1989 Tour - "eight seconds, can you believe that?"

[NickM]

As 531c says, it was mainly saddle sores that lost Fignon that Tour. He was in agony at the finish line.

Yes, quite so.

I remember watching it on TV after getting home from the club run. It seemed obvious to me that Fignon was not exactly sitting comfortably, but I don't think the commentators made any mention of it

Fignon was a great rider. And I don't say so just because I wear specs and had a pony tail in 1989

 

[cyberknight]

having read Fignon`s autobiography it does state he was in a lot of pain and the aero bars that Lemond used gave enough advantage to win the race assuming the were generating the same power.

When Fignon tried to used aero bars in a race later that year he was not allowed , so i can see why he has the right to have been bitter about the whole affair.Its a bit like another American winner who allegedly doped and tested positive but was never bought to book.

For the record i am on the fence about the other American having read "its not about the bike" i truly hope he did not and i would like to believe him as it is a heart warming story.

 

[resal]

Yes best Tour ever. Fignon was going to pieces before that last day. The outburst with some journo the day before or 2 days before, was eloquent witness to what was obviously going on in his head. Sad to say, watching it, I wondered if he would ever be able to compete again. The next year he lost time in the first week due to splits in the bunch and after that it was mainly down hill. I don't know, because I did not get any French media titles at that time, but I think there was a great deal of pressure put on him by the press, and a lot of it was not entirely supportive. A bit like a significant element of our press just want our sports stars to fail so they can point and jeer - e.g. disaster in Olympic ticket sell out. What ? It has to be the best ever sale ever - just how many Greeks bought tickets for their Olympics ? By 93, the last time I saw him live at the Tour, he was a shadow of himself, but hold on, Big Mig was then going up mountains in an entirely unbelievable manner and the "new age" had been ushered in. Fignion, Lemond and co. slower or ?

Just have to love the faith

.....For the record i am on the fence about the other American having read "its not about the bike" i truly hope he did not and i would like to believe him as it is a heart warming story.

Easy - just write on a page all the top 10 finishers in the Lance years and then strike out those who confessed to/got caught using PEDs. Then think. What are the chances of .......

 

[cyberknight]

Just have to love the faith


Easy - just write on a page all the top 10 finishers in the Lance years and then strike out those who confessed to/got caught using PEDs. Then think. What are the chances of .......

HaHa !!

Truth is i think he did some sort of enhancement be it doping or EPO but it would be nice if he did not.

Oddly i missed most of the lance years as i went off cycling after big mig till the last few years when i started cycling and went full MAMIL

 

[fossyant]

I remember it well. I was sat 2 foot from the TV screaming at it, even got my old man interested in it.

 

[cisamcgu]

I always liked Big Mig, until the fateful day I bought this .... I passed it on to someone here, and it still pops up occasionally in a book raffle - it is probably to worst book I have (tried) to read in my entire life

 

[PaddyMcc]

I have been watching some YouTube vids. This tour WAS the best. Poor Fingnon, great Lemond. I have both cheered for Greg and cried for Laurent.

 

[palinurus]

I always liked Big Mig, until the fateful day I bought this .... I passed it on to someone here, and it still pops up occasionally in a book raffle - it is probably to worst book I have (tried) to read in my entire life

I had that briefly when it was doing the CC book swap rounds, I passed it on in fairly short order.

 

[roadrash]

fignon, in his book says he was often greeted with the phrase ... arent you the guy that lost the tour by eight seconds ....his response was usually ...no im the guy that won it twice......