LeMond spent a week with me and my buds at the Encino Velodrome, learning how to sprint. His coach told him that if he wanted to succeed in Europe as a pro, he needed to master the sprint finish. He was a very fast learner. He was also keen to learn from the same guys who beat him in many criterium field sprints. That, and track sprinting, was our specialty. It seems that It was a week well spent! I think he was only 18 at the time. We were lucky to have crossed the line ahead of him a fewtimes

I was a spectator there in 1989 and haven't seen this video until now! My memory of it was the incredible thunder storm which almost led to the race being abandoned as it caused mud slides onto the road. Great to see it after all these years. PS Bumped into Sean Kelly and Martin Early on the way through Chambery and rode with them to the circuit.

Go Lemond ! You the man and you rode clean !

Just gearing up for this year's Tour de France and came across this video. I am SOOOOOOO happy I found it. This has to be one of the great finishes ever. Greg was just so amazing. I hope to get a chance to meet him one day. Thanks for posting it, it made my day.

WHAO. what a race. all the cycling greats together.

This race and sprint will never get old. What a finish by Lemond.

Knowing the outcome in advance doesn't make this any less tense or exciting. What an amazing race. Great footage too.

Well produced television - and it's back in 1989.

1989, a year to remember!

god this brings back memories..i was 16 when lemond made his comback..seeing them in this race was awesome..both of these guys at that point in thier career they had wona few tours between them and both had thier own fan base..this was a cool time in my life because i was really into the sport..I still am..but compared to today..the 80s were the golden years..i hope the day comes when we can be treated to another rider vs rider battle..i still have a system u jersey!

3 Tour wins & 2 podiums, 2 golds & 2 silvers in the Worlds, GL knew how to race the big ones.

Still...the greatest race I have ever seen. The speeds at the end were ridiculous. And Kelly bridging that gap and surprising the commentors was awesome.

What a race! Tough conditions, attack after attack, just what great cycling should be. everyone taking a chance, launching an attack, recovering, and racing over and over! I would have given the best chance to Kelly, but LeMond really wanted that title! Again!

When Lemond attacks Fignon on the climb and reaches down to shift up a gear, Fignon knew it was all over for him. That is the greatest move to break someone's spirit. Works every time!

Lemond said afterward that he felt lousy all day and took the race one lap at a time. He said he didn't feel better until the last two laps. He also broke a rear spoke on the last lap, which he didn't have time to change. He loves circuit races and the harder the better. This race suited him perfectly. The amount of pure talent racing in the late 80's was incredible. Lemond, Fignon, Kelly, Rooks, Roche, Delgado, Bugno, the list goes on. Great time to be a cycling fan.

they used to call Lemond a wheel sucker....but to do what he did in the last 3 miles of this race (not to mention everything else he did in his career despite being shot !!) takes amazing power and durability Lemond single handedly dragged european cycling out of the dark ages both in style and the money riders were paid...without doubt one of the greatest riders ever great guy to watch well done Greg......

Amen, jp44. Lemond was one of the best ever, and without a doubt he was the best ever from the USA, by far, proven time and time again against the best in the world, and in a day when the man who won the race really was the best in the world- and not merely the best at cheating. He was the most worthy champion, and perhaps the last worthy champion. Long live the memory of his greatness, in a world and a sport in which true greatness has been lost. Thanks, Greg.

superb race. videos like this show the greatness of these riders; the incredible determination to counter attack after attack.

I was there, on the course with the American team---even in the Mavic car for a few laps...the team was dropping like flies and Hampsten was destroyed and there were still a couple laps to go...it was electric atmosphere...and at the press conference --- Greg was shocked that he won...was amazing

power, just pure power... thanks for posting, i guess i don't have to export my copy from my betamax anymore, i'll just save this one and watch it over and over again!

Like Dan Robinson - I was also a spectator of this great race as I had gone to live in Chambery 6 months earlier and have never seen the video before! As Dan says, the weather that Sunday started off very cloudy and soon disintegrated into an absolutely torrential thunderstorm - unlike the previous day (Saturday) when the Junior's race was run off in a virtual heat-wave! (all of the British riders abandoned due to the heat!) I also rode the course and the video simply doesn't do justice to just how hard and technically demanding it was - 21 laps of an extremely testing Chambery course, complete with leg-sapping climbs and perilous descents. In fact, I clearly remember riders falling like nine-pins as the conditions worsened - including many of the main contenders. (there was a story going round after the race that Lemond himself had come off and rode the last 2 laps with a buckled front wheel to win!) An even more memorable event for me was whilst riding the circuit a few days before the 'Elite' men's race - the then pre-eminent PDM squadra came cruising past including the likes of Kelly, Alcala, Breukink, Theunisse, Rooks and Early. (although they were all different nationalities they rode the course as a team). But for me and apart from Lemond's gritty performance - the stand-out ride was from the relatively unknown (at that time) and under-rated Russian, Dimitri Koneyshev. His ride was simply staggering and I think whole crowd were willing him to win. Sadly he didn't - but for many he was the real star that day!

Wow thank you for all the old World Championships videos! I have never seen any of them and very excited to see them posted so I know what happened. Thanks for keeping some of the memorable cycling history alive!

That has to be some of the greatest riding I have ever seen. Just amazing.

What a great race! Lemond was on top of it. Attacking...dropping Fignon...chasing down all the attacks then starting and winning a sprint from about 300 out. Poor Fignon...just getting owned by Lemond again!

I remember watching this race in 1989. This truly was the greatest time for cycling. Lemond, Fignon, Bugno, Kelly, Roche, Delgato, Indurain, Rooks, Konishev, Claverolet. The list goes on and on. Lemond truly was the greatest champion. Armstrong is nothing compared to these guys. How would you like to start a stage everyday against riders like that. All were former Tour, Giro or Worlds winners. I really miss those days.

What chances Kelly must have taken (on the wet road) to bridge to the break ... Lemond was so strong ... covered all the moves and lead out the sprint ... shivers down the spine each time

Great race, I was there at the time. I also met Greg Lemond on training the days before. This climb was really steep, something you don't notice on the images.

This still gives me chills like when I watched it on TV. How about when Sean Kelly comes out of nowhere at about 2k!!

Love it!a remember seeing this on tv one of my favourite finishes ever.

one of the first EPO perfomances

Whether you like Lemond or not (like Lance, people seem to either love him or hate him), you have to admit that Lemond opened a can of "whoop-ass" in this race, after beating Fignon earlier that year in the greatest Tour de France finish ever. This was the best World Championship ever!

This is what it's about rain soaked roads flying down the mountain no fear my kind of cycling. I do some crazy cycling on open roads with heavy traffic and you have to impose a no fear attitude or you will crash surely.

Greg and Laurent are my heroes- would have been so brilliant for Laurent to have won this, and would have given him some hugely deserved consolation for what happened at the tour. But brilliant for Greg as well. Kelly also deserved to have won- another legend. This is my era, the golden era. Even the domestiques from this time were legends- guys like Thomas Wegmuller, Herman Frison, Martial Gayant, Pascal Poisson, Eric Caritoux to name but a few

exciting - great video! Worth watching all the way through for sure! Go Greg!

this made me go out and train my 5 hr in the rain. Great finish and thanks for posting.

I can't believe Phil was a commentator way back then, and he still sounds and talks exactly the same.

Lemond is a totally class act, well done to him, I recommend future riders take a leave out of his book as regards his integrity for the great sport of cycling.

Greg rules!!!!!

Would be nice if someone posted Greg's 83 win.

this is still the greatest finish I have ever seen....

One of the greatest races --- ever

Lemond is the Greatest ever!!

Another bronze for Sean KELLY 🇨🇮, this is as close to gold as he got, well able he was on a wet day like this 🍀.

Nice footage.

The Great Greg LeMond could do it all. He is a true inspiration & American hero.

@numero96 Kelly didn't F. up, imho he did as well as he possibly could have, for two reasons: (1) he was 33, a good 3 years past his prime. The sprinting kick had faded, he was no longer winning 20+ races per season. (2) Lemond was in awesome form. He beat Kelly in the sprint for 3rd place for the GP Montreal (remember that, a great hilly race) just before this race, which gave him confidence. At this particular point in time Greg LeMond was operating on another level of awesomeness.

i really wish i was around in 89 to watch cycling..

Just recently I was gifted a Vitus race bike like the one Kelly raced on.

armsttrong rode all year long just to win the tour he put all year into that race and he was able to compete in other races as well but he only put stock in the tour.

@colmmagoo Good points. Greg's sprinting was under-estimated. If the race was tough enough to get the field down, he was very hard to beat in a sprint.

Why do most people never mention Greg LeMonds FIRST World Championship Gold Medal? Venezuela, Junior Road Race. He was the main animator(Again!), and won a gold, silver, and bronze medal in that championship. He was beaten to the line by a top-tier Belgian road racer, Kenny Demartlier. But, he was disqualified for dangerous riding, after hooking GL off the course. Even if he had gotten the silver, he still did fantastic.

@jackmeadow1 Interesting. I've read LeMond say that he started the spring early because he thought that, if Kelly started sprinting before him, he'd never catch him.

RIP Fignon, courage until the end!

cycling is all about physical mastery so even though one may race well its all about remaining in the best physical shape you can be he was a great champion but all im saying is i am dissapointed as for merckx he is pretty old so getting beefy didnt really matter now that he has it off is another testament of his greatness.

For the record, Lemond won the Super Prestige Pernod trophy in 1983, ahead of Kelly. Therefore it isn't fair to say Lemond didn't ride all year, at least not in all cases. In 90 and 91 I think it's fair to say Lemond focused very hard on the Tour, but did help Duclos-Lassale win Paris-Roubaix in 92. Kelly was really Lemond's bete noire in one day races, which made it all the more satisfying the Lemond finally got the better of him at the 89 Worlds. Kelly was undergeared as the wind had shifted.

This is the best finish to a bicycle race ever. They have to change the date of the Worlds again to have this kind of racing.... The best is Fignon's double-take when Lemond closed the gap. Also great is another one of Phil Liggett's calls which is just dead wrong. How did that guy become the voice of cycling, anyhow????

Well he DID win the Giro that year!

Greg Lemont, an American hero.

idol! lemond rules. lemond kicks armstrong's ass.

unbelievable, 90 kph in the wet!

What a race. Def one of the all time greats. The difference between Kelly and Roache was the nouse that Roche possed otherwise this should have been Kelly's finest hour. Can anyone tell me the name of the climb outside Chambery? I'm there next summer and want to dream...

Notice the big gear that Fignon's whacking. All that "spinning for winning" stuff. Power is rpm times torque. If you don't generate significant torque you'll use all your oxygen in the very act of spinning the pedals. You need to generate power at the back wheel. The "engine", therefore, can't be screaming its guts out in first.

Lemond didn’t dope, we know that, but his riding skills, his talent is definitely Dope! Freaking awesome! Now I wish he was the UCI President.

What's the gradient ?

@kvmusic to say that Kelly's one-day palmares is better than LeMond's is like saying his stage race palmares is better because he won Paris-Nice 7 times and a Vuelta, whereas Greg only (!) had 3 Tours and 1 Dauphine. Kelly won many classics and Greg none, but the 1 single-day race that everyone wants to win, kelly only had 2 bronzes whereas Greg had 2 golds and 2 silvers. Not to diss Kelly, both great riders.

@oceanplanet602 Kelly wasn"t just a sprinter! he was world number 1, for 6yrs running. 3rd in the all time list classics winner. Paris- nice 7yrs running, Vuelta 88, go on wiki & look at his palmares. Sean Kelly is an all time great & Legend..

Kelly must've steamed down that descent to catch the leaders who wern't exactly hanging around at 87kph ether! Great race, but I always felt sorry for Fignon. Why he did that last half-hearted attack just before the line is beyond me. Easy looking back to say all this though I guess?

To those who say Lemond doped...please explain how he went to Europe in 1978...as a freaking 17 year old with $75 in his pocket...and won nearly every race he entered. Again...17 years old...he had been cycling less than THREE years. After that trip...Lemond realized he could ride with the best in the world. You really think a 17 year old from Washoe County NV...in 1978 was doping? Please. Who even know about that stuff in 1979? That is idiotic. The motor was always there with Lemond. He was always that special of a talent. After that trip...Lemond wrote down 4 goals in a notepad that his dad, Bob, still has to this day: 1. Win 1979 Wrld Jr Champ Road Race 2. Win 1980 Olympic Road Race 3. Win Pro World Champ RR by 22 4. By age 25, with the TDF. The only goal he did not meet was the 1980 Olympics, due to the Boycott...

Where would Greg's sprinting ability be classified today at ? Gilbert's level ? Sagan ?

rest in peace Fignon

Lemond could have had a great 5 year stretch of major wins if he didn't get shot! That was a great win though. He rode for a smaller Belgian team that year and still kicked ass! On Bottecchia bicycles no less!

this was a fantastic world champs and tour de france,lemond could have won many more races if it had not been for his shooting [ hunting ]accident, remember he was left with lead pellets close to his heart!by 1989 he was being poisoned by the lead getting into his bleed stream ! LOOK at him in the 1986 tour when he was at his best, awesome !but to win the 89 tour and world champs was an amazing comeback and showed true guts and determination.and i feel he is a guy who never used drugs.

And watch Sean Kelly come out of nowhere....CLASSIC!!!!

TC2drumlist's comments from a year ago are nonsense. Lemond joined PDM in Feb 1988. He rode with PDM for only one season. On of the reasons he left, was that he and Kathy became aware that the team was pushing riders to dope. Kathy became friends with AnnaLisa, Johannes Draaijer's wife. She was American and like spending time around others from the States. Mid way through 1988...Annalisa told Kathy that they had figured out why Johhanes was struggling. "His testosterone is low..." she was told by the PDM docs and trainers. Greg and Kathy cautioned Johhanes and Kathy that such tactics were how the teams got you started doping. Greg left PDM at the end of the season in no small part because he did not like the team pressuring riders to "get with the program" A full year later (Feb 1990....after Greg had spend a full year riding for ADR...winning the 89 tour), Annalisa called Kathy hysterical, in the middle of the night. Johhanes was dead in bed next to her...due to an EPO oversode. Johhanes was one of the early casualties. As one of the early users of EPO...he fell victim to the ignorance of the docs and trainers in what dosage was safe. The autopsy never concluded why he died, and the team covered it up. If anything the events are evidence that Greg was opposed to doping the whole time. Listen to the interview where Kathy talks about the events surrounding Johannes and Annalisa.

ya fignon was a really good rider i think people didnt like him as much because he didn't look very nice you know and lemond looked like this nice kid who could be a friend to every body but Fignon was still a very good rider.

I'm not confused about the timeline, lol. When the ETs dropped dramatically Lemond was no longer competitive. And it still stands to reason that if he used amphetamines he would've used the much more effective blood/oxygen booster when it became necessary. I will have to concede to your basic point though: You can't be certain of anything unless they are busted.

he did he rode all of those but he never went for the win he once got 4th in the vuelta but he concentrated on france that was the greatest race so thats the only thing he wanted.

RIP fignon!

lance was exciting to watch but was a one race a year man after his come back, even indurain won a giro tour double

Classic

Kewlios

Jesus fucking Christ...90ks on wet roads...ballsy mother fuckers. I miss these days of racing so much.

@kvmusic Boyer was never going to win that race. Boyer was a good rider but that finishing climb was for a world class rider like Lemond or Saronni, one way or another Boyer would have lost. Can't fault the better rider (lemond) for not letting Saronni have it on a silver platter.

This win was special cos LeMond out sprinted Kelly, who was a sprinter Ace, while LeMond was never good at sprinting.

Poor fignon...rip

Ahh the days when doping wasnt as wide spread/easy to do. All the guys tried to push the envelop but in the early 90s it all changed. Lance was the best at the Tour de France but thats it. NOT the greatest cyclist but a really really good one.

Is that Brian Dribble...doing the announcing w/ Phil baby ????/

lol me to love it

where did kelly finish 3/4

The part that doesn't fit the profile for me is the anti-doping zealotry. Most of the people defending/excusing LA's doping are dopers in cycling or in my boxing furum, lol. And it's probably much more possible for a great motor to have beaten dopers in the pre-EPO era. You talked me into ordering Kimmage's book though. Sounds interesting. Amazon talked me into 2 more.

If guys like Lemond & Hampsten were going to dope at all then they would have done it at the onset of the EPO era when dopers were kicking their butts. And I knew basically what LA was up to about 10 years ago. Cycling on the lower 40 doesn't make a climber. No judgement here. I'd have probably done the same if I had the motor.

Another example of Lemond - in Kelly's opinion - sitting on Kelly's wheel the whole race and only winning because he sat on Kelly's wheel.

no matter what gear kelly was in it wouldn't have changed the result.

You said it in the first par. Lemond was the better tour racer. But with w World's not sure you can call Kelly even a better classics rider. And their impact on the sport? Not close. LeMond all the way. And remember LeMond really had two careers, first exclusively as a support rider for Fignon and Hinault, and then when he became a tour rider is when he stopped riding all season.

thanks for the fast forward hahahaah

Why is it in my recommended

sylvain georges just called. he wants your attention back.

I still prefer downtube shifters just like this video.

NOoooo bauer!

Comparing Lance Armstrong to Greg Lemond is like comparing Larry Holmes to Muhammad Ali. The were both champions but Ali beat the greatest fighters of all time (Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Ken Norton). Larry Holmes fought bums like Trevor Burbick. Armstrong never raced against the caliber of talent that Lemond did. Lemond raced against the toughest group of cyclist in history and Armstrong defeated a field of domestiques.