The career and achievements of the triple Tour de France winner Greg LeMond will be heralded by French bike company Look in a presentation this Thursday at Interbike, which is commemorating the anniversary of his 1986 Tour win astride its machines.
LeMond, the first American to win the Tour de France and also the first to win the pro world road race championship, will be presented with one of Look’s new 695 25th anniversary bikes at 4pm at the Look booth. He will speak about his 1986 victory over Bernard Hinault, their clash regarded as one of the most exciting ever, and also take questions from the press.
Look’s 25th Anniversary Collection comprises 695 complete bikes and frames, which will be available worldwide from November. It features a carbon frame with 3K matte finish. Each 25th Anniversary 695 is numbered and comes with an Excellence Mondrian Kit.
This collection will be followed in spring 2012 by a special edition 1986 La Vie Claire/695 Evolution frame. A percentage of profits from the special edition 695 will go to the 1in6 organisation, of which LeMond is a founding board member.
The Reno native is one of the best American and world riders in history. He won the world junior championship in 1979, took the Tour de l’Avenir and three stage wins in 1982, then won the world road race championships and the Dauphiné Libére the following season.
He was third in his first Tour de France in 1984, finishing on the podium at just 23 years of age, then in 1985 finished second in the Tour de France, third in the Giro d’Italia and first in the Coors Classic.
He made a breakthrough in 1986 when he won his first Tour, beating a Hinault who had pledged his support before the race but appeared to renege on that commitment. LeMond had ridden for him the year previously.
With Hinault defeated and retired that season, LeMond looked set to dominate the sport. However he was badly injured in a shooting accident in the spring of 1987, almost dying, and took two years to return to top form.
He won the 1989 Tour de France by the smallest margin ever, beating Laurent Fignon by eight seconds, and then went on to take his second pro world championship title.
He returned the following season to win the Tour for the third time.
The early years of LeMond’s career were spent using Look products. It designed the world’s first clipless pedals in 1984, and these were used by both Hinault and LeMond in winning the Tour. The French company also supplied the frame he used in taking the race in 1986.