1989 Tour de France

The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th Tour de France. In the closest tour in history, Greg LeMond was behind by 50 seconds on the final ride into Paris. In that time trial LeMond put his bike in a huge 55 x 12 gear and rode it 54.545 km/h (34.52 mph), one of the fastest time trials ever in the Tour de France. He made up 58 seconds on Laurent Fignon, ultimately winning the race by 8 seconds. Since 1989 there has not been another individual time trial to finish the Tour de France.

Race summary

At the start of the 1989 Tour de France, the defending 1988 champion Pedro Delgado missed his start time at the prologue. Delgado would lose 2:40 before the race had even begun as the clock ticked for him to appear at the start gate. Delgado would go on to lose more time as his team had a disastrous time trial. Later some spectacular riding in the mountains saw Delgado make a great rally to take third place in the Tour. Erik Breukink won that prologue stage, but lost the lead to Portugal's Acacio da Silva the next day. Da Silva would become the first man from Portugal to wear the yellow jersey. LeMond placed strongly in that time trial. He was coming back from a two year layoff due to injuries (including a near-fatal hunting accident).

In the Stage 5 time trial, LeMond shocked everyone by winning it and taking the yellow jersey. LeMond was thrilled to have won the jersey and was hoping just to remain competitive in the Tour.

Laurent Fignon would emerge as LeMond's chief rival. Fignon challenged LeMond in the press to be a more aggressive leader of the Tour de France. 1989 was a great year for Fignon, who was making a comeback of his own after several poor seasons. He had won the 1989 Giro d'Italia and was the #1 ranked cyclist in the world. Fignon would eventually make good on his words and challenge LeMond at a critical mountain stage at Superbagnères in the Pyrenees. He would take the yellow jersey from LeMond.

LeMond emerged from the Stage 15 time trial at Gap and once again regained the yellow jersey. It would be short-lived as Fignon gained the yellow jersey back on Stage 17 to L'Alpe d'Huez in the Alps. LeMond would encounter much difficulty in the Alps as Fignon continued to be aggressive – taking Stage 18 at Villard de Lans. LeMond, however, once again responded and took the next mountain stage (at Aix les Bains).

Coming out of the Alps, LeMond was down 50 seconds to Fignon going into the final time trial. Although LeMond was riding spectacular individual time trials, many people still felt 50 seconds would be too much to make up. The final stage from Versailles to Paris was billed as a showdown, but many did not expect LeMond to catch Fignon. On the stage, LeMond used the famous triathlon handlebars while Fignon rode a conventional bike. LeMond told his team not to give him his time splits as he wanted to ride all-out. LeMond took the time trial – travelling at 54.545 km/h (the fastest ever Tour TT until David Zabriskie bettered it in the 2005 prologue) – and won the Tour by 8 seconds.

The final time trial was over a course approximately 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) long, with a net elevation loss of 75 metres (247 ft). The riders had a moderate tailwind. LeMond's effort was the fastest individual time trial for a distance longer than 10 km ever ridden. A November 1989 Bicycling magazine article, supported by wind-tunnel data, estimated that LeMond may have gained 1 minute on Fignon through the use of the new aerobars. He also could have gained 16 seconds by wearing his aero helmet with a slightly elongated tail section for better aerodynamics, while Fignon rode bare-headed with his ponytail exposed to the wind. Fignon did perhaps gain a 5-second advantage by using a disk front wheel, while LeMond used a 24-spoke bladed radially spoked front wheel. Fignon finished third in the final time trial with an average speed of 53.59 km/h (33.33 mph).

The 1989 Tour also featured a stage win by Miguel Indurain of Spain. Indurain would finish his first Tour de France in 17th.

The 1989 Tour also featured a spectacular ride by Gert-Jan Theunisse of the Netherlands, who finished fourth overall and took the Tour's most famous stage, L'Alpe d'Huez. Theunisse's solo break is considered to be one of the greatest breaks of all time. His career would later be marred by a drug suspension.

Stage 13 was won by Vincent Barteau. Barteau was a surprise holder of the yellow jersey at the 1984 Tour de France for 12 days. In 1984, Barteau eventually surrendered the jersey to Laurent Fignon, who won the race. Barteau's career went into a major tailspin following the 1984 race. The stage 13 victory in 1989 marked a redemption of sorts for Barteau.

Results

Stage winners and Yellow Jersey

Stage	Date	Start-Finish	km	Winner	Yellow Jersey
Prologue	July 1	Luxembourg Time Trial	8	Erik Breukink	Erik Breukink
Stage 1	July 2	Luxembourg - Luxembourg	135	Acacio da Silva	Acacio da Silva
Stage 2	July 3	Luxembourg - Luxembourg TTT	46	Super-U	Acacio da Silva
Stage 3	July 4	Luxembourg - Spa	241	Raúl Alcalá	Acacio da Silva
Stage 4	July 5	Liège - Wasquehal	255	Jelle Nijdam	Acacio da Silva
Stage 5	July 6	Dinard - Rennes ITT	73	Greg LeMond	Greg LeMond
Stage 6	July 7	Rennes - Futuroscope	259	Joël Pelier	Greg LeMond
Stage 7	July 8	Futuroscope - Bordeaux	259	Etienne De Wilde	Greg LeMond
Stage 8	July 9	Labastide-d'Armagnac - Pau	157	Martin Earley	Greg LeMond
Stage 9	July 10	Pau - Cauterets	147	Miguel Indurain	Greg LeMond
Stage 10	July 11	Cauterets - Superbagnères	136	Robert Millar	Laurent Fignon
Stage 11	July 12	Luchon - Blagnac	159	Mathieu Hermans	Laurent Fignon
Stage 12	July 14	Toulouse - Montpellier	242	Valerio Tebaldi	Laurent Fignon
Stage 13	July 15	Montpellier - Marseille	177	Vincent Barteau	Laurent Fignon
Stage 14	July 16	Marseille - Gap	240	Jelle Nijdam	Laurent Fignon
Stage 15	July 17	Gap - Orcières-Merlette ITT	39	Steven Rooks	Greg LeMond
Stage 16	July 18	Gap - Briançon	174	Pascal Richard	Greg LeMond
Stage 17	July 19	Briançon - Alpe d'Huez	165	Gert-Jan Theunisse	Laurent Fignon
Stage 18	July 20	Bourg-d'Oisans - Villard-de-Lans	91	Laurent Fignon	Laurent Fignon
Stage 19	July 21	Villard-de-Lans - Aix-les-Bains	125	Greg LeMond	Laurent Fignon
Stage 20	July 22	Aix-les-Bains - L'Isle d'Abeau	130	Giovanni Fidanza	Laurent Fignon
Stage 21	July 23	Versailles - Paris ITT	25	Greg LeMond	Greg LeMond

General classification

Rank	Name	Country	Team	Time
1	Greg LeMond	United States	ADR Agrigel	87h 38' 15"
2	Laurent Fignon	France	Super U-Raleigh-Fiat	08"
3	Pedro Delgado	Spain	Reynolds	3' 34"
4	Gert-Jan Theunisse	Netherlands	PDM-Ultima-Concorde	7' 30"
5	Marino Lejarreta	Spain	Paternina	9' 39"
6	Charly Mottet	France	R.M.O.-Mavic	10' 06"
7	Steven Rooks	Netherlands	PDM-Ultima-Concorde	11' 10"
8	Raúl Alcalá	Mexico	PDM-Ultima-Concorde	14' 21"
9	Seán Kelly	Ireland	PDM-Ultima-Concorde	18' 25"
10	Robert Millar	United Kingdom	Z-Peugeot	18' 46"
11	Gianni Bugno	Italy	Chateau d'Ax	24' 12"
12	Eric Caritoux	France	R.M.O.-Mavic	28' 14"
13	Pascal Simon	France	Super U-Raleigh-Fiat	28' 28"
14	Bruno Cornillet	France	Z-Peugeot	28' 31"
15	Steve Bauer	Canada	Helvetia-La Suisse	31' 16"
16	Álvaro Pino	Spain	BH Sport	31' 17"
17	Miguel Indurain	Spain	Reynolds-Banesto	31' 21"
18	Jérôme Simon	France	Z-Peugeot	34' 10"
19	Luis Herrera	Colombia	Café de Colombia	36' 15"
20	Alberto Camargo	Colombia	Café de Colombia	37' 13"
21	Beat Breu	Switzerland	Domex-Weinmann	38' 35"
22	Andrew Hampsten	United States	7 Eleven	41' 41"
23	Pascal Richard	Switzerland	Helvetia-La Suisse	42' 07"
24	Fabrice Philipot	France	Toshiba	44' 43"
25	William Palacio	Colombia	Reynolds-Banesto	45' 42"
26	Anselmo Fuerte	Spain	BH Sport	48' 39"
27	Luc Roosen	Belgium	Histor-Sigma	51' 28"
28	Abelardo Rondón	Colombia	Reynolds-Banesto	53' 17"
29	Jörg Müller	Switzerland	PDM-Ultima-Concorde	55' 00"
30	Dominique Arnaud	France	Reynolds-Banesto	55' 23"
31	Laurent Biondi	France	Fagor	1h 00' 41"
32	Martial Gayant	France	Toshiba	1h 02' 33"
33	Jesús Rodríguez Magro	Spain	Reynolds-Banesto	1h 02' 41"
34	Marc Madiot	France	Toshiba	1h 02' 46"
35	Gérard Rué	France	Super U-Raleigh-Fiat	1h 03' 33"
36	Claude Criquielion	Belgium	Hitachi-Marc	1h 04' 07"
37	Frédéric Vichot	France	Helvetia-La Suisse	1h 09' 25"
38	Phil Anderson	Australia	TVM-Ragno	1h 11' 38"
39	Maarten Ducrot	Netherlands	Domex-Weinmann	1h 14' 47"
40	Primož Cerin	Yugoslavia		1h 16' 36"
41	Jesper Skibby	Denmark		1h 18' 00"
42	Helmut Wechselberger	Austria		1h 21' 11"
43	Laurent Bezault	France		1h 22' 09"
44	Martin Earley	Ireland		1h 26' 45"
45	Sean Yates	United Kingdom		1h 27' 04"
46	Atle Kvålsvoll	Norway		1h 27' 08"
47	Yvon Madiot	France		1h 27' 30"
48	Javier Murguialday	Spain		1h 27' 37"
49	Samuel Cabrera	Colombia		1h 27' 57"
50	Peter Stevenhaagen	Netherlands		1h 28' 18"
51	Patrick Robeet	Belgium		1h 28' 47"
52	Dominique Garde	France		1h 28' 53"
53	John Carlsen	Denmark		1h 30' 05"
54	Gilles Sanders	France		1h 31' 31"
55	Guy Nulens	Belgium		1h 33' 29"
56	Javier Lukin	Spain		1h 33' 53"
57	Franck Pineau	France		1h 33' 59"
58	Ronan Pensec	France		1h 35' 02"
59	Philippe Louviot	France		1h 36' 19"
60	Gerhard Zadrobilek	Austria		1h 37' 24"
61	Marc Sergeant	Belgium		1h 38' 41"
62	Julian Gorospe	Spain		1h 39' 31"
63	Ludo Peeters	Belgium		1h 39' 58"
64	Christophe Lavainne	France		1h 40' 15"
65	Vincent Lavenu	France		1h 41' 46"
66	Dirk De Wolf	Belgium		1h 41' 50"
67	Jean-Claude Colotti	France		1h 42' 28"
68	Jean-Claude Leclercq	France		1h 43' 26"
69	Michael Wilson	Australia		1h 44' 05"
70	Michel Vermote	Belgium		1h 46' 05"
71	Pascal Poisson	France		1h 47' 52"
72	Thierry Marie	France		1h 48' 22"
73	Ron Kiefel	United States		1h 48' 38"
74	Jure Pavlič	Yugoslavia		1h 49' 08"
75	Robert Forest	France		1h 49' 39"
76	Julio César Cadena	Colombia		1h 49' 57"
77	Jean-Philippe Vandenbrande	Belgium		1h 50' 24"
78	Jokin Mujika	Spain		1h 50' 56"
79	Christian Chaubet	France		1h 52' 18"
80	Alfred Achermann	Switzerland		1h 53' 02"
81	Claudio Chiappucci	Italy		1h 53' 04"
82	Bernard Richard	France		1h 53' 14"
83	Stephen Hodge	Australia		1h 53' 35"
84	Acácio da Silva	Portugal		1h 54' 16"
85	Per Pedersen	Denmark		1h 54' 42"
86	Jeff Pierce	United States		1h 54' 58"
87	Marc Van Orsouw	Netherlands		1h 55' 48"
88	Jesper Worre	Denmark		1h 57' 23"
89	François Lemarchand	France		1h 58' 50"
90	Philippe Leleu	France		2h 00' 46"
91	René Martens	Belgium		2h 01' 20"
92	Melcior Mauri	Spain		2h 01' 22"
93	Philippe Casado	France		2h 01' 43"
94	Camillo Passera	Italy		2h 03' 10"
95	Bjarne Riis	Denmark		2h 03' 37"
96	Andreas Kappes	West Germany		2h 03' 56"
97	Vincent Barteau	France		2h 07' 18"
98	Rik Van Slycke	Belgium		2h 07' 29"
99	Patrick Tolhoek	Netherlands		2h 08' 06"
100	Thomas Wegmüller	Switzerland		2h 09' 58"
101	Etienne De Wilde	Belgium		2h 10' 29"
102	Giancarlo Perini	Italy		2h 12' 09"
103	Frans Maassen	Netherlands		2h 12' 27"
104	Henri Manders	Netherlands		2h 13' 35"
105	Wilfried Peeters	Belgium		2h 13' 38"
106	Johan Museeuw	Belgium		2h 13' 51"
107	Gerrit Solleveld	Netherlands		2h 16' 56"
108	Michel Dernies	Belgium		2h 17' 36"
109	Brian Holm	Denmark		2h 18' 57"
110	Edwig Van Hooydonck	Belgium		2h 19' 05"
111	Francisco Antequera	Spain		2h 20' 29"
112	Jan Goessens	Belgium		2h 22' 42"
113	Hendrik Devos	Belgium		2h 22' 48"
114	Twan Poels	Netherlands		2h 23' 45"
115	Mauro Gianetti	Switzerland		2h 24' 56"
116	Roland Le Clerc	France		2h 25' 15"
117	Erich Maechler	Switzerland		2h 26' 57"
118	Christian Jourdan	France		2h 27' 15"
119	Henk Lubberding	Netherlands		2h 27' 27"
120	Jan Siemons	Netherlands		2h 28' 00"
121	Jelle Nijdam	Netherlands		2h 28' 29"
122	Valerio Tebaldi	Italy		2h 31' 09"
123	Johan Lammerts	Netherlands		2h 31' 13"
124	Teun Van Vliet	Netherlands		2h 31' 22"
125	Theo De Rooy	Netherlands		2h 32' 32"
126	Ennio Vanotti	Italy		2h 33' 17"
127	Giovanni Fidanza	Italy		2h 33' 37"
128	Joël Pelier	France		2h 33' 48"
129	Jacques Hanegraaf	Netherlands		2h 34' 43"
130	Johannes Draaijer	Netherlands		2h 35' 02"
131	Juan Carlos Jusdado	Spain		2h 35' 49"
132	Eddy Schurer	Netherlands		2h 36' 30"
133	Jean-Marie Wampers	Belgium		2h 38' 59"
134	Walter Magnago	Italy		2h 40' 16"
135	René Beuker	Netherlands		2h 40' 49"
136	Gert Jakobs	Netherlands		2h 54' 16"
137	Carlo Bomans	Belgium		3h 01' 01"
138	Mathieu Hermans	Netherlands		3h 04' 01"

External links

• 1989 Tour de France results