The wigs got ke thinking, you guys should do some crazy stuff. Like just throwing it out there, how does having one wheel bigger than the other affect performance. Or how does a can in the wheel to sound like a motorbike affect it lmao
It was the best TDF I ever watched and I was only 12 at the time we watched it on the telly channel 4 every single chance we got. Sean Kelly was ninth in the GC and picking up the overall green jersey and red jersey for intermediate sprints and pedro Delgado was third also overall he had won it the year before, I just remember it as the most exciting sports event I ever watched and I don’t think there is a TDF since that has been as exciting…that tour deserves its own documentary
This brings back so many good memories watching the tour for the first time. I was 100% routing for Fignon but what a race. I was 17 when I watched the tour for the first time and I got totally hooked I begged my Mum to go guarantor so I could get credit at my loval bike shop and I got myself a £600 Raleigh 531 frame with a full 105 group set and full lycra and I thought I was the bees knees. I went out for my first ride and in the first 10 minutes someone driving a car ran me over lucky all they did was badly buckled my rear wheel and I was able to buy a new Mavic open 4CD wheelset which was a nice little upgrade and got back out on the road, for at least 8 months until someone pulled out in front of me and I went flying over the bonnet and landed on my face killing my bike which was a very sad day indeed. After that I bought a second hand Stumpjumper comp and took up mountain biking instead, plus I also decided to buy a helmet which I never wore it was the 80s after all.
this is the race that started it all off for me, lemonds tri bars and aero helmet were revolutionary back then, as we found out with Ollie's swim cap there are watts to gain
Two of the coolest cyclists ever - LeMond and Fignon, not Ollie and Alex. Laurent Fignon's autobiography is brilliant. So honest. My favorite Fignon TDF finish is LaPlagne in 87. That one where Phil Liggett goes nuts as Stephen Roche comes out of the mist. Not many remember that Laurent Fignon won the stage. He shifts into a massive gear (downtube shifters in those days), and just powers through the sprint.
It was such a great era with amazing rivalries! A more modern rivalry was between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. We made a film about it on GCN+, why not check it out! 👉 gcn.eu/rivals2
Wow that information about the prologue with both of them having the same time is mind blowing. Thanks for recreating that guys. Keep up the great work.
He had a couple of great quotes when asked, 1: "you never stop grieving", understandable, 2: the best was "weren't you the one who lost the tour by 8 seconds" - reply, "I am the man who won it twice!"
Unfortunately, he is most remembered for losing the tour in ‘89. Even at the time, as a ten year, I remember watching the TT and wondering how much time he was chucking away with that hair dragging behind. I think he knew that; stupid way for a great cyclist to throw away a Tour de France win.
It’s difficult to ascertain the true character of Laurent from a few quotes, especially in his prime, during the TdF. He certainly said a few things which earned him a reputation for being arrogant, but he was also one of, if not the most highly educated riders in the peleton (as he was training to become a veterinarian surgeon before deciding to become a professional cyclist). He was passionate about defending the rights of riders as human beings, and had the ability to put the lesser informed in their place when needed… so what can you say to that? Considering that the French can sometimes be seen as arrogant (I’m trying to avoid too many generalisations here), and that they consider the race to be theirs, especially at at time when Greg was the first non European rider, first English speaking rider to win the race in 1986. Context is key here. Considering that Bernard Hinault was the last French winner, in 1985, I feel that this has been a healthy dose of humble pie for them. The French have been forced to re-evaluate their relationship with the race.
@@justinbrown6558 Well said. Thing is I never really saw him as arrogant, but I did see him as an articulate defender of the profession. Cycling is now middle class, it wasn't always so.
@@notso100 Exactly. Between 1998-2001 I lived in La Creuse, a department in the Limousin region of France. I had just graduated and was taking some time out, together with my parents who had just sold their house, and decided to move their life to France. We built a house together, and, one day when we were driving back from a Mr. Bricolage store (a building materials chain), we passed this guy riding a Colnago C40 with Spinergy Rev X wheels. I remember wondering if he was a pro, as it was the exact colour and spec that the Casino team were riding at the time. So we shouted out the car window in our pidgin French “Bon velo!”🤷🏻♂️😂 to which he replied “I’m English!”, so we pulled over for a chat and exchanged telephone numbers. He had originally arrived in France with the dream of turning pro, but didn’t make the cut, met a girl (who was a French teacher-from Wales), and together formed their own language school on the outskirts of Limoges. Anyway he was still very active in the racing scene and chaperoned English speaking riders who also had dreams of turning pro. It was then when I noticed the culture surrounding cycling in France. Back then cycling was predominantly a working class sport, much in the same way as football is here in the U.K. Even in the U.K, I have also witnessed a significant change in the demographic since I got my first serious road bike in 1986.
The 89 Tour de France was not the first time tri bars were used in the pro peloton. They were used earlier that spring in the 1989 Tour de Trump by 7-Eleven. Pete Penseyers used them to win RAAM in 1986
I saw Laurent Fignon's Raleigh in Dave Marsh's store yesterday and we we're talking about this story. It's cool to see this video just the day after discussing it and lovely to see the Merckx bike.
"If there's enough requests, we'll get more wigs." Cue the rush for Hank Cippolini - meatsuit Ollie ten Dam - nose wrap and giant toothypegs from TdF 2011 (I wouldn't mind seeing a vid on Dom's and Super Dom's a-day-in-the-life-of. 24hr workload of Watts for a hard stage pulling a top 3 contender)
I started cycling a few years before 1989 and watching Fignon winning the Tour 1983 and 1984 actually brought me into it. He was one of a kind, on and off the course. When watching the original footage of the last stage 1989, you can see him standing on the podium together with Lemond and Delgado. And although it may have been the sadest moment of his sportive life, he´s chatting and laughing with Lemond just a few minutes after. Great sportsmanship.
Bad taste jokes about murderers and quotes from the Mighty Boosh... GCN Tech seems like it was made just for me! Great video guys, now let's see Oli do a true crime pod cast, I bet he would be great at disposing of bodies while Alex giggles in the background.
Josh Portner at Silca likes to muse that Fignon's ponytail cost him the race because of the aero drag. Good stuff. I think one of the best things about that particular race was that the GC actually raced the last stage. I wish they did that every grand tour.
When it came to getting UCI approval, 7-Eleven had to get UCI approval too. When 7-Eleven went to get approval, they had their bike sponsor with them, Eddy Merckx.
I am old enough to been able to watch the years TF. That was an epic finish to the TF. Oh yeah and I went out and bought myself a set of those ft bars and still have them!
As a dedicated mountain bike rider and racer, road racing didn't talk much to me in '89. And yet, as it became clear Lemond was doing the impossible I was jumping up and down in front of the tv and yelling Go! Go! Go! (or, Allez! Allez! Allez!, for you intercontinental types). The debate over aero back then was interesting in my local ride group, and since the conventional "wisdom" was you had to be traveling 30mph for aero to function properly on a car, it seemed a wasted ideaso to me for a bicycle. Even my dim mind began to see the light in 1989. Your history lesson was so much fun, well presented (as always), with the joy of people in love with our sport. Which explains the many thumbs ups (all of them, actually) I've been giving the last five or so years. Keep it coming, we'll be watching.
@@gcntech I’m amazed at how mountain biking has driven cycling tech the last 40 years. Count them: indexed shifting, disc brakes, suspension of all sorts, frame materials. Lots of making fun of off-road on GCN, but we all love the innovations that began with the mountain bike.
I remember reading a Bicycling Magazine article back from the days -and they tested this in a wind tunnel- that said had Fignon cutted his ponytail, he would've won the tour.
Great tech insight. I would highly recommend the recently released documentary film The Last Rider, especially if tthe '89 Tour finish and Lemond's life and career interests you. I saw it in cinema and was well worth it.
That sounds like a good one! We have a recent documentary on GCN+ about another rivalry in pro cycling, between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. Why not check it out 👉 gcn.eu/rivals2
@@gcntech Not watched that one yet but I did enjoy the Giro 88 Gavia climb. I am certain that the lead creators for The Last Rider share the same passion for the sport as those working on GCN+ documentaries.
Glad you liked it! The 2009 and 2010 Tour had a rivalry between two modern greats and we made a film about it on GCN+, why not check it out 👉 gcn.eu/rivals2
This is my favorite GNC video. Factual, funny & entertaining. That and I own a 20 year old LeMond bicycle (with 105s ftw). Still rides great even compared to my carbon fiber framed Felt. I guess I need some tribars to complete the LeMond look!
The ‘89 Tour had us riveted to Channel 4 every evening for the highlights show (no satellite TV back in those days) for the next instalment of the Lemond - Fignon battle. On that final stage you could visibly see the speed differential between Lemond and Fignon, and remembering Phil Liggett commentating on Fignon’s approach to the finish line still brings me out in goosebumps. Absolutely nobody (except Lemond himself apparently) believed that he could beat Fignon by 50 seconds over a 24km time trial. Epic stuff!
Good video guys. Its not just about being aero. You can also pull on the tri bars, and get more power down. There so comfy, You could knock minutes off. It changed timetriling, for ever. 😃👍
I was 20 when i watched the race.Helmet’s weren’t cool back then but maybe you could do the badger,my hero from the 80’s and got me onto cycling when i was a kid.🚴🏼🚴🏼❤
I still have a set of those Scott tri-bars, and used them for awhile on my 1989 Centurion Ironman. Gawdawful uncomfortable and unstable compared with later tri-bars. With a busted up neck I can stay in the aero tuck less than 50% of my usual personal TT route. And despite my ineptitude it's still good for a significant speed boost and time cut. BTW, if memory serves, LeMond used another version of the tri-bars in the 1990 TdF, but omitted the aero helmet due to the heat. And he appeared to use the tri-bars less than half the TT route, as the route didn't lend itself well to the compromised TT bikes of that era (IIRC, the 1989 TdF final TT was mostly flat and slightly downhill most of the way, perfect for even the TT bikes of that era). LeMond struggled more than in the '89 TdF TT, but Chiappucci (no aero bar, helmet, disc wheels, etc) completely floundered and lost too much time. Overall, not as graceful or dramatic as the 1989 TT, so the '90 TT is seldom mentioned.
Actually, I once tried to run those foldable wheel covers called "Uni Disc 700" (the pro version with magnesium instead of alloy rings, that made 200gr instead of 290gr) on the front and rear wheel (about 30 years ago). Already uphill, the bike was difficult to steer, but downhill it was even worse. After two relatively fast descents (normally they were fast, but with this setup, I had to brake all the time in order not to loose the control), I stopped and put off the front wheel cover in order to come home alive - the nipples and the folded covers I put in the jerseys pockets, the magnesium rings I wore around the neck like the pro riders in the early days wore their spare tyres.
I remember watching live at the time, and Fignon said nothing about a saddle sore until after the race. He did however say before the start of the stage that he had been offered a set, and that he decided not to use them because they were “inelegant” and would not make a difference anyway. Most now believe that it was actually the size of Fignon’s ego (big head) which slowed him down. 😂
In one of the Marginal Gains videos from Silca Josh, he says that even LeMond refused the prototype bars for aesthetic reasons but then - being desperate to beat beau Laurent - was d'accord to try whatever was needed. He even accepted to use (what was then) a fugly unstylish handlebar.
It did not decide the tour, but for me as a Jan-Ullrich-Fan, the TT at Cap Cecouverte in the Tour 2003, when he was the only one who finished under one hour and beat Lance Arnstrong, was just awesome.
GCN Pixies & Elves a series of interviews with some of the brilliant athletes LeMond, Induraine, the fall guy Armstrong, the Tommy Simpson story and how that carried on. 1954 Olympics was when the Eastern Bloc weightlifters were enhanced to be stronger.
What would be the aero advantage of Fignon's front disc vs Lemond's spoked wheel? I'd guess at least 30 sec. Perhaps if LF had added the tri-bars then he'd have been unable to ride a front disc due to twitchy steering - I know how difficult a 100mm HED Deep can be on a TT bike on a breezy day. Still, any kind of aero-hat would have been enough to save 8 secs over 24 km at their power levels.
It is true that the tt bars helped Lemond win. It should be noted Fignon had a stronger team though. In fact, SystemU put 50 seconds into PDM in the Team Time Trial.
Fignon, without the ponytail and a sensible cyclist haircut would have edged out Lemond even without the aero helmet. Fignon, was overconfident. Great cyclist, but unfortunately this is what he is most remembered for. It was exciting to watch though; I remember it like it was yesterday.
Crazy to think that if that commisaire on that day had a bad mood from a watery espresso, may have said no to the aero bars and set a precedent, we may never have had all the great tt bikes over the years
No doubt this was the greatest tour ever because it was the one that got me into cycling. I am the generation that had Space Shuttle posters in their room and LeMond made a bicycle, the only vehicle we were allowed to ride, practically a Space Shuttle. I remember the Monday after at school where EVERYBODY said „I‘ll have one of these on my bike“ no matter if it was a BMX.
As an American, I also think the '89 TdF was the best one I've ever watched as it's so rare for an American to be competitive in the TdF, much less win... especially now that we know the real story about "other American" that "won" the TdF in later years.
It is nice to see the riders on bikes that weren't too far off from what the general public rode on, with the exception of maybe custom geometry for the particular rider. Top of the line bikes were around $1400-1600 or so in 1989, which translates into the mid-3000 dollar range today. Somebody who saved up some money could go out and buy a Schwinn Paramount or the like and be competitive. Back in 1989 dollars, the equivalent TDF bike they ride today would cost be $4000-7000. Ouch. The average Joe back then could save enough cash to buy a top bike. Sadly, not anymore.
When was this filmed? Long sleeves and a puffy coat? Currently the entire world is in the middle of a heat wave.. I would absolutely melt if I wore what they have on.
