The Lexicon: A Retraction
The recent headlines being made in the cycling world have honestly not garnered a whole lot of attention at V-HQ, at least where a certain COTHO is concerned. Yes, The Keepers have added to the usual discussions on the topic here, read the news, and given it some thought. But we really don’t feel the need to take any sort of official position, recap the whole sordid mess, or offer up any ideas on how to move forward. Just as you all contribute positively to this place in ways we couldn’t possibly have envisioned when we started, the cycling community as a whole will contribute positively to our sport as we grow through this. COTHOS, governing bodies, PED’s, and corruption be damned. We’re here to live La Vie Velominatus.
That being said, we feel the need to retract LeMelvis from the Lexicon as a result of this whole mess. Perhaps the COTHO’s reach into public opinion went far enough to cloud our judgement of the greatest American cyclist and only American winner of the Tour. It went far enough that we thought it was okay, if not funny, to besmirch his more recent public image. We were wrong and for that we are sorry. Where has LeMond been in the recent tumult? Quiet, letting things speak for themselves. That’s class. The same class he showed when he turned up in Europe as a neo-pro to race with the best as a virtually solitary American. The same class he showed winning three Tours. The same class he showed in the above picture. Vive La Vie, Greg. You’re the man.
As point of clarification, Greg LeMan has maintained its honorary place in the Lexi. We might even put it in bold now.
Yes yes yes!!!
Nice one.
He remains (and has through out the LeMelvis escapade) one of my idols.
My favorite memory is sitting in the hut at Highway 00 outside Hayward Wisconsin; we all noticed him as he entered – how could you not – and having been taught to respect people’s privacy, we left him alone.
Then, “Godverdomme!”. We all looked up in horror to see who would be so rude!
I’ll never forget that giant, friendly smile beaming back at us. He knew that would get our attention.
Nicest. Guy.
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I think one of the things that saddens me the most about this whole fiasco is how I allowed a boyhood hero and idol to be sidelined by his “successor”. I went from adoring him to thinking he was just being jealous, old and washed up, that he had gone crazy…
… thanks Greg for the memories, for making cycling what it is to me today and my heartfelt appologies for ever doubting you… Vive la Greg!
Cyclingtips posted up an interview Greg did recently on an Irish sports radio show, it’s well worth a listen & I’ll admit to coming away thinking much more of him given I wasn’t old enough to know anything of the LeMan era when it was happening so my only impressions of him were those that led to the retracted nickname.
In 1986, I snagged a ticket to sit in the grandstand at the top of “The Wall” on the finish line of the Morgul-Bismark stage of that year’s Coors Classic. I sat down next to a very nice woman who engaged me in a conversation about cycling. She seemed to know a lot about the state of the sport at that time. We discussed the race and it’s origins in Boulder until the peloton came into view, climbing the hill. She stood and cheered yelling, “Come on Greg, Go honey!” It was LeMond’s mom!
When will there be an evanescent piece on Pharmy? He is left with a set of rainbows a Fleche and San Sebastian plus a couple of Tour stages…
Greg the Great, He was out in Seattle a while back for one of our rides RAMROD. Nice guy, although not in his pro weight he looked like he was stung by a bee.
Round of applause, Gents. Well played.
Goddamn that fuckin’ dude looks CLASSY on a bike.
My first encounter with the PRO peloton was sometime back in the 80s when ESPN used to show Le Tour. I had an off week from one of the many camps I went to and watched some of the race. I had no idea that years later I’d be a Follower.
Recently read some of (one) his book on cycling tips, etc. Loved hearing him describe his first bicycle, his early rides with his father, and then the warp-speed move he made into the European peloton.
LeMan lives on!!
On another note, what a fucking mess. First time that many of my friends have ever asked me about cycling and now there is nothing good to say. All I can hope is things get much cleaner AND other sports do some testing too; I hate seeing cycling get painted as the only sport with cheaters.
And seeing these photos…screw the carbon rig, I’m riding some ol’ steel tomorrow!
@hmcsw
I’ll likely never be as thin as a PRO, but that’s okay. Nonetheless I hope to avoid ever entering the “stung by a bee” mode. Goddamn, I’ll see dudes I knew in high school or college at weddings, reunions, etc. and so many of them look like they’d burst if you pricked them with a pin.
“I’m not fat, I’m thick. And strong.” Yeah right.
Well done.
@Ron
Ironically, the only steel bike Le Man is riding in the above photos is the TT funny bike. Don’t let that stop you though!
Le Mond was one of the first pro road riders to make their way into my consciousness, helped in no small part by the local showing of the US coverage of Le Tour. Have to admit, though, I was cheering for Fignon instead, since like me he wore glasses and because the ‘merican covereage was (understandably) Le Man biased hence Laurent was more like the underdog to my mind.
Despite my disappointment over the result of THAT tour, I will admit I respected GL, especially with the shooting etc. Pharmstrong would have earned far more respect if he’d survived his cancer and left it at that.
Fuck me! Not that I ever doubted, or you cared, but this site has just become holy to me.
As I said earlier today, “Leman, telling it like it is since 1985.”
Fucking guy rules and he’s the reason I first ever threw my leg over a toptube with intention in my eye.
@frank AWESOME! I totally want to meet him some day! Man, would stalk the dude if i lived in MN!
The world rejoices when past wrongs are righted…
Don’t post very often but gotta chime in here. Thanks for setting this issue straight.
Growing up a couple of houses away from the Morris family (Greg’s in-laws) there was nothing cooler, as a young lad, than seeing him bombing around the bluffs, when they were back visiting on Holiday, on what we now all know is called a mountain bike. I remember throwing my inspired leg over the top tube of my I hope I grow into this thing soon, hand me down Schwinn Collegiate and just going out to ride as hard as I could. Never made it very far back then…….
The first bike I bought with my own money was a LeMond.
Now I wish I had kept it.
Cheers, LeMan! Here’s to you!
(Also, he built a cyclocross course in his back yard!)
It never sat right with me… mocking Lemond. Still I felt it wasn’t my place to speak up on the matter (here anyway). I’ve always believed his accounts and treated them as heartfelt honesty, and never doubted his 90+ relative VO2 data wouldn’t someday speak for itself when all was said and done.
There’s one cycling poster in our house… it sits in my sons room, neatly situated as one of the first things you see as you walk in. It’s a poster of Lemond ripping the the shit out of the Champs de Elysee, on his way to winning his second TdF. I’ve always maintained with my son, Lemond is the only American to ever win the TdF without cheating.
Thank you for the change, Keepers!
As a side note, I’ve had a Lemond 853 frame set sitting around for years (slightly too small for me) that I was going to sell off… not now, I’m keeping it and going to build it up into a special ride for no other reason than respect for Lemond and his accomplishments.
@JFT nice. Give it to your son.
@Marko That’s now the plan, Marko… he’s twelve, so has another few years before he’s likely the right size. I’ll build it up and get in a couple years of rides before turning over the keys to the saddle.
Cheers all! I was definitely in the “guess he’s jealous” camp. I was wrong. Greatest American cyclist ever. LeMan is all class (even with his bloated, ill fitting jeans appearance at the beginning of a Spinervals video I have, just saying).
LeMond inspired me as a kid to get on the bike back in the 80’s. The “other” guy made me put the bike down during the 90’s and do drugs. Funny how things work out like they do.I’m back on the bike and LeMan ia the the Man! Vive the 80’s! Vive LeMan! Le premier champion de l’Amérique!
How do I know if he wasn’t doped, I am still confused by Armstrong I will be honest with you guys.. I am just going to ride my bike until I get interested by the protour.
Picked out Greg Lemond’s Complete Book of Bicycling (1987) under a stack of Pharmstrong books at a used book sale on the weekend. Here are some quotes:
“…one thing that cycling has taught me is that if you can achieve something without a struggle it’s not going to be satisfying.”
“Most people should pick a racing bike.”
“…the top of your stem should be about five to eight centimetres below the top of your seat.”
Sounds rule compliant to me. LeMan!
Nice Marko. Well done. Sure he let himself go a bit, he “Eddied” up a bit in retirement. He was the King damn it. Porcelain monkeys, steak fried chicken.
This is better. The only American to win the Tour. That is good for Greg and the Tour.
LeMan!
Tip of the hat…. Greg was, is, and will always be the real deal.
Chapeau Frank !!
It takes class to offer a humble and heart-felt apology.
Hmmm… I’m going to have to crawl out from under my rock for this one, I reckon, and echo the sentiments of @Dino and @JFT. As a European and devoted francophile, I was saddened by the downfall of Laurent Fignon at the hands (legs) of Lemond in the final stage of the Tour of 89 – but I’ve always respected Lemond for being a strong, gutsy, attacking rider and, as far as I could tell, a very nice guy as well.
I must admit that I was somewhat baffled a few months ago, when I cast a quick glance at an (older) article on this site, featuring a photograph of Lemond in the company of a guy with a moustache of whom I’d never heard (Ted King, or something?) – and a few subsequent posts referring to ‘LeMelvis’ and poking fun at the way LeMond was, allegedly, looking like a devoted puppy in the presence of a genuine top dog. I’ll happily apologize for knowing fuck-all about who is who in American cycling today, as well as for the fact that at the time, as a relative newbie to this site, I didn’t have the guts to protest – but in my book, a cyclist like Greg Lemond was and is deserving of respect: the guy won three Tours de France, FFS. So what if he has gained weight in the meantime? So has Merckx, as some have pointed out here. Anyway: chapeau, Marko, and thanks for setting the record straight.
Some great tributes already posted, guys. Top stuff. Even though until quite recently (okay, last week) I was a Lance fanboy, I was also a bit of a rarity in that have also always been a LeMond fan. Seeing the two of them at each others throats was difficult for me, in the same way feuding uncles would be. I guess I figured it by saying to myself LeMond was the past and Lance the present, who cares if they don’t get on? Another example of my massive blind spot, I suppose.
I started watching LeMond in the very early 80s through the pages of Cycling Weekly as he began his great but too short career, and his 1989 victory was one of the most watched videos I’ve ever owned. His autograph is second only in my collection to the Eddy Merckx one. Cheers Frank for the respect to a Great Champion who was too long overshadowed by the greatest fraud.
This awesome gesture was instigated, and penned, by Marko…
Last night i read the wikipedia entry on LeMan and after all the shit he’s been trough i think october 22nd should now be known as LeMan’s day in the land of the velominati
Well said. After you watch the interview on velonation you’ll respect him even more. He is a total class act.
Apologies, Marko! And chapeau to you, sir.
@brett
Ahh Brett, you Keeprs all look the same to us.
@Deakus
Man, you know you’re spent when you don’t have the energy to chew . . .
I have an old Miroir poster at home of Greg riding in the Dauphine in his first pro season. Time to hang it up on the wall methinks.
@ErikdR
My very first post here ever was about that image (the mustached guy is Tom Ritchey, Godfather of Mt Biking and other cycling bits).
Marko and I talked briefly via the Book of Faces yesterday. I feel horrible for doubting LeMan during the early 00’s when we all thought he’d eaten one too many cheese burgers and had lost his mind. I remember when he was Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year”. I was a youngster that thought that bicycles were for delivering newspapers. I was at once fascinated and disappointed that in my small town, this was the only source of racing I’d see for many years.
Tipping back a IPA for you Greg as soon as I get home from work. Chapeau!!
Vive Le Mond. There’s not a lot to feel good about from the LA mess, but I feel good about Greg being vindicated.
@brett
My apologies to marko. I carelessly did not note the author. Indeed, it is a finely written piece, and inspires us all to be better men.
LeMonster.
So this one got me to post for the 1st time.
LeMan.
True champion. True comeback. TdF champion. World champion. Class act. Style to spare. Innovator. Genetic freak. Ambassador. Teammate. And so on.
Many of the Americans that followed in his draft and reaped meaningful financial rewards should thank him for the pull.
Glad to see folks coming out from under the ether.
@Mapearso
Indeed. He paved the way through the European Peloton with a bulldozer and a steamroller for every American that followed. There’s always got to be a first – nobody better than LeMan to be the one.
It’d be great if somehow he could recoup some of the financial loss he’s endured as a result of Trek and Pharmy blackballing him. Just another reason I’ll never ride a Trek.
Welcome out of the shadows. Nice to have your input.
@marko
And you all know that Phil Anderson paved the way for the non-Euros, including LeMond.
@Marcus neatly worded there given that it was George Mills who headed up the English speaking “Foreign Legion”
I thank you. Wholeheartedly. I had never felt good with how LA would belittle LeMan during interviews or within the press. The way Trek dropped LeMond led me to live as it the brand was dead to me. In fact, they still are dead to me.
I am excited that the LeMelvis is now stricken from the record, as have other things…chapeau.
@frank Fucking awesome shots!
@Marcus
Thanks Marko. I’m here fairly often. It’s a great place to visit.
@frank
LOVE that middle shot. Also makes me miss JiPM. Did we scare him away for good? I know he was moving to Dallas but sure have missed his calm sanity in the mix around here.