Greg Lemond: "It really blew my mind that the Armstrong era was even worse than the late 90's"
Cycling
Greg Lemond is 63 years of age but just as sharp with his words as when he was a Tour de France winner back in the 80's and early 90's. In a recent interview he talks about how he still dreams about racing the Grand Boucle, and tackles the topics of Lance Armstrong, doping and how he thinks he would've won more Tour if it wasn't for the doping epidemic of the 90's.
“Three or four times a year, I still dream about riding the Tour. I wake up and say to myself, ‘What am I thinking? I’m 63 and double the weight of the pros’,” Lemond jokes in an interview with CyclingWeekly. “I can’t imagine any other sport that has the same speed, intensity and competitiveness of cycling. I have a love-hate relationship with it because of the drugs and the closed-minded culture, but what’s more exciting than racing the Tour de France? I’m so glad I found cycling.”
It is a relationship that many from those eras struggle to handle. Throughout the 1990's and 2000's there were many busts on professional riders including many big winners. Few at the top managed to escape positive tests, whilst several others had their career either clouded by suspicions or their results had been clouded by the sheer amount of doping that was present in the peloton at that time. Many of those who did test positive were never 'forgiven' and maintain a very negative reputation with the sport until today.
Lemond was the first American Tour de France winner back in 1986, survived an almost fatal gunshot wound in 1987, and then returned to win the Tour again in 1989 and 1990. He is very honest about his feelings regarding what followed after 1990: "I also dreamt of winning five Tours, which logically I should have. I truly believe without EPO I would have won in 1991 and 1992.”
It was a success story like no other in men's professional cycling in the USA, and gave way for a generation that saw Lance Armstrong hit the spotlight. However for Lemond, who then became a commentator in the sport, it was never easy to be talking about rider whom he knew of wrongdoings.
“I just had to get into that position. It really blew my mind that the Armstrong era was even worse than the late 90's." This was equally as hard when he became a commentator for the sport: "I loved it, but it was hard to be enthusiastic for certain people who I had inside info on. It was painful.”
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"El gran duelo de Indurain y Lemond en el Tour de Francia de 1990" Miguel Indurain, logró una de sus mejores victorias de
— ⚡MazaCiclismo⚡ (@RuedaPedal) December 30, 2024
montaña del Tour de Francia en Luz Ardiden, ganando a Greg Lemond en la estación de esquí de los Pirineos, tras un ataque demoledor, al estilo Pogacar.🤩👏 pic.twitter.com/Pk8TOyJBRJ
The late 90’s is when Lance was winning . Greg must have meant late ?
Greg would have won in 1985 as well but unfortunatley team management deferred to Hinault.
I love that this guy constantly reminds us that he may be the only real miracle story, a heroic comeback to win 2 Tours at the start of the EPO era using only iron injections.
Believe what you want since I bet you are sceptical with anyone winning a Tour back then.
I believe that Lemond came back from a near-death gunshot wound and won 2 Tours at the start of the EPO age, and the only thing he injected was iron.
Lemond's bias against LA shows, not that it is unwarranted. The 1990-1999 era was 60% HCT era, the worst ever, completely unrestricted, God level, Its only after the 50% Hct rule came up that people came down to alien levels
Yes, although the rule (needed at the time but very simplistic and thankfully less important and improved since did bring along a lot of new problems. People with a higher natural value Women Not sanctioning raising lower levels up to an artificial higher one Sliding scale differences between different lab testing procedures Etc.
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- TP, for me now, is an alien...
leedorney07-04-2025 - You have to keep all else held equal or you're not isolating the change. A lighter rider is faster at everything, save downhills, all else held equal, as I keep showing. As for wind, just as in flat TTs weight basically doesn't matter, except that lighter equals slightly less rolling resistance. In the same manner, for a 30 kph headwind, weight doesn't matter, as the relevant equation is power vs CdA. The reason why more weight is helpful downhill is the same reason it's hurtful uphill, it "gives back" the energy (not speed) you gained by going up the hill. Lastly, in a sprint, weight is again counterproductive, assuming one has to accelerate up to speed. Accelerating a mass takes energy, and a heavier one takes more energy than a lighter one. Now, at most sprint speeds, almost all energy goes into wind resistance, but the acceleration of mass still does play a part.acem8207-04-2025
- Agreed. He was dropped hard on every other climb. Without the run up he might have not been in the final sprint. And why not try it? Kudos for him for trying to make the race rather than just following.mij06-04-2025
- To me it seemed like an attempt to get through the climb closer to the front, since his burst power was lacking. If he starts earlier he can take the hill slower and still not be too far behind by the top. It kept him in that group of 4, where he might have been dropped had they all stayed together to the bottom of the climb. Who knows, though. I’m just guessing.RidesHills06-04-2025
- No idea, there have been suggestions something is amiss, maybe he doesn’t have all his mind connected at some moments, I’d definitely do a thorough review of his consciousness under effort.Mistermaumau06-04-2025
- Pogacar and van der Poel have won the last 6 Monuments, and 11 of the last 13 Monuments. There’s never been domination like this by two riders, and we are in our third year of it. (Merckx and de Vlaeminck won a total of 30 Monuments between 1966 and 1979, but others were winning along the way, as well.)RidesHills06-04-2025
- Yes but what was the dumb effort by Van Aert to drop Pogacar, Vanderpoel and Pederson about.? Just showing face? If he had stayed on the wheels and not wasted energy, he might have got on the podium in the runners up sprint.Cyclingsbestfan06-04-2025
- What a loser.
santiagobenites06-04-2025 - I agree about the sprint or drilling it on the flat. Lighter rider versus heavier rider. Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion (e.g the heavier riders momentum) and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change.Cyclingsbestfan06-04-2025
- Definitely, he is a great rider, and this season might even be as good as last (in a perfect world, a few more Monuments, a Tour-Vuelta double, and the Worlds again), but he has to do this for years on end to compare to Merckx’s results from roughly 69 to 74. Yes, times have changed, yes competition is different, yes speeds are higher, and so on, but let’s let Pogacar be Pogacar and give him time. We can evaluate his career when he retires. Until then, let’s enjoy it while we have it.RidesHills06-04-2025