Greg Lemond - Biography

Last Editor: chelsea1014				Greg Lemond Biography -   Name : Greg Lemond Date of birth : 26 June 1961 Place of birth : Lakewood, California, USA

Greg Lemond Trivia -

The first American to win the Tour de France cycling race. (1986) Three-time winner of the Tour de France: 1986, 1989, 1990. He won the 1989 Tour de France by eight seconds, the smallest margin of victory in Tour history, by beating Laurent Fignon in a time trial in the final stage on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Shortly after winning the 1986 Tour de France, he was injured in a hunting accident in California. His brother-in-law accidentally shot him with the equivalent of 40 shotgun pellets, which lodged in his back, legs, and internal organs. LeMond eventually recovered and went on to win the Tour two more times. He was named Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Year" in 1989.

Greg Lemond Detailed Biography -

Skiing was originally LeMond's sport, but he got interested in bicycle racing when the course of a road race happened to go past his family home. Two years later, he had to get special permission to enter the Tour of Fresno because he was only sixteen. He finished in second place, just six seconds behind the winner. In 1979, LeMond became the first road racer ever to win three medals at the junior world championships, taking a gold in the 120-kilometer road race, a silver in the 3,000-meter pursuit race, and a bronze in the team 70-kilometer time trial. The following year, LeMond joined the Renault-Gitane team in Europe. His French teammate, Bernard Hinault, predicted shortly afterward, "Greg will be the next champion after me." LeMond got his first major victory in 1983, a 169-mile race in Switzerland, winning by a margin of 1 minute, 11 seconds. He won the world professional road racing championship later that year. LeMond joined the La Vie Claire team in 1985, finishing second to Hinault in the Tour de France, and in 1986 he became the first American to win the race, beating Hinault by more than 3 minutes. Less than a year later, LeMond was nearly killed in a hunting accident when 60 shotgun pellets entered his body, two of them lodging in the lining of his heart. Though he eventually recovered, it was generally thought that his cycling career was over. After months of rehabilitation, though, LeMond not only returned to racing, he won the Tour de France again in 1989. He also won the world professional road racing championship for a second time and was named sportsman of the year by Sports Illustrated. In 1990, LeMond won the Tour de France for the third time and the second year in a row.