LeMond’s Fantastic Finish Has Fit Ending : American Wins Tour de France as Fignon Loses 50-Second Lead Over 15 Miles

There was supposed to be another Bicentennial celebration for a Frenchman on the Champs Elysees. Instead, on the Trail of the Revolution, from the Palace of Versailles to the Place de la Concorde, it was another glorious day for an American in Paris.

Greg LeMond, 28, won the Tour de France for the second time in four years. But while his 1986 victory was virtually preordained, he had to ride the race of his life Sunday to overcome the lead France’s Laurent Fignon, 28, built over the previous 2,017 miles, 22 days and 20 stages of cycling’s greatest spectacle.

LeMond, who first began racing as a teen-ager in his hometown of Reno so that he could get his legs in shape for skiing, won by eight seconds, the closest finish in 76 Tours de France.

The smallest margin previously was the 38-second victory by the Netherlands’ Jan Janssen over Belgium’s Herman Van Springel in 1968, which was the last time before Sunday that the tour champion was determined on the final day.

If anyone believed there could be another dramatic finish this year when the tour began on July 1 in Luxembourg, he certainly would not have imagined that LeMond could play anything other than a supporting role in it.

Since becoming the only American to win the tour three years ago, LeMond has been near death from gunshot wounds suffered in a 1987 hunting accident, fractured his wrist, undergone an emergency appendectomy and knee surgery.

After not even competing in the last two tours and losing his place on one of the sport’s premier teams, LeMond himself said that he would be satisfied with a top-20 finish. It was considered remarkable that he was even in position Sunday to finish second.

Fignon, a two-time champion, left the treacherous Alps Friday with a 50-second advantage, which he maintained through the penultimate stage Saturday on the relatively flat road between Aix-les-Bains and l’Isle d’Abeau.

Cycling experts said that the tour was finished. All that remained was Sunday’s 15.2 mile individual time trial, a race against the clock. While it figured that LeMond would ride faster than Fignon, it did not figure that the American could reduce the lead by more than 30 seconds.

In a time trial earlier this year in the Tour of Italy, LeMond gained one minute, 18 seconds on Fignon. But that was over 31 miles. Similarly, LeMond gained 56 seconds on Fignon in the fifth stage of the Tour de France from Dinard to Rennes. But that was over 45 miles. LeMond had to gain almost that much in little more than 15 miles Sunday. Fignon was confident.

“Normally, 50 seconds would be enough,” he said Saturday. “Barring an accident, I think I’ve won the tour.”

As would be proved 24 hours later, he was too quick with his words and too slow on his bicycle.

Starting two minutes ahead of Fignon, LeMond rode the final stage all out at a tour time trial record of 34 miles per hour, declining to have his splits called to him from the pace cars as he concentrated solely on the finish line, where he arrived 26 minutes and 57 seconds after he began.

That gave him his third stage victory, two more than he won when he became the only non-European champion in 1986. But he would have to wait to find out whether he was fast enough to catch Fignon in the overall standings. The longer LeMond waited, the better it looked for him.

Fignon did not shy away from the challenge, finishing third in the time trial. But his time of 27:55 was eight seconds too slow to retain the leader’s yellow jersey.

LeMond completed the 21-stage, 2,030-mile tour in 87 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds. Fignon was second in 87:38.43. Defending champion Pedro Delgado of Spain finished third.

When LeMond realized that he had won, he raised both arms over his head in triumph, yelped and began eluding reporters, photographers and fans in a search for his wife and father. He and his wife, Kathy, and their two children split time between their two homes in Wayzata, Minn. Kortrijk, Belgium. His father, Bob, lives in Reno.

Fignon collapsed at the finish line, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Today was the happiest day of my life,” said LeMond, who was born in Lakewood. “It can’t be compared to my first victory, which was assured before the final days. Even if I win another tour some day, it will not be the same.

“I think Laurent was more nervous than I was. He had everything to lose. I told myself at the start that I had nothing to lose. I told myself, ‘So what if I explode?’

“I’m still in a state of shock. This victory is just incredible.”

Fignon was disconsolate.

“For the first time in my career, I cried,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it was by eight, 10, 20 or 30 seconds. I lost the yellow jersey.”

Fignon, who has not always been gracious toward his former teammate, congratulated LeMond. But the Frenchman also complained about an inflamed buttocks that caused him discomfort in the saddle Sunday. And he protested the looped, triathlon handlebars on LeMond’s bicycle that allow him to crouch in a better aerodynamic position. Officials ruled that the handlebars are legal.

LeMond and Fignon exchanged the yellow jersey four times over the last 17 days of the tour. LeMond first took the lead after the time trial that ended at Rennes on July 6, reclaimed it 10 days later after another time trial that ended at Orcieres-Merlette and then lost it last Wednesday at l’Alpe d’Huez.

That was the day Fignon pulled away from the pack with a surprise attack 2 1/2 miles from the end of a steep, uphill climb to l’Alpe d’Huez, turning a 40-second deficit into a 26-second advantage over LeMond. The next day, Fignon made a similar move on the climb to Villard-de-Lans, extending his lead to 50 seconds. LeMond won Friday’s stage, the final one in the Alps, but he failed to gain ground on Fignon and appeared to be destined for a second-place finish.

“I was at and beyond my limits for several days in a row,” LeMond said. “No one but myself knew how much I suffered.”

But he said that he never quit believing that he could win.

“I always knew I could come back,” he said. “There was a time when only my family believed in me. I was shocked at how many people gave up on me when I was down.”

He could have said the same thing about the last three years. Until 1987, he had a charmed career. He was the world junior road race champion in 1977, the Tour l’Avenir champion in 1982 and the world road race champion in 1983. He finished third in his first Tour de France in 1984, second in 1985 and won it in 1986 while riding with the strong La Vie Claire team.

He left La Vie Claire after 1987 and signed with another dominant team, PDM of the Netherlands. But after his second straight season of injuries, illness and disappointing results, PDM did not pick up his option. With no other suitable offers, he signed with a poorly-financed Belgian team, ADR, which gained entrance into the 22-team Tour de France when another team withdrew.

In May’s Tour of Italy, LeMond finished 39th and said he had never been so poorly prepared for a Tour de France.

“A lot of people asked whether I was bluffing before the Tour de France after I was riding so poorly,” he said Sunday. “Maybe I was saving myself. But I am not that type of racer. I have to always do my best.”

People will think twice before doubting him again. That includes his wife.

“I did not think he was going to win,” she said after Sunday’s thrilling finish. “I was afraid he would lose by a few seconds. Now he can go out and dance all night.”