LeMond was an "exceptionally gifted" amateur rider who quickly established himself as one of the most talented cyclists on the professional circuit. Respected cycling journalist John Wilcockson, who reported the
Tour de France for more than 40 years, described LeMond as a rider who was
fuoriclasse.
1981–1983: Early years LeMond's first professional victory came three months into his 1981 debut when he won a stage of the French
Tour de l'Oise. LeMond followed with a win in the
Coors Classic in the United States, finishing ahead of
Sergei Sukhoruchenkov, the 1980 Olympic Road champion. The major step forward in 1981 occurred in the
Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race, where LeMond placed third. The achievement is the more remarkable because he rode the race in support of team leader
Bernard Hinault. LeMond missed standing on the podium with race winner Hinault, as
Pascal Simon had finished ahead of him. Two weeks later, Simon was assessed a 10-minute penalty when it was discovered he had been doping. LeMond considered the race to have been a "major steppingstone" in his career. LeMond stated, "It showed me that I had the kind of climbing ability that you need to win the top European stage races." He won a total of five races in his rookie season of 1981. On April 11, 1982, LeMond broke his collarbone while racing the
cycling classic Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The injury forced LeMond to ride a reduced schedule before entering the
World Championships, which were in
Goodwood, England that year. In the men's road race competition, LeMond broke for the line but was out-sprinted by Italian
Giuseppe Saronni. Bronze medalist
Sean Kelly, a favorite to win the race, was with Saronni when he caught LeMond with about 200 meters to go, but he could not hold his wheel. Said Kelly: "I don't think that Boyer was fading ... He got quite a good gap. Nobody wanted to go after him ... Yes, LeMond chased down Boyer. Boyer was the only man up the road." LeMond did not apologize. The U.S. team was not as set up as the European teams, and did not have an independent race to determine the national champion. Instead, the highest finisher at the World's was considered the national champion. LeMond had argued for the team to compete as the European teams did, but team management and Boyer voted against him. Thus, unlike the other teams at the world championship, the US riders were competing against each other. At age 21, LeMond was the first American pro to win a medal at the World's since Frank Kramer took silver in 1912. Two weeks later, on September 20, 1982, LeMond won the mountainous 12-day,
Tour de l'Avenir by a record 10 minutes, 18 seconds. The victory, and the time advantage LeMond held at the end, stunned Europe and provided broad confirmation that LeMond was indeed
fuoriclasse. (
Audrey McElmury won in 1969 and
Beth Heiden won in 1980.)
1984–1986: Grand Tours jersey of the
1985 Tour de France LeMond rode his first Tour de France in
1984, finishing third in support of team leader
Laurent Fignon, and winning the white jersey of the
young rider classification. The following year, he was brought across to
La Vie Claire to ride in support of team captain
Bernard Hinault who had regained his form and was attempting to win his fifth Tour. French businessman and team owner
Bernard Tapie signed LeMond with a $1 million contract over three years. In the race, Hinault led through the early mountain stages, but suffered a crash and came into difficulty. At this point, it was clear that LeMond was an elite rider capable of winning the Tour in his own right. LeMond possessed a natural talent for riding the Grand Tours and got stronger over the course of a three-week race. The injured Hinault was vulnerable, and his competitors knew it. Stage 17 included three major climbs in the Pyrenees. On the second, the
Col du Tourmalet, LeMond followed
Stephen Roche in an attack, but was not given permission to help build on the gap over the field. The managers of his La Vie Claire team ordered the 24-year-old LeMond not to ride with Roche, but to sit on his wheel, a tactic to use the rider in front as cover for wind resistance so the following rider uses less energy. The pace Roche could put out by himself eventually slowed, and other riders came up to join the two men. Hinault recovered as well, though he did not regain the lead group. At the end of the stage, LeMond was frustrated to the point of tears. He later revealed that team management and his own coach
Paul Köchli had misled him as to how far back Hinault had dropped during the crucial Stage 17 mountain stage. Hinault won the 1985 Tour, with LeMond finishing second, 1:42 behind. LeMond had ridden as the dutiful lieutenant, and his support enabled Hinault to win his fifth Tour. In repayment for his sacrifice, Hinault promised to help LeMond win the Tour the following year. at the 1985
Coors Classic Hoping to end the season on a high note, LeMond entered the
World Championships road race with the strongest team the United States ever fielded. Riders included Boyer and LeMond, as well as
Andrew Hampsten,
Ron Kiefel,
Bob Roll and
Eric Heiden and this time the American team was set up to help the three strongest riders in LeMond, then Hampsten and Kiefel. Throughout the race, LeMond answered repeated attacks and led many chase groups to contain dangerous breakaways, but by the final lap of the race, he was beginning to tire. However, LeMond was part of the group that was going to win, and while Hampsten and Keifel survived the race to this point, they were too far back to assist LeMond in the final . Inside the final kilometer, the last rider to launch an attack was former Tour and Vuelta champion
Joop Zoetemelk. Being as he was 38 years old and long past his prime, none of the remaining contenders, including LeMond,
Claudio Corti,
Robert Millar,
Moreno Argentin, or
Stephen Roche, took the attack seriously at first. Zoetemelk opened a sizeable gap, but before long, it was in excess of 100 meters and quickly growing. He also had two teammates remaining in
Johan van der Velde and
Gerard Veldscholten, assisting him by riding at the front but not actually chasing, therefore slowing the chase group. Italian rider Argentin took up the chase, but he had nothing left to close the gap and actually put his hand in the air waving for the other riders to come forward and take up the pursuit. LeMond also had nothing left to chase down this final attack feeling that if he did, LeMond would not have anything left for the sprint There was no controversy following this silver medal for LeMond, and he rode up alongside the Dutchman immediately after the race to congratulate him by saying, "Nice ride Joop." For the
1986 Tour, LeMond was a co-leader of the La Vie Claire team alongside Hinault. Hinault's support seemed less certain the closer the race approached. An unspoken condition was that his help would be contingent upon LeMond demonstrating that he was clearly the better rider. Hinault was in superb form, and had the chance to win an unprecedented sixth Tour. Hinault chose to let the Stage 9 individual time trial be the decider for which rider would receive the full support of team La Vie Claire. Hinault won the Stage 9 time trial, finishing 44 seconds in front of LeMond. LeMond had bad luck during the stage, having suffered a punctured tire requiring a wheel change, and later in the stage a bicycle change was required when he broke a wheel. LeMond was frustrated with the outcome and the impact it would have on how the team would function for the remainder of the race. In Stage 12, the first mountain stage of the race in the Pyrenees, Hinault attacked the lead group and built up an overall lead. By the end of Stage 12, Hinault had a five-minute lead over LeMond and the other top riders. He claimed he was trying to draw out LeMond's rivals, but none of these attacks were planned with LeMond. He was clearly willing to ride aggressively and take advantage of the opportunities presented. LeMond was never placed in difficulty, except by his own teammate. The following day, Hinault broke away again early but was caught and then dropped by LeMond on the final climb of Stage 13, allowing LeMond to gain back four and a half minutes. The next three stages brought the Tour to the Alps. On Stage 17, LeMond and
Urs Zimmermann dropped Hinault from the leading group, and the end of the day saw LeMond pulling on the
yellow jersey of race leader, the first time it had ever been worn by a rider from the United States. The following day in the Alps saw Hinault attack again early on the first climb, but he was pulled back. Attempting an escape on the descent, Hinault was unable to separate himself from LeMond. The La Vie Claire team leaders were both excellent descenders. As they ascended up the next col, they continued to pull away from the field and maintained the gap as they reached the base of the final climb, the vaunted
Alpe d'Huez. They pressed on through the crowd, ascending the 21 switchbacks of Alpe d'Huez and reaching the summit together. LeMond put an arm around Hinault and gave him a smile and the stage win in a show of unity, but the infighting was not over. Hinault attacked again on Stage 19 and had to be brought back by teammates
Andrew Hampsten and
Steve Bauer. Commenting on the team situation prior to the final individual time trial at Stage 20, LeMond offered the following with a wry smile: "He's attacked me from the beginning of the Tour De France. He's never helped me once, and I don't feel confident at all with him." LeMond had to keep his eye on his teammate and rival throughout the race. Hinault rode aggressively and repeatedly attacked, and the division created in the La Vie Claire team was unmistakable. LeMond would keep the yellow jersey to the end of the race and win his first Tour, but he felt betrayed by Hinault and the La Vie Claire team leadership.
1987–1988: Shooting accident and recovery LeMond had planned to defend his title in the
1987 Tour de France with La Vie Claire, but he was unable to participate. Earlier that year, while riding in the
Tirreno–Adriatico spring tune-up race, LeMond fell and fractured his left wrist. He returned to the United States to recover from the injury. The week before returning to Europe, LeMond went turkey hunting on a ranch co-owned by his father in Lincoln, California. LeMond was with Rodney Barber and Patrick Blades, his uncle, and brother-in-law. The trio had become separated when Blades, who heard movement behind him, turned and fired through a bush. LeMond's injuries were life-threatening, but a police helicopter was already airborne near the scene and transported LeMond on a 15-minute
air medical flight to the Medical Center at University of California, Davis. LeMond was taken for emergency surgery. He had suffered a
pneumothorax to his right lung and extensive bleeding, having lost some 65 percent of his blood volume. A physician informed LeMond later that he had been within 20 minutes of bleeding to death. The operation saved his life, but four months later LeMond developed a small bowel obstruction due to adhesions that had formed following the shooting. He underwent another surgery to relieve the obstruction and take down the adhesions. Concerned that his team would drop him if they knew the shooting accident required a second surgery, LeMond asked the surgeons to remove his appendix at the same time. LeMond then informed his team that he had had his appendix removed, but the rest of the story was left somewhat vague. The events effectively ended his 1987 season, and in October he announced he would return to serious competition the following February, with the Dutch
PDM team. With 35 shotgun pellets still in his body, including three in the lining of his heart and five more embedded in his liver, LeMond attempted to return to racing in 1988. The deal was completed on New Year's Eve, just hours before LeMond would have been legally obliged to ride another season for the Dutch team. Joining the Belgian ADR squad allowed LeMond to continue to compete, but with teammates like
Johan Museeuw who were better suited to riding Classics than Grand Tours.
1989: Return to elite level After struggling in the
1989 Paris–Nice early-season race and failing to improve his condition, LeMond informed his wife Kathy that he intended to retire from professional cycling after the
1989 Tour de France. His own most optimistic hope was to finish his final Tour in the top 20. Buoyed by the result, LeMond continued to ride well over the opening flat stages, winning the stage 5
individual time trial, and gaining the yellow jersey as leader of the
general classification for the first time in three years. He seemed to ride himself into better condition during the first week's flat stages, and LeMond was coming into peak form by the time the Tour reached the mountains. He remained at the front of the race in the
Pyrénées but lost the lead to his former teammate and rival Laurent Fignon on stage 10 in
Superbagnères. LeMond had done wind tunnel testing in the off season and perfected his riding position. He rode the time trial with a rear disc wheel, a cut-down
Giro aero helmet and the same
Scott clip-on
aero bars which had helped him to the Stage 5 time trial win. Holding his time trialing position, LeMond was able to generate less
aerodynamic drag than Fignon, who used a pair of disc wheels but chose to go helmetless and did not use the aero bars that are now commonplace in time trials. Instructing his support car not to give him his split times, LeMond's average speed for the stage 21 time trial was, at that time, the fastest in Tour history. Since then, only the 1994 and 2015 prologues and
David Zabriskie's 2005 time trial performance have been faster. The press immediately labeled LeMond's come-from-behind triumph as, "the most astonishing victory in Tour de France history," and while LeMond admitted that it felt almost "too good to be true", he personally rated it as "much more satisfying" than his first overall Tour win in 1986. LeMond's return to the pinnacle of cycling was confirmed on August 27, when he won the
World Championships road race in
Chambéry, France. Late in the race with less than to go, the lead group, made up of three very strong riders in
Steven Rooks,
Thierry Claveyrolat, and Soviet star
Dimitri Konyshev, were trying to hold on to fight for the victory amongst themselves when
Laurent Fignon broke away from the pursuing group in an effort to chase the leaders down and solo to victory. On the final climb of the race, LeMond attacked in pursuit of Fignon on his own. Before long, LeMond had caught the Frenchman and not long after that the pair could see the lead group in front of them and they were quickly closing the gap. LeMond briefly dropped Fignon and caught the lead group on his own. Immediately upon catching Rooks, Claveyrolat, and Konyshev, LeMond moved to the front and set the pace as two other riders in Canadian
Steve Bauer and Irishman Sean Kelly attempted to bridge the gap up to LeMond and the lead group. Bauer ended up getting a flat tire, essentially ending his hopes at a high finish, while
Sean Kelly was able to fight his way to the front group, which was bad news for LeMond and the others as Kelly was one of the best sprinters in the world. Fignon was able to rejoin the lead group as well and as the race approached the finish Fignon attacked on numerous occasions trying to drop the remaining riders. Rooks also launched an attack to go for the solo victory but was caught by LeMond, Fignon, and the others. Inside the final kilometer, Fignon continued attacking trying to break free, but could not force open a gap and began to fall back as the sprint materialized, eventually finishing in sixth place. LeMond, Konyshev, and Kelly were the strongest riders when it came to the final sprint for victory, and they finished in that order. After the race, LeMond said that he did not feel well and even considered abandoning the race. With two laps to go, LeMond began feeling stronger and stated, "I was racing for the gold medal. I wanted that World Championship. And with one kilometer to go, I knew I could get it." He was only the fifth person in history to win both the Tour de France and the World Championship in the same year. In December,
Sports Illustrated magazine named LeMond its 1989 "
Sportsman of the Year", the first time a cyclist received the honor.
1990: A third Tour win LeMond parlayed the success of his 1989 season into the then-richest contract in the sport's history, signing a $5.5 million deal for three years with of France, the first time a cyclist had signed a multi-million dollar contract. This unified roster of strong riders appeared capable of supporting LeMond in the mountains and controlling the race on the flats. The squad's tactical plan was upset on the first day, when a breakaway that included LeMond's teammate Ronan Pensec, but no major favorites, arrived ten minutes ahead of the field. LeMond was prevented from challenging for the lead until the yellow jersey left the shoulders of his teammate. Surprisingly, Pensec held the lead through the first high mountain stages, including
Alpe d'Huez, but he lost it soon after to the relative unknown
Claudio Chiappucci. LeMond closed in on Chiappucci, and on stage 16, LeMond put his stamp of authority on the race during the final climb of
Luz Ardiden. Late in this stage, after all of the breakaways had been caught, LeMond launched a devastating attack that no one could answer.
Miguel Induráin was the only rider able to get on LeMond's wheel but it was LeMond dictating the pace all the way up the climb as Chiappucci, Delgado, and all of the other favorites fell further and further behind. While Induráin stayed with LeMond, he was not a threat for victory, but his performance put the cycling world on notice; he went on to win the next five Tours. Near the end of the stage, LeMond sat up and the Spaniard took the stage win, but the devastation of LeMond's competitors was all but complete as there was now only +0:05 between LeMond and the yellow jersey. LeMond finally overtook Chiappucci on the final individual time trial on stage 20, where he finished over two minutes ahead of the unheralded Italian. LeMond at last had the yellow jersey, wearing it the following day as the Tour rode into Paris. He won the 1990 Tour without taking any of the individual stages. LeMond was the last rider to win the Tour while wearing the
world champion jersey until
Tadej Pogačar achieved the feat in 2025. Over the course of the 1990 Tour, the perceived strength of the Z team was confirmed, as they led the team classification through most of the race, adding the team title to LeMond's yellow jersey. As of 2024, a total of eight cyclists have won three or more times. In September, LeMond attempted to defend his title at the
1990 UCI Road World Championships, but finished fourth, eight seconds behind the winner, his former teammate
Rudy Dhaenens of Belgium.
1991–1994: Change in the peloton and retirement LeMond felt confident before the
1991 Tour de France. He was the defending champion, trained well, and had a solid team to support him. LeMond was among the leaders going into the Stage 8
individual time trial, and he finished second to the Spaniard
Miguel Induráin. LeMond felt that he was riding extremely well, and though his TT-effort had propelled him into the yellow jersey as leader of the
general classification, losing eight seconds to Indurain shook his confidence. In 1992, LeMond won the
Tour DuPont, which would be the last major win of his career. LeMond also had a strong top 10 finish in
Paris–Roubaix early in the season. He never won any of cycling's '
Monument' races, but LeMond had several high places in four out of five of them throughout his career including fourth in Paris–Roubaix, third in
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and second in
Milan San Remo as well as the
Giro di Lombardia. In the
1992 Tour de France, LeMond started strongly and finished fourth in a breakaway on Stage 6 that put him fifth overall. LeMond maintained his fifth place until the mountain stages when he lost form disastrously and lost more than 45 minutes on the stage to Sestrieres before quitting the race the next day—when his compatriot and former
domestique Andrew Hampsten won atop Alpe d'Huez. While LeMond claimed a serious
saddle sore caused him to abandon, he had earlier stated, "My climbing is not like usual. I've climbed much better in the past Tours. This year I'm just not feeling my usual self." " to Sestriere on Stage 13 of the
1991 Giro d'Italia LeMond did extensive endurance training on the road the following winter, but his performances the following spring failed to improve. LeMond had to abandon the
1993 Giro d'Italia two days before the final stage after difficult racing left him 125th on GCC and third-from-last in the final time trial. LeMond was too exhausted to enter the
1993 Tour de France. Following the 1993 season, he hired renowned Dutch physiologist Adrie van Diemen to advise him on a new technique to monitor training and measure performance. The
(SRM) power-based training would make use of the
watt as a guide to power output. In November 1993, LeMond confided to
Samuel Abt that power output in watts would become the key metric. The following year, LeMond began the
1994 Tour de France but found that he was unable to race effectively. LeMond had to abandon after the first week before the race had reached the difficult mountain stages. That December, he announced his retirement. At the time, the reasons for LeMond's increasing difficulties were not entirely known. At a loss, he speculated that a condition known as
mitochondrial myopathy might be responsible for the difficulty he was having performing against the current riders. However, in 2007, LeMond speculated that he might not have had the condition after all, and suggested that lead
toxicity from the shotgun pellets still embedded in his body might have been responsible, the effects of which were increased by
heavy training. LeMond has acknowledged since 2010 that the increasing prevalence of
doping in cycling contributed to his lack of competitiveness. LeMond stated, "Something had changed in cycling. The speeds were faster and riders that I had easily outperformed were now dropping me. At the time, the team I was on, Team Z, became more and more demanding, more and more concerned..." He frankly admitted to Abt in 1999: "I figure I had three months that went right for me after the hunting accident," three months in which LeMond won the two Tours and a world road race championship. "The rest were just pure suffering, struggling, fatigue, always tired." In a wide-ranging interview with American novelist
Bryan Malessa in 1998, LeMond was asked if his career had not been interrupted by the hunting accident, how did he feel he would compare to five-time Tour winners such as Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin. LeMond responded: "Of course you can't rewrite racing history, but I'm confident that I would have won five Tours." In July 2014,
ESPN announced the premiere of a new
30 for 30 film entitled
Slaying the Badger. The film centers on LeMond and his former teammate Hinault at the 1986 Tour de France. It is based on the book of the same name by
Richard Moore, and it premiered on ESPN on July 22. A 2022 documentary entitled
The Last Rider directed by Alex Holmes for New Black Films, features LeMond, and wife Kathy, and details LeMond's life and career. ==Business interests==