In case anyone wants to watch it it's on youtube, at least for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elo5_iNEjRo

Phenomenal show. Makes me realize just how "clinical" (not in a medical or doping sense) the TdF is now compared to then. Back then it was less formulaic and more chaotic racing (no radios and less real-time information to riders leads to more chaotic racing?)

I would be a skeptic and suspicious that Lemond has selective memory and is a bit of a whiner based on his interview, however the interviews with Hampsten and the European journalist pretty well have me convinced that Lemond was a team player and Hinault and the team manager were Hinault players.

I forgot about the magical Iron shots too.

I love the bits with Hampsten

The racing was spectacular back then. One could gain five minutes one day in the mountains but there was a very good chance you would give it back the next day. Unfortunately, blood vector doping changed the game too much and the tactics you see now are a result of that.

I don't blame Hinault one bit- he's always been an aggressive competitor who is going to go all out.

Not only does Hinault not get #5 in 85, that could have been (coulda woulda shoulda) the start of something truly unbelievable if the cosmos had been kinder to LeMond. I've always thought he was one of the greatest TdF riders ever, and likely would have won at least 6 TdF ('85-'90) in a row as clearly the most dominant cyclist... no reason to think he wouldn't have won '85 over Hinault, and '87/'88 if the hunting accident hadn't happened... and maybe LeMond goes for 7 or 8 in '91/'92... who knows about '91/'92 if EPO doesn't enter the peloton, if Conconi doesn't "assist" Indurain and his other top cycling clients, etc... in '91 LeMond finished 2nd to Big Mig in the stage 8 ITT, held the yellow jersey through stage 12, then cracked on a mountain stage against Chicapucci (another Conconi client)... not inconceivable a totally clean '91 TdF has completely different GC results with LeMond at/near the top... by '92 EPO infiltrated peloton, so who knows how LeMond would have fared in '92/'93 (third from last in GC during '93 Giro... peloton was blowing by him).

Nothing magic. Had a bad giro. Was not on form....

"greg was a monster, he was an immediate monster, he was a singular, unique monster, way before he ever would have had the chance to be pharmacologically changed into a monster..."


In addition to ESPN discussing LeMond's TdF journey in the 30 for 30, would have like to see some discussion regarding LeMond's spring classics riding... he was no slouch... what would Palmares have looked like without having to help Hinault in some of the classics races (and without the hunting accident)... his best classics/monument finishes, all 1986 or before:


Tour of Lombardy, 2nd
Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 3rd
Paris-Roubaix, 4th
Milan San Remo, 2nd
Tour of Flanders, 7th


"lance was a very good cyclist right away. but he did not represent this overwhelming force in cycling within a year of his taking up the sport"


I saw Lance duel it out with Kenny Souza in a San Diego duathlon in 1990, they were pretty closely matched in that race on the bike as I remember...

I'm sure that's what it was but people can poke holes into anyone's story if they look hard enough.

I was actually trolling for more comments from a particular person (not you) and he didn't bite.

:o ) Gotcha. Yep thats always thrown out there, but it just does not fit in the big picture. An anomoly.

In watching this show, the thought I came away with was that LeMond may have been able to ride like a demon but whether it was because of his age (young) or lack of good advice, he really should have gotten himself onto a different team than Hinault ASAP.

If there is a flaw in his cycling career, it was not on the bike but on the business side. He should have recognized sooner that he was not a lieutenant but a general and gotten his own army.

EDIT - to that point, I'm pretty sure Hinault did not fly to Nevada to sign LeMond just because he wanted another strong rider on his team. He was buying him so he could keep him from being a full competitor.

I don't either but I don't understand why he and the director are still cagey about it. Why not just say "HAHAHA yes we fucked with LeMond endlessly!! didn't work though, shit"

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Swimmers are notorious in that respect, and rightly so, it seems

http://regressing.deadspin.com/...ollege-at-1614249855

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I'm pretty sure Hinault did not fly to Nevada to sign LeMond just because he wanted another strong rider on his team. He was buying him so he could keep him from being a full competitor.

Good point, highly unlikely that the team would have been split with no idea who they were supposed to ride for where Hinault was already the boss of the peloton at that point.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

I think it's simply that they don't want to admit it. Why admit that when you can go the rest of your life repeating the same tale. "I said I would let him win, I didn't say I would make it easy for him". His fans will always believe him.

And yes, very late to the party here. I just watched it last night.

What I don't understand is why LeMond didn't attack Hinault more than he did; clearly Hinault was trying to win. Stop listening to Hinaults words and look at his actions. LeMond was too way too naive.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

This was an awesome documentary, my respect for Mr. Lemond went through the roof. With his wife, they took on the world of cycling and won, he has huge balls.

Henault was a douce bag back then, but played to win. You could tell today he knew he treated Greg like a red headed step child, but also quickly praised him for TAKING the Tour from him. He seems to have moved on, is comfortable with who he is now and is probably enjoying selling his bikes.

The team manager was a snake in the grass.

Wanky chimes in on the book, from which the 30 for 30 was drawn

http://pvcycling.wordpress.com/.../shaming-the-badger/


There's more, but I won't spoil it here

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin