Greg Lemond

..is back. After a fashion at least. New website up here > http://greglemond.com/

Lemond was a big hero of mine back in the day. Despite (originally) being a mountain biker I religiously watched the Tour de France on Channel 4 from 89 onwards. However recent years would seem not to have been overly kind on Mr Lemond. I haven't followed his fortunes or press terribly closely but the general view from the media etc. seemed to be fairly negative. Interesting to hear others views on him and see how this latest phase of his life pans out.

Hi John

As you know Greg (along with Malcolm Elliott) was a hero of mine too that got me into cycling. I admire Greg for saying it how it is and not to ask difficult questions when everyone wanted to hush up a situation and subject.

I know his bike business has been a bit down up down (especially after he questioned Treks prodigal son Lance Armstong resulting in Trek dropping the Lemond brand). However like Paul Kimage its nice to see people speak out on a subject like drugs.

We'll never know know who was clean or not but Greg seamed and still seams to have the right ethics.

for me greg modernised cycling. Prior to his arrival, cycling was unchanged for decades - european riders on european bikes, backed by euro sponsors with perhaps one or two outsiders having infiltrated the clique. Greg changed things entirely - he was a key player in globalising the sport, getting decent salaries/sponsorship deals wihin the sport and introducing new technologies and ways of thinking.

I reckon hinault's 5th tdf victory was stolen from Greg. He perhaps could have gone for it, but had the sense to know the deep rooted french patriotism and the connections hinault had might have jeopardised his future.

His greatest error for me was speaking out on armstrong. Whether factually correct or not, it smacks of sour grapes. He would have been far better casually distancing himself from LA if he had genuine concerns.

His other error was standing in front of a 12 bore shotgun

Greg, after Robert Millar was one of the reasons for getting into cycling - unlike others who sought to create divisions and sought to create an artificial bias to suit their own personal needs, Greg built bridges between the old and the new world and opened it up to the English-speaking world. I also admire what he's doing now because he's one of the few that's prepared to stand up to the Omerta and the myths surrounding certain cyclists who have totally polarised the sport in recent years. The adjudication on the Trek case proves he had a valid point as certain individuals sought to destroy his ability to earn a living - anyone in the same position would do the same, it's nothing to do with sour grapes. It's also understood that he has some fairly strong evidence in support of the Landis allegations too.

monty dog":2gv4vlek said:

.... it's nothing to do with sour grapes.....

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I'm prepared to accept that. Unfortunately, to the layman (and I include myself here), that's always gonna be the first thought. And the Trekstrong brigade are easily able to play this as a trump card to the mass populus and limit GL's credibilty

Greg was an extremely talented rider from his teens and achieved great success with his T de F wins. A superb rider in his time.

Unfortunately, the Yank b*****d had the audacity to beat my hero Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds in the 1989 Tour! :x

For me, One of the true greats.

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ProCycling has a good bit about the 1990 TdF this month, with a page interview with Lemond too.

Check my avatar!

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And that's him rubbing salt into the wounds by winning the 1989 world road championship in France!