We tend to look at cycling through rose-tinted glasses; cycling-specific ones that not only give us a cheery outlook on the past, but ones that conveniently hold big black bars over the bits we prefer not to remember as they were because they don’t fit into the picture we’ve formed in our minds. One of the most interesting things about a community like Velominati is all the different viewpoints that come together regarding events past that help remind us of something approaching reality, built from an aggregation international of views. Perhaps even more interesting is how this experience also brings into sharp relief the evolution of the “facts” as we each have seen them at different points in our lives.
A prime example is of the discussion earlier this week regarding the Lenault battle in 1986. The American view predominantly held was that LeMond was short-changed by Hinault, while the Europeans (or at least the French) could see no reason Hinault should acquiesce the Tour should he be in a position to win it. Certainly not from an American. The Aussies, of course, feel Phil Anderson or, barring that, Phil Ligget or someone else named Phil – regardless of nationality – should have won it, and the Kiwis are no doubt still busy looking for a Tour contender who doesn’t ride a bike. At the time, I hated Hinault and characterized him as a cheating douchenozzle; these days, I regard him as one of the greatest examples of a complete rider and a model of what riders today should aspire to be.
The truth is, of course, somewhere in the middle and after we boil the ocean of the ’86 Tour, we’re left with two great riders on one team who were so closely matched they each could have won that year. But the promises made the year before and the reality of the race situation on the road were like water and oil, and by the time the race reached l’Alpe d’Huez, the team, the fans, and the countries had polarized towards one end or the other, each choosing the side that matched most closely the version of the facts that helped them feel more at ease with their loyalties.
As controversies have a tendency to, they overshadow one of the most unique rides to the top of l’Alpe d’Huez in the history of the great climb. In my memory, Hinault attacked on the descent from either the Col de la Croix de Fer or the Glandon. (Maybe he attacked at the base, as WikiPedia suggests, but I don’t remember it that way.) Only LeMond had an answer, and the teammates escaped together to ride the mythical 21 hairpins together. I can’t think of another time when two G.C. riders – let alone two teammates – outclassed everyone else in the race up this climb.
Up and up they rode together – the Badger in his distinct style and LeMan in his – with only their pain, their massive gears, their rocking shoulders, and their resentment for each other as company. Hand-in-hand they crossed the finish line as happy team mates, LeMond gifting the stage to his patron in the end. But beneath the surface boiled a fearsome rivalry and within minutes Hinault and LeMond’s dashing alter-ego, LeMelvis, traded blows in the press. And with that, the great ride was almost immediately eclipsed by polemics.
In the end, LeMond overcame a tampered-with TT bike to win the Tour and Hinault retired as arguably the most successful Tour de France rider at the time. The record is set but the facts become more malleable with time. The rest we see with our rose-tinted glasses.
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Once again His Frankness has bestowed us with insights reserved only for those enlightened few that have been plowed into by a pro rider on the slopes of a French mountain.
Nice piece.
And what is this tampered with TT bike that you speak of?
Fine write up, Frank!
The first pro cycling I remember watching was the 1989 TdF, carried by ESPN, way back when they televised more than the NFL and stories about the NFL. I watched it that summer after mornings at sports camps. I wasn't a road cyclist at all, but there was something special about the racers that I can still feel and recall.
Didn't watch the '86 edition live, but I've done my best to watch as many of these old videos as possible.
Absolutely KILLED me when he let Hinault win that stage!!! And then Hinault spoke about attacking again after the stage. I come from a place, and daily live that place with my fellow SF soldiers, that a promise spoken is a given. I still get ALL fired up when I remember this stage and that whole tdf (not to mention the '85 edition) when Hinault completely backed out of his promise to help LeMan win for letting Hinalt win the year before. Nothing is more important to me than personal integrity and one's own honor. Hinault sacrificed both to try to feed his own massive ego and in the process, not only lost the '86 tour, but a lot of what his legacy would be today.
How's that for an American opinion! :)
I think had Le Blaireau won this edition he would have held a new record for TdF wins. Being French and Hinault, it's hard to blame him for his competitiveness. He and Lance have things in common; their utter disgust at losing foremost. It's not unlike Roche and Roberto Visentini in the Giro, two teammates fighting it out for the win. I was rooting for Roche, every Italian was not.
The lead photo says a lot. The young buck marking the older leader, biding his time, waiting to pounce, staying back on his quarter, it's a great shot.
@Gianni
Yeah, it would have been his 6th tdf title, the first to do that. Still not an excuse, in my mind, to scarfice one's integrity and honor.
@Buck Rogers
I hear ya and I agree but Hinault was the King and what the King promised last season is hard to swallow when the Tour is on the line this year.
Promises unkept, like a friend of mine said on the subject of off-season "romance" on Martha's Vineyard island, which is a real empty place in January. "Winter can get you into things that Spring can't get you out of"
@Gianni
Yeah, I hear ya and totally respect you but that is where the chance for greatness in character lies and he missed it.
I've also got to call bullshit on your friend's "Winter" quote. There's no wiggle room with promises, no matter how you try to jusitify it, at least in my opinion.
Nothing personal, though. Good discussion!
Frank, your first impression on him was the right one, in my opinion.
I'm with Buck Rogers on this.
We need the photo of them kicking back in their track suits & Diadoras...
The only person who actually thought LeMond's TT bike was tampered with was LeMond. And Hinault always maintains that he did keep his promise to LeMond, but that he wasn't going to gift a Tour to anyone who didn't deserve it. The final result tends to back him up, and shows that his honour and integrity remained intact.