of his return from cancer.

"There were other Tours that were dominating for the winners, like (Miguel) Indurain's wins and (Laurent) Fignon's wins. But they weren't exciting as much as they were boring."

© Copyright 2004, James Raia

Posted with the permission of James Raia.

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