Illustrations
In April 1987, Greg LeMond lies in a Sacramento hospital bed following extensive surgery after being accidentally shot in a hunting accident by his brother-in-law. His wife Kathy describes his body, decimated by buckshot, as being ‘like a colander’. Offside/Presse Sports
After arriving at the Prologue time trial in Luxembourg nearly three minutes late, defending champion Pedro Delgado finds a long, lonely road ahead of him if he is now to challenge for the yellow jersey. Offside/Presse Sports
The following morning, last-placed Delgado discusses his predicament with the new Tour director, Jean-Marie Leblanc. That afternoon, he would lose even more time after a disastrous team time trial. Offside/Presse Sports
Laurent Fignon (centre) is in jubilant mood after leading his Super U squad to an imposing win in the team time trial. Tour debutant and future champion Bjarne Riis (far left) has just won a stage on his first full day in the race. Offside/Presse Sports
Stage 5 finishes in Belgium, in the unlikely setting of the Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit, home of the Belgian Grand Prix. ‘When you see Formula 1 cars going round it at x miles an hour,’ says Sean Kelly, ‘you don’t realise how steep the bloody hill is.’ Offside/Presse Sports
Raúl Alcalä takes the applause following his victory at Spa-Francorchamps. Having recently moved from the American 7-Eleven team to the Dutch PDM squad, he becomes the first Mexican rider to win a stage of the Tour. Offside/Presse Sports
After an encouraging start to the race, Greg LeMond sits in quiet contemplation ahead of Stage 5, the time trial between Dinard and Rennes in Brittany. The American has earmarked the 45-mile stage to be a measure of his form and fitness. Offside/Presse Sports
On the road to Rennes, LeMond overtakes the Super U rider Christophe Lavainne, one of several riders he passes on the time trial. Not only does his phenomenal ride give him his first Tour stage win in three years, it also puts him in the yellow jersey. Offside/Presse Sports
Roared on by thousands of flag-waving Basques, Miguel Induráin launches a surprising solo attack on the first day in the Pyrenees. He manages to sustain his advantage until the finish in Cauterets – the first of only two non-time trial stages the Spaniard would win in a career that saw him take the overall Tour title five times. Offside/Presse Sports
Escorted by his Fagor team-mate and compatriot Paul Kimmage, Ireland’s Stephen Roche limps towards the finish at Cauterets after banging an already injured knee on his handlebar. He withdrew the following morning, but had been determined to finish the stage. ‘You might not start the next day, but you never abandon.’ Offside/Presse Sports
Robert Millar nips past Pedro Delgado to take the stage win at the ski-station of Superbagnères. A classic mountain stage, it was also the Scotsman’s third – and probably best – win in the Pyrenees. Offside/Presse Sports
On the scorching hot Bastille Day stage between Montpellier and Marseille, Frenchmen Charly Mottet and Laurent Fignon launch a joint attack, much to the surprise and consternation of their rivals near the top of the general classification. Offside/Presse Sports
Steven Rooks of the Netherlands wins the mountain time trial into Orcières-Merlette, showing exactly why he finished runner-up to Pedro Delgado in the 1988 race. Offside/Presse Sports
Sean Kelly had a superb Tour, taking the green points jersey – for the most consistent finisher – for a fourth time. For a big man more familiar with duking it out in sprint finishes, he climbed the race’s sky-high peaks brilliantly. Offside/Presse Sports
Wearing the polka-dot jersey of the King of the Mountains leader, Gert-Jan Theunisse scores a classic victory at Alpe d’Huez, the latest in a series of Dutch riders to win big on the totemic mountain. Graham Watson
Laurent Fignon leads the race’s top five riders – (left to right) Greg LeMond, Gert-Jan Theunisse, Pedro Delgado and Marino Lejarreta – into Aix-les-Bains. The order in which they finished on the stage mirrored the order in which they finished overall in Paris. Offside/Presse Sports
Facing a 50-second deficit – but with the advantage of those controversial aerobars – Greg LeMond considers the task at hand as he leaves Versailles on the heart-stopping final-day time trial. Offside/Presse Sports
As the last man to go in the final time trial, Laurent Fignon knows how quickly LeMond is riding on the road ahead. Powering along the banks of the Seine, the Frenchman is nonetheless shedding significant time to the American. Offside/Presse Sports
Having safely negotiated the hairpin in front of the Arc de Triomphe, LeMond now rides flat out down the Champs-Élysées. Does he dare to believe that he’s making the impossible possible? Getty Images
LeMond is flabbergasted at receiving confirmation that Fignon has fallen short by just eight seconds after three weeks of intense racing. It is one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time. Offside/Presse Sports
Having collapsed at the finish line, Fignon is inconsolable at learning that his fastest-ever time trial was still not enough to prevent defeat. He describes himself as being ‘like a boxer who’s concussed’. Graham Watson
For just a few fleeting seconds on the podium, Fignon manages to share a smile with LeMond and Delgado. The pain, though, would remain with him for the rest of his life. Graham Watson
Ever the family man, LeMond poses for post-stage pictures back in his hotel room, alongside the ever-supportive Kathy and two-year-old Scott. Getty Images
Fignon tries to exact revenge on LeMond at the world championships in Chambéry the following month, but the American outsprints everyone to take an incredible double. Offside/Presse Sports
LeMond’s extraordinary year is capped in December when Sports Illustrated name him their Sportsman of the Year, beating much more established names from American football, basketball and ice hockey. Getty Images