Its really sad that this classic went into its demise...it could truly be a great cycling saga like the Tour de France....America's version.

Awesome film. I lived in Boulder during the 7-11 era, back when I wished for nothing more than to go really fast on my bicycle. Legions of fast guys to chase, great time and place, there then.

Wow, I just stumbled into this great video. True Story... At the time I was working for the Shimano /Japan Group and I was in charge of their SHOGUN bike design program. I literally had a full-on Shogun bike display inside the bay warehouse where the racers flew by just inches from the Shogun display and the crazy spectators. Also, that was the day fell in love with my wife of 24 years. She was the secretary of Shimano's USA president at the time, as she was sent to assist me on the Shogun display. Somewhere I still have pictures of stage two where the racers were a blur across the Shogun booth. And yes, some of the Shimano family attended our wedding, and it also sparked a trend of many Shimano family members and staff also getting married.

18:19 thanks for immortalizing what a tool Phinney was.

Funny yet ridiculous comment about "dishonorable" for Hinault not pulling in breakaway then winning sprint against Phinney -- that's called smart tactical racing and look who won the stage!

My dad took me to see this race as it crested the Trinity Grade climb coming out of Sonoma. This is definitely the hot, dusty NorCal I remember from my youth!

American Flyers !

Yep,what I always look forward to when I'm bicycle racing,some good old accordion playing 😭😭😭

I remember watching this on TV in 1985 and now coincidently i live in the middle of the 4000 ft climb to Yuba pass where Phinney & Hinault broke away... starting in Downieville its a loong way to the top, about 24 miles continuous climbing,... then going south to Truckee after that on hiway 89 involves a few other massive climbs as well... very impressive Phinney was able to last through all that climbing with Hinault as even on a bad day Bernie could usually have left him or anyone else behind somewhere at many points along that route ... i think for Hinault this race was a recovery week from his earlier season of racing hard and winning his 5th Tour and that day following Phinney was one where he just wanted to use the opportunity to practice his sprint ?

Very cool upload, a great watch! I remember holding each other up at stoplights and holding on to the car next to you because it was a pain unscrewing your clips. A team member new a rep for 7-ELEVEN and I got one of Inga Thompsons old frames, I still have it.

I remember when Hinault showed I was so excited to see him race. I didn't understand racing and recovery yet, so I thought he was going to take it seriously. While in the middle of the race there was an article in a Denver newspaper where they interviewed Hinault. He was talking about how he viewed his time during the race as a vacation. There was a picture of him hiking with his wife and kids in the mountains of Colorado where I lived. My education began.

Damn impressive! Thanks for posting.

Possibly the peak of American cycling. Things were never quite like this again after the Coors went away. Even with the Amgen Tour or the USAPC, the American scene has been in a slow steady decline ever since. And the Lance bump was temporary and completely mishandled by USACycling.

Thanks for that. Awesome video.

San Francisco ! No Poop ! No Needles! Just Cyclist's !! Mo Siegel saying " I really don't want the Soviet's to Win this Race!" 💯

Thanks so much for uploading this! NBC could learn a lot about how to present cycling to an American audience by watching their own archival footage! As for me, it was great to see some of my heroes from before they were household names. I'll definitely be imagining this race next time I climb to Virginia City from Carson.

Andy did amazing... and would later win the Giro

Sure would like to see 1986.

Thanks for posting!!

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The commenting is so droll. I believe some of it was added later. it was edited in later. I saw the 7-11 team about that time when they were in Minneapolis. Lemond eventually lived in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area for a while.

46:38 .. woah

Back before Hinault and the team director Kochli turned on him in '86. If you haven't seen it, check out Slaying the Badger and listen to Kochli's nonsense about the tactics. It's utterly pathetic.

15:48 LOL that's messed up XD

geez...those announcers didn't give greg the respect they should have....they make it sound like hinault was the reason greg won and that is that

A couple of qs: 1st, is David Phinney Taylor's father? 2nd, I wonder why Pro cycling authorities in USA hasn't so far made any project about a "Tour of USA" or a "coast to coast" race...? We all know about the Tour of California, but it still seems too little thing!