I went back to France for the Tour in 92, it was a very hard start at San Sébastien & straight up into the Pyrenees. Rain, cold start, there were quite a few cold days, I lasted to the Alpe'dHuez stage, day before into Sestriaes was brutal, It was a terribly Hot day , I made it to St Jean Maureen started Croix de Fer, I looked behind me and it was so hot I could see my wheel tracks as the pavement was gone soft from the heat, I was caught early by the pros, & my morale melted on the side of the road. I slept in a cardboard box on a loading dock the night before, Lemond dropped outta the race that day in St Jean Maureen I went about 6 miles further. I could hear cheers of Andy's win then people w/ Radios confirmed" le petite lapin " est chappio- Wow !!! An American, that's one of my guys- 30plus years later Congratulations Andy!!! Hope to meet you someday!!! To me he was the silent hammer... like he says, shy, quiet, humble polite... glad I pedaled as much of that melted pavement as I could 😅
During the 79 Red Zinger Andy hitched a ride with me from Boulder to Colorado Springs. He impressed me so much as a junior with his centered positive view, I started to follow his career. In 1994 during the World MTB Championship in Vail, Davis Phinney and Bob Roll regaled us with stories from their days in the peloton. Roll’s description of his role in the Gavia was hysterical.
Great interview. I’ve always been a big Andy fan. Back when I was an idiot junior I had the dumb idea to find Andy’s phone number and called him up to ask his advice. He was so gracious in chatting with me for a few minutes.
When I saw him ride Alpe Dhuez in 1992 i also thought he was in s trance. He was incredible that day. I was afraid that this child coming at him during the climb would make him fall or break his concentration but luckily it didn't.
I hope you can make a part 3 and dive into the banesto part of his career. Always wondered why he switched teams in the end of his cycling career and also why he called it the dark era in banesto if I remember correctly.
Great interview, too bad there wasn't enough time for more, I'm sure there is plenty more to hear from him, being teamates with LeMond and Hinault was a high for sure in my mind. The Banesto era would be interesting to hear also. I hope he does well with his bike brand.
I rode 120miles around east Maui. All hills in 9hrs. Someone told my Andy Hampsten does same loop in 7hrs. I said he probably don’t even break a sweat either. LoL
Great interview, Andy was the master of spinning uphills, long before Lance made it popular. A great inspiration and lovely guy. Thanks for producing this interview ❤
All pro sports should be treated like something that is temporary and there will need to another career/life after sport. Bungo did a great job, he went on to a helicopter pilot.
The first question that comes to mind is how he managed to continue knowing the sport at the time was completely rotten, and only got worse up until, and beyond his last year in Europe in 1995. That aside, if you do return to the '88 Giro, perhaps ask about the day Zimmerman attacked, from memory after the mountain TT. Zimmerman eventually recouped 3 minutes, but at one point was well over 5 mins ahead, with the 7-Eleven team scattered in different groups whereby Andy had a choice to make that eventually saved the day.
