All language subtitles for The.Last.Rider.2022.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H264-VCNTRSH

Everybody has a history,

no matter who you are.

Trauma changes a person.

I've suffered a lot.

All people see is the success.

But there's a moment
you hit breaking point.

And so
the Tour de France

is in the mountains
for the first time.

The two greatest athletes
in the world of cycling

are battling out now,
a point of honor.

It's going to be
the most exciting end

in the history
of the Tour de France.

The yellow jersey
has got dizzy.

It's never known
on whose shoulders

it was going to be worn.

The pendulum swings
LeMond to Fignon

and Fignon to LeMond.

To win
the Tour de France

was my dream.

But nobody had any clue
what I was going through.

Physically
and psychologically,

you can only handle
so many blows.

Now, look at this,
as Fignon goes away,

and Greg LeMond is losing
the yellow jersey.

This has been

a most remarkable day
in the Tour de France.

Greg LeMond has cracked.

So in my mind, Greg LeMond

is at the end of his ability

at this moment
in the Tour de France.

Take two. Mark.

I was born
in Los Angeles, California.

I was a pretty wild kid.

But when I moved
to Lake Tahoe,

I learned how to ski.

That became my passion.

Lake Tahoe is like
a winter wonderland.

You couldn't have grown up
in a better place

for loving the outdoors.

And one of the preconditioning
for skiing was bike riding.

Went down and bought
my first bike.

My dad went with me,
he bought a bike.

We ended up starting to ride
once or twice a week together,

and I suffered
the first two weeks,

but within three weeks,
I started feeling really good,

and my dad did too,

and I fell in love with cycling.

We became riding partners.

I mean, three
or four days a week.

And I'm gonna tell you,
riding the Lake Tahoe, Reno,

is like riding the Alps.

We just got addicted to it.

Cliff Young,
who was a local racer,

uh, just said, "Have you
ever thought of racing?"

And I'm like, "No."
And he said,

"Well, we're having
a club meeting here

in two weeks, uh,
you should come by."

So there were 40 riders.

They had Italian shorts,

they had the Italian tights,
leather shoes,

and, uh, I showed up
in running shorts,

tennis shoes, a T-shirt,
maybe even a tank top.

I end up staying with the group

and sprinting
to the top of the hill

and getting second place.

Everybody stopped,

and they all came back
to my dad and said,

"Oh, you gotta
get him racing, this guy.

He's got a lot of talent."

I definitely had
the perfect combination

of discovering a sport,

but discovering it
with my family.

My dad got into racing,
my mom loved it,

and we had a Volkswagen van,

and every weekend
from February till October,

we would go to races together.

I never looked back
at skiing again.

It was bike racing
from that point on.

And the next year,

I won every race
I entered as a junior.

By that year, I was as good
as anybody in the country.

It was very quick. I loved it.

And I would look through
the pages of every magazine

from Miroir du Cyclisme

to the British
cycling magazines

to the Italian magazine.

And it was those photos,
the-the beauty of cycling,

watching the race, the drama,

the face of-of these...
these cyclists.

I don't know how to explain it,
it was truly magical.

From an American's
perspective,

I would read these romantic,

bigger-than-life
descriptions of Eddy Merckx,

Bernard Hinault,

and that's when I started
just dreaming about...

"Oh, what would it be like
to race in Europe?"

And then at 18,
I went to Europe

for the first time

to finally watch
the Tour de France.

And it was
the best atmosphere.

The roads were just
stacked with people.

And that atmosphere,
that energy,

was probably

the most magical thing
I've ever experienced.

Hot weather,

some really steep,
hard climbs,

all the very best racers,

and, of course,
Hinault was the god.

People could call me idealistic,

but for me, the Tour
seemed totally pure.

It's everything I dreamed of.

And I was like, "Okay,
this is what I gotta do."

1979 was really my best year
of racing, period.

But most important thing
that year is I met Kathy.

All right,
Kathy, take one. Mark.

I walked into
a Holiday Inn coffee shop

and I saw my friend
sitting at another table

with a bunch
of other cyclists.

And, you know, I came up
with my sister and said, "Hi."

And we were just happy
to be there,

gonna watch them do this race.

But Greg LeMond came over
to the table to say "Hi,"

and I just was like, "Wow."

And it was just like,
"Oh, my gosh.

Wow. That guy
was really attractive."

And it was not only

that I thought
he was physically cute,

he had this positivity
that I just loved.

After the race, we said,

"You know, should we go
for an ice cream?"

And when we got there,

he spilled his whole ice cream
over my arm.

And then he was trying
to lick it off my arm.

And then he looked at me,
and he said, "Is there just

any way you'd ever
go out with me?"

And I'm like, "Oh, my gosh,
yes, absolutely."

And then we end up
going to the beach

on the lakefront.

There was a lifeguard stand.

We went up there
and, uh, I kissed her

for the first time,
and...

That was over.

It was the best kiss ever.

I just fell head over heels
over this guy,

and I guess he fell
head over heels over me.

Cyrille Guimard,
take three.

Take three.

I got to the finish area,

the hotel, and...

Hinault's coach,
Cyrille Guimard, came up

and he was interested
in signing me as a pro.

Now that was
a big deal for me.

Because right when
I started cycling,

it was kind of like,
"Oh, Americans

could never compete
against the Europeans."

I mean, it was like
they are on a different planet.

So, for me, it was like,

"Guimard's offered me
a contract.

Oh, my gosh."
That was my dream.

I went up and picked
him up at the airport,

and I don't even think
we were out of the gate area

when he told me that

he had been offered
a pro contract

and he really wanted
to take it,

but we really needed
to talk about

what were we gonna do?

And I said,
"Well, I'll go with you."

I was supposed
to go to college

and have this career.

And so that was really a blow

to my mom and dad
when I left school.

I had promised them
that I would... would finish.

We got married
six months later, in December,

and on January 9th,
we flew over to France,

landed in Charles de Gaulle,
Bernard Hinault picked me up.

It was an exciting period.

Hinault was
very famous and charismatic.

But also,
he was a great leader,

great teammate.

Bernard had chosen Greg

as his successor.

That's how it was.

But as well as me,

another young rider,
Laurent Fignon,

had also turned pro
at Renault.

It was such
a different culture
at that time.

A hundred days of racing,
200 days a year in a hotel

away from my wife.

But it's almost what
it takes to be really good.

Cycling takes maybe
96% of your energy

that you have for the day.

All I wanted him to focus on
was his career.

That was good for both of us.

So that helped me
be strong enough

to be alone 200 nights a year.

They say
he's really aggressive

on the bike and everything,

but at home, he's really calm,

relaxed, everything like that.

I definitely think
Greg's the best.

I'm prejudiced,
of course.

Welcome
to the Tour de France,

the most prestigious
bicycle race in the world.

Twenty-three individual races

which combined, make up
this 2,567-mile odyssey.

Now, when you think
about cycling,

you tend to think about
individual stars

out to win for themselves
and by themselves.

But that's not really
the case,

because cycling
is a team sport.

It has team game plans,
team strategies,

and each rider
on that nine-man team

has a specific role
with one end in mind,

and that is to get their leader

across the finish line
in Paris first.

And on
my very first Tour in '84,

Fignon got in there
and won that Tour,

and Hinault is really pissed.

You know,
Bernard Hinault

was like this hero.

We really felt

so much respect for him...

...and how he was as a leader,

and how he was conducting
his life as a person.

And so the next year,
Greg did everything he could

to help Hinault
win his fifth Tour.

He was like
a brother to me.

Not just his teammate.

I knew I was good enough
to win the Tour that year.

But I was happy to sacrifice
myself for my teammate.

Bernard Hinault,

five Tour wins.

The American story, of course,

another historic one
for Greg LeMond

from Washoe County, Nevada.

A kiss from his wife, Kathy.

Hinault recognized
what Greg had done.

So, Hinault, the next year,
had made the vow,

"I will help you win
your first Tour."

Going into the '86 Tour,

having sacrificed myself
for my teammate,

I was confident he would
follow through on his promise.

An enormous crowd

has turned out
for old Bernard Hinault

as he comes over the summit.

So when that
first talk started

of Hinault wanting
to go for it himself,

we were dumbfounded.

What will Greg LeMond

be thinking now?

Because the blaireau,

the Badger is back.

Bernard Hinault...

...finding the strength
still to come

up to this line,
1:18:47.

Bernard Hinault is on top

with a tremendous ride.

You just don't expect
one of your very best friends

to screw you over...

...and give you
a stab in the back.

So, the Badger
has come out of his corner

once again
to take on all the riders

in the Tour de France.

Four minutes, 36 seconds.

Nobody would have ever said
that Bernard Hinault

would have won the day
by such a margin.

And now
he's got the yellow jersey.

He's French, he's a hero.

Now the team
was riding for him.

I think he built up
a six and a half minute lead.

So I said, "Okay,
I helped you win last year,

now you're
my adversary?"

Eventually, I kind of go,
"Okay, screw you."

Boom, we're racing
against each other.

Bernard Hinault
is a road in front.

I was on fire.
I mean, I was so strong.

Now, what's this?
A group coming up on him.

And would you believe this?

Greg LeMond has flown
out of nowhere.

All of a sudden,
this Tour de France

is once again an open race.

And Hinault is beginning
to lose ground.

The cheers here
for Greg LeMond.

No American has ever won
a stage in the mountains.

Bernard Hinault
will be extremely upset.

One hundred meters to go.

Every one of
the likely contenders

for this Tour this year
has attacked today,

and they're defeated
fair and square

by the American
from California.

LeMond, punches the sky.

He already has
his team backstabbing him.

Then we heard,
some of the other riders

in the peloton had offered
to take Greg out,

so he'd be out of the race
for Hinault.

They say
80% of the riders

want Hinault to win.

There's a nasty hint that
LeMond could be nobbled.

And Greg said,
"If you're gonna to do that,

just tell me now and I'll quit.

You don't have to hurt me."

Was there a crash with Greg?

No, no. Kent! No.

What happened?

He's just killing himself
to win this thing by himself

with no help.

And, uh, I don't know
what to say. I just...

I just feel bad for him
that he's all alone.

Excuse me.

But around that time,
because of all the stress,

I was starting to struggle
with something else.

I had a secret I had never
talked about to anybody.

When I was 13 years old,

I was sexually abused
by a family friend.

I knew this guy probably
since I was eight years old.

He was grooming me
at a very young age.

He did what he did regularly.

He'd come down for work
and spend the night,

one night,
and then go back up to Tahoe.

That lasted probably
a year, year and three months.

I didn't know
how to tell my parents.

You know,
how do you tell them?

Somehow you think
you're responsible for it

or somehow you willingly
participated in this thing

so that--
that's part of the shame.

Bob and Bertha,
they had no idea

that Greg had been molested.

And when Greg started
cycling with his dad,

this guy was no longer
in Greg's life.

And it was kind of
this redemption.

When you're a boy
and you're molested by a man,

you feel really
a lot of shame.

And the cycling was his path

to feeling good about himself.

I got so busy,
got so into cycling,

but it was always there,
that was always there.

And sometime
one day down the road,

no matter where you are,
it comes back to hit you.

When the deep pain

of the betrayal from Hinault,
when that cracked open,

it was the first time
as an adult

that Greg had allowed himself
to go back to the molestation.

It's been a very
bittersweet victory.

I-I wish I could be...

I think when I get
to Champs-Elysées

and it's over, I'll be happy,

but it's... it's...

I mean, it's hard
to be happy right now.

There's so much pressure,

so much tension in the air.

Uh, it's been difficult.

Nobody had any clue
what I was going through.

His name in French
means "The World",

and this is the world of
Greg LeMond in Paris today.

The first American ever

to pull on a winner's
yellow jersey.

When he got
on the podium,

he said to himself,
"Oh, shit. Now I'm famous.

This guy that molested me,

he might come out
and talk about it."

I didn't have any joy
from that Tour victory at all.

They told me I had to show up
at the team party

at the Moulin Rouge.

But we left that
as quick as we could.

After the victory,
he was depressed.

And it was awful because
Jeff was two years old

and I was
five months pregnant.

I mean, he was
so kind of despondent.

Just lost his patience
emotionally,

physically, and mentally.

It was literally like
exhaustion from the Tour,

but exhaustion
from emotional trauma.

I did not look forward
to racing the next year.

We were scheduled
to go back to Europe

on the Tuesday after Easter.

Greg's sister, Kathy,

invited everyone
over for Easter dinner

and we were all there
and his one uncle said,

"You know, turkey season
opens tomorrow.

Why don't you come on up?

We'll all go out hunting
in the morning."

And Greg's like, "Sure."

And then Pat, her husband,
decided to come on along.

The next morning,

it was really funny,

because for some reason,
he came back in the house.

I mean, he had left the house

and was on his way
to his uncle's,

but he drove back,

and he said, "I don't even know
if I really wanna go."

I said, "Go. I mean,
you never see your uncle,

and it would be nice."

We got up, 7:30 to the property,

but I just remember feeling
kind of weird that day.

Anyways, you come up to this

kind of a top of a knoll,

and it falls down to a valley

where the turkey would roost.

When we walked out,
I took the center line.

My brother-in-law
took the right line.

My uncle took the left line.

For some reason, I stood up,

and I just heard
this gun go off.

I tried to scream
and was gurgling blood.

It was before
eight o'clock in the morning.

I was making pancakes
and the phone rang

and they said it was
UC Davis Medical Center.

They were sorry to tell me,
but that my husband

had been shot.

You need to come
as fast as you can.

I called his sister, Kathy,
and said, "I'm on my way.

Greg has been shot."

And I just was praying
that he was alive.

And so we arrived
at the emergency room

and I kept walking over

to try and call
to the operating room,

"Nurse, can you tell me
anything new?"

And she was just like,

"We're just trying
to save his life."

And so, Kathy and I
were-- just sat there

for a really long time.

Oh, and somebody

walked up to her

from the hospital and said

they needed to tell her
that her husband

was in a hospital across town.

She said, like, "What?
What happened?"

And they said, well,

he had tried
to kill himself after

he had shot Greg,
he was so distraught,

and he was
in the psych ward there.

And she said, "Do you mean
Pat shot Greg?"

I mean, she fell down
on the floor just sobbing

and she... I felt so bad,
she kept saying,

"Kathy, I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry."

And so I called my mom
to tell her that.

And while I was on the phone
with my mom,

she said to me, "What is that
noise you're making?"

And I said, "What are you
talking about?"

She said, "Are you in labor?"

And I said, "I don't know.
I don't know."

And she said, "You need to call
your doctor right now."

I called my doctor
and he came over and got me

and he said,
"You're clearly in labor.

"We need to stop this baby."

And he called up
to the operating room

and they said they almost
had him into recovery.

And my doctor actually got me
into that room

and he said, "You need
to tell him that you love him,

that you're gonna see him soon.

Say everything you need to say.

But let's go take care
of this baby too, okay?"

I walked in there
and they had Greg

suspended over the bed,

and he just was dripping
like a colander...

And the sheet
was just blood.

When you see that blood
on a white sheet,

and it's...

you know, somebody
you love that much...

And...

it's just like I just...

I just prayed
he could be strong enough,

because he had
really been hurt.

So I told Greg, you know,
everything I wanted to say

and then I just went off
to the other hospital

and Greg's mom came with me.

They prevented Scott
from coming

for another
three and a half weeks.

Bicycle racer Greg LeMond,

the only American to ever win
the Tour de France,

was hit by a shotgun blast
while hunting in Sacramento.

They put Greg
in another hospital room

down the hall from me.

And I basically had

the labor and everything
all by myself,

and then the doctor went and
got Greg at the last minute.

They brought in another bed
into my room

for Greg to lay down on
because he was that weak.

I still had 45 pellets
throughout my body,

one pressing
right on the main artery.

I mean, the cardiologist said,

"I don't know
how you survived this.

You know, 100th
of a millimeter more,

you'd be dead."
I'd have bled out instantly.

And I lost 25 pounds
of muscle mass

and three quarters
of my blood volume

and a collapsed right lung.

It wiped my body out.

Two weeks or three weeks later,
my team sent a letter

basically a romantic,

"loved working together,"
but basically, "you're fired."

Go find another team.

So in May,
I stopped getting paid.

All of a sudden,
to go from a salary to zero.

Greg had turned
into a business.

We were supporting
everybody in the family.

I mean, his dad worked for us,
his sister worked for us.

Pat worked for us.

A lot of people worked for us
and that was rough.

The stress was incredible.
I mean, I-I, you know,

I had so many
down days. I mean...

I don't know
how many times I cried.

There was a lot of sensitivity
over talking about

the hunting accident
because it was family.

It wasn't it just like
a third party shooting me.

I mean,
it was so painful

to be around all that guilt
that Pat and Kathy had.

It was never back to normal.

And how we related with
Greg's parents or anything,

it was not normal.

I mean, honestly,
that shotgun blast

blasted apart our family.

- It's hard.
- This is really hard.

After he got back
on his feet enough,

we flew with
a couple week old baby

and our toddler, and we rented
a U-Haul motor home

and we just, honestly,
went to Montana.

And we parked in a park.

We did nothing
but just be together.

He slept, ate, fished,

and finally got
his will back for living.

And then after
he had healed enough,

then he was ready to go
to that next step

of getting back on his bike.

I think the first time
I ever got on a bike was...

the first week of June,

and I rode a mile or two.

I had a lot of pain
after that.

I couldn't breathe.

My legs were just dead.

You know, he was still
in such a painful place.

But he loved it.

He really loved
riding his bike.

That's when
I realized that

regardless of what happens,

I just need to get back
into racing

to prove that
I can still win the Tour.

My dad started enquiring

about teams
that might be interested.

So the only team that would
take me that year was PDM.

I flew over to Belgium
and did a small race,

and I literally can only stay
one mile with the peloton.

After one mile, I had
to pretend I had a flat tire.

I spent that whole year
on and off my bike,

pretty much dropped
in all the races.

I mean, it was a nightmare.

And then in '88,

the Tour de France
is going on.

I wasn't strong enough
to participate.

The owner of the team,
he calls up, "Greg, Greg, oh."

He was so excited.

"We have it, Greg.
We have it,"

We'd just won l'Alpe d'Huez,

Rooks and Theunisse,
first and second place.

We had the formula,
the magic potion.

He said, "Greg, you're
gonna win more Tours

than you ever thought possible."

I'm like, "Okay, okay."
I said goodbye.

Two days later, Rooks
and Theunisse tested positive.

And I'm going, "Holy shit."

And I said,
"Kathy, I don't care.

I would rather quit today
than get back with the team.

And imagine if I would
have been taking something

and I got positive, it throws
away everything I did before.

It destroys everything."

There's no doubt that...

Well, shame for anybody
is-is traumatic, but,

shame on the world level
would be horrible.

He was carrying
so much shame before cycling,

that cycling for him
was this pure thing.

It had none of the bad
that he had lived before.

And that is what I think

gave him, you know,
that strength,

because he already knew
what it felt like

to do something
you'd never wanted to do.

He was never going back there.

And now
I have to find a team

because I am not gonna race
anymore with this team.

But nobody approached me.

I ran out of options.

So I ended up
signing the contract

with a fly-by-night
type of team called ADR.

It was barely even enough money
to provide for my family

but if it wasn't for that,

I would not have made it
in the Tour.

My first big race for them
was the Giro in Italy.

But when
I got to the Giro d'Italia,

I'm racing just horribly.

It's hard to go from winning
the Tour de France

to realizing that maybe

I'll just be
a run-of-the-mill racer.

And you win
the Tour de France,

you can't just be an--
A pack filler.

It's impossible.
I could never do that.

He called from Italy.

Honestly, everything
really stunk at that time.

I broke down.
I mean, it was like,

not just like a talk.
I mean, I was crying.

I was like,
"I can't do this anymore.

I just wanna quit tomorrow."

And I said, "I just wanna
scream at everybody.

I don't fucking care
if I ever race again.

Get over it. Get over it. Stop."

I was worried,
so I, honest to God,

got on the plane with the kids
and flew straight out there.

I found him in the hotel,
and I just said,

"You don't ever
have to ride again.

If you wanna quit,
go ahead and quit.

But do everything you can
to just get through it.

If you never come back,
we'll just-- we'll be fine."

"I would work as a cashier
at Kmart." I said to him.

"Whatever happens, happens."

I think her giving me
permission to quit,

it was like a pressure valve
getting released.

The next day, I felt like,

"Screw it, I'm just
gonna ride, you know.

I'm just gonna see how I feel.

I'm not gonna put
any expectations."

I'm gonna go at
my pace and, uh...

And that's when I started,
psychologically, I was free.

And I ended up
finishing the race.

There were three weeks
between the Giro

and the Tour de France.

And I came up with a plan.

To do the Tour,

and if it doesn't work out,

I'll be okay with it,

but I'll do everything I can
until then.

And I knew this
would make or break.

You know, I'm gonna make it
or I'm gonna be done.

If it is true,
as the French say,

that the culture, taste,

and the history of the world
begins in Paris,

then this year,
the reverberations

will be felt
like never before.

Paris and all of France
is celebrating

the 100th anniversary
of the Eiffel Tower,

the bicentennial
of the French Revolution,

and the origin,
86 years ago today,

of a cycling event
known as a Tour de France.

The race, set in just
over three weeks,

will finish up here
on the Champs-Elysées.

It's a summer of celebration
in the City of Light.

One take four.

After the Giro,

I was optimistic,
I was hopeful,

but still, I was so far from
actually having confidence.

I was just happy that things
were going the right way.

As I went
to the start, I'm going,

"If I could be a stage win
and top 20,

I'll be happiest, you know...

...I've been since I won
the Tour de France".

I remember
sitting there with his dad

and being so anxious.

It was gonna show, really.

Was he even gonna be there?

Greg LeMond
has been very honest

about where
he expects to finish.

But he says that
a comeback to the level

that you need to be at
to win the Tour de France

is not something
that happens overnight.

And LeMond
is on a good time.

He's into the home finish.

It's not gonna
take Breukink,

but it's gonna put him up,
up on top of the leaderboard

amongst the men who matter.

Look at that!
Second place to Greg LeMond.

Great ride.

And it was just this little jump
in your heart

like, "Well, I don't know.
I mean, that was pretty good."

Laurent Fignon...

...who's suddenly become

the popular French
number one again

after his great victory
in the Tour of Italy,

and just before
the Tour de France.

Although he has his personal
battles with the press

and this is the only way
he can get back at everybody.

Fignon
looks as if he's confirming

that he's got the form...

...and could be one of the boys

for this year's Tour.

Well, let's see, 10:00.48.

He's just knocked Greg LeMond
out of second place

with that performance.

The double winner now
challenging for a third time.

Uh, it's a very good
start for me.

Usually, if I'm in the top ten
in the prologue,

I'm gonna have
a good Tour de France.

But still, I have
no background to go by.

I can't say if I'm gonna be
very good for three weeks,

but I know I'm gonna have
some very good days.

The last man to go,
of course, Pedro Delgado.

The million-dollar effort

of the Reynolds team
to win the Tour de France

is receiving a poke in the eye
for its star

and last year's champion
Pedro Delgado is late.

Very late.

Stop.

What a sensational start

to the Tour de France this is.

Twelve minutes, 48.3,

included in that time
is a late start.

As we go into day two,

Delgado, the winner in '88,
198th out of 198 in the field.

So I did
the first week with Greg.

He was still so unsure
of his physical capabilities.

So he was taking it
day by day,

and that's where we were at.

I raced very cautiously.

I had not been in the front
of a pro peloton

like the Tour de France
since the '86 Tour.

Today's time trial,
73 kilometers, 45 miles.

Anyone with designs
on winning this race

will have to put
a good performance in today.

Time trial
is the foundation of cycling.

A lot of other events,
even a marathon,

you're competing
against other people,

but a time trial's
against yourself.

And so, it takes an incredible
amount of concentration

and drive to succeed.

And it really is
a race of truth today.

Delgado will either remain...

...in this Tour de France
as a challenger,

or he will drop out
of contention completely.

Delgado rode the whole event

in sunshine to his ride

of one hour and 38 minutes
and 36 seconds.

As you can see now,

we are in the middle
of a torrential rainstorm.

Look
at this fight back by Fignon

in the second half
of the race.

The years he won
the Tour de France,

he was a great time trialist.

Now, he's coming back.

LeMond's 39

and nine on the line,
the perfect...

Greg was
one of the best time trialists

in the world
before the accident.

So, for us, it was all,
"Was Greg gonna be good?

Was he gonna be himself,
or even a shade of himself?"

And Greg LeMond
is coming up to the line.

He's producing
some terrific form here now.

Gently around the corner,
200 meters to go.

And Greg LeMond
is announcing his return

to the top flight of cycling.

Now he's going top
of the leaderboard

in the Tour de France.

1:38:12 for Greg LeMond.

What a fantastic ride.

What an amazing day
it really has been.

The new yellow jersey
of the Tour de France

now by just five seconds

is the American Greg LeMond.

I remember
screaming my head off

at home on the couch
with the kids.

If that's all
I did for that Tour,

that would have been good.
I got into the yellow jersey,

man, that felt so good.

I actually have goosebumps
thinking about it, like...

Just the sheer pleasure

of having that yellow jersey
put back on him.

We just couldn't believe
this miracle had happened.

For me to be back,
it was just joy.

Bernard Hinault wasn't there.

All that pain and suffering
was gone.

I told Kathy,

"This is my race, this is me,
this is my race."

Do you think you can win

the Tour de France this year?

I wanna say I would like to,

I would love to win the Tour,
but I wanna be realistic.

I think we've got some--

I've got some
very tough competition,

Fignon and, uh, Delgado,
and Andrew Hampsten.

There's a lot
of good riders out there

that are gonna be
tough to beat.

And I don't-- I'm not sure
if I have what it takes

to last three weeks
in the mountains,

uh, and recuperate every day.

That's what
I'm most afraid of.

So we were just,
you know,

enjoy it while you can.
This is great.

And he kept saying,
"I think I'm good,

but I don't know
if I can climb."

The first challenge

was gonna be Pyrenees.

The Tour will be won and lost

over the course
of the next few days

as the riders take on first
the Pyrenees,

and then just
for good measure,

the Alps after that.

That's it, it's 1,000 meters

to the line now.

And all the Spaniards
out today.

Delgado couldn't let
these people down, could he?

Delgado looks over
his left shoulder,

and I think this is
the first time

I've seen Delgado
actually show pain,

because he always looks

as though he's never feeling
the mountain,

but he wants time,
he wants every second

he can squeeze out
of those legs

over the riders behind,

because he won't
get another chance now

until the Tour goes
into the Alps.

Delgado goes for the gears.
He slips it up one.

A little
bit further behind them,

we've got Laurent Fignon here

after a series of attacks
trying to get clear.

Fignon has come back.
LeMond is third here.

My goal was
to stay in the front,

but make sure
I'm out in the wind.

LeMond
will keep out of trouble

as much as he can.

We get
to the top of Superbagnères,

where the pace going up there
was pretty fast for me.

I was holding on
until the last kilometer.

A lot of times, when you're
having a rough time

and somebody is attacking you,

if you can
immediately respond,

they'll slow down.

So, I had this tactic

where Fignon attacked
and I immediately responded.

And I stayed with him,
he slowed down.

But I was at my limit.

And I was like, "One more
attack and I'm done."

And Greg LeMond is
feeling the pressure this time

as Fignon goes away.

And it looks to me
as though Greg has cracked.

Greg has looked over
for help here.

The five seconds is going,
so is the yellow jersey.

Greg LeMond is losing
the yellow jersey

as he comes to the top
of this climb.

This has been
a most remarkable day

in the Tour de France.

Greg LeMond has cracked.

As they say in cycling,
he's hit the wall.

Laurent Fignon
will be in yellow tonight.

And in more than five days,
Fignon's in enormous gear,

he knows he's got
the yellow jersey

because Laurent Fignon is now

the new leader
of the Tour de France.

As soon as we finished,

he critiqued me for not racing

like Tour leader.

As though because
you have the yellow jersey,

you should be in the front,
pacing everybody.

You are the lead of the Tour.

You must defend that jersey
who sits in advance.

You should have a leader
attitude in the race.

And I think that Greg
was just not having it.

He was letting me do
all the work.

I was second, even if it was
a five seconds' difference.

I do remember, I'm going,
"You son of a bitch.

You have no clue
what I've been through

the last two years,
three years. Do you?

You don't even know that
I'm just happy to be here."

The next
morning, I said to Laurent,

I said, "Listen, you better
shut your mouth.

"I saw you,
Andy Hampsten saw you.

You held on
to a motorcycle yesterday.

You should be out of the race.

You shouldn't even be
talking right now."

Another scorching hot day

then of the Tour de France.

At the moment, it's all
going right for the leader.

Very confident rider

this year, Laurent Fignon.

And the yellow jersey

and the seven-second advantage

is safely conserved
by Laurent Fignon.

That whole time

I'm thinking,
"You cocky son of a bitch."

I knew it would be
my time to succeed

once we got to the Alps.

Fignon picking
on Greg, I mean,

Fignon did that
with a lot of the riders.

But Greg's not a wimp.
He wasn't gonna take it.

And Greg punched back.

We are in the Alps,
where the eventual

winner of this race
will emerge.

Today, it is, of course,

the most crucial time trial
in the race.

Twenty-five miles
of tough cycling.

There are two first-category
climbs en route.

The only
downhill section on this course

is the six feet
out of the start cabin.

Now, the Spaniards

call him Perico,
that's his nickname.

He's climbed back
into the leaderboard

without a shadow of a doubt
with this performance.

Goodness knows
what he's holding in store now

for the rest of the race.
And for everybody now,

he must be seen as a favorite
for Paris in a week's time.

Well, this is Greg LeMond

coming round the corner.

He was ten seconds
behind Delgado at Orcieres.

And now Greg LeMond
is fighting back all the way.

LeMond is back
in this Tour de France,

and this Tour is certainly
not won or lost

by Greg LeMond
or Pedro Delgado.

1:11:39 for fifth place.

That is a marvelous ride.

I know Fignon,
because I know he gets cocky.

So he is gonna start off
that time trial like,

"I've got this one.
Don't worry about me."

Laurent Fignon is riding now

a little bit ragged.
He's rolling around.

He's not riding as composed
as he might be.

Fignon, last kilometer.

It looks as if Fignon
is really suffering there,

trying to keep hold
of his yellow jersey.

That's where
I just shut him up.

But one thing
is now certain,

Laurent Fignon is definitely
losing the lead

as he tries to salvage

a couple of seconds
on the line.

Tenth place, 1:12:26
for Laurent Fignon.

Laurent Fignon has lost
his lead in the Tour de France.

It's gone back. The pendulum
swings again in the direction

of the American Greg LeMond.

And we're now heading in
for the final phase

of this year's Tour de France,
and what a great race it is.

Pedro Delgado has said
he has only one rival

for victory in Paris,
Greg LeMond.

He's no longer
counting Fignon.

Laurent Fignon said
in the papers

that he may no longer be
in a position

to win the Tour de France,

but he is in a position

to stop Greg LeMond
winning it.

It's left no friendship
between LeMond and Fignon.

They're on the big
climb today over the Izoard.

We watch Delgado go.

Delgado has attacked,

and now he's accelerated

to try and steal what he can.

The next day
in Col d'Izoard,

Pedro Delgado attacked
and I stayed with him

right behind,
stayed on the wheels.

Look at the
reaction from Greg LeMond.

Well, that's amazing.

He's keeping in contact
with Delgado.

And it's certain. If Delgado
can't get rid of Greg today,

it's touch-and-go now.
It looks as if Greg might well

take that yellow jersey
back up to Paris.

I was racing better.
Absolutely.

I was leading the Tour.

I felt so good.

The unthinkable
may be happening.

And the man who's
gone missing, Laurent Fignon.

I felt even better when he got
dropped on Col d'Izoard.

And I took another 12 seconds
out of him.

Now, it looks like
Laurent Fignon is in trouble.

Fignon's come off
the back here.

Greg LeMond
now surely looking

like the winner
of the Tour de France.

LeMond has become stronger
and more confident

every day
of this Tour de France.

He's going to believe
in himself again.

This is
Al Trautwig reporting live,

where night-time is settling
in on the French Alps

just before 9:30 local time,

and joining me
is the man who stirred up

all the excitement today,
Greg LeMond,

who for the second time

wears the yellow jersey
in this race.

Greg, before the race started,
you said top 20.

A couple of weeks in,
you said top five.

Now, Paris is a week away
and you lead the race.

Are you getting close
to tasting it?

Oh, I think if it came down
to be who's the best rider,

I think I have as good
a chance as anybody

to win this race. In fact,
maybe better than most.

I remember
feeling great there.

It was after that race
that I go,

"Okay, maybe I'm gonna
win the Tour here."

For me,
anything goes in this race

as long as it's a tactic
to win the race overall.

And I'm gonna do
whatever I can

to win this race overall.

This is it.
The climb of Alpe d'Huez.

Five miles below us
down that dark hole

is the village
of Bourg d'Oisans.

That's where the climb starts

and then the road just lies
on the mountain here,

like a piece
of discarded string.

We're expecting
a marvelous fight

between Pedro Delgado
and Greg LeMond.

We came up here
at eight o'clock this morning

and we estimate
over half a million people

on the slopes of the climb.

That will be a record crowd.

This is where
the Tour de France,

we feel, will be decided.

Will it be LeMond in yellow
tonight or Pedro Delgado?

And Fignon surely

is a surprise now.

Greg LeMond
and Laurent Fignon.

Delgado, again,
is not evidenced

on the lower slopes
of Alpe d'Huez.

And I felt
actually really good

at the bottom of that.

But at one point,
I started struggling.

I don't know what happened
or if it was just

the accumulation of fatigue,

but I started to crack
10ks up the climb,

started running out of juice.

Guimard was a car behind,

and he could see
my shoulders dropping.

And I had the yellow jersey,
our team car's leading,

Fignon's second place,
Guimard's here.

That's how the cars go.

And José knew that
Guimard knew me.

Guimard's gonna
try to get up there.

There was no radios
at that point.

And he's gonna tell
Fignon to attack.

And José De Cauwer
blocked him.

And he blocked him
and he kept him off,

I don't know, a kilometer,
two kilometers.

Both cars were destroyed.

They had dents everywhere.

And finally,
Guimard got around him,

went to Fignon
and said, "Attack."

And he was sitting next to me.

He's got his window...
"Attack, attack!"

And Fignon said, "I can't."

And he's screaming,
"You better attack!"

Basically, like you're fired
if you don't.

And there's
Fignon having a go

with four to go.

Laurent Fignon lost
a few seconds yesterday.

He's gonna take them
back and more.

LeMond must react.

LeMond could lose
the yellow jersey here.

And I just blew. Boom.

And, man, I struggled.

Got into my aerobic limit.

Delgado's reacted
straightaway there.

Look at Greg.
Greg is cracked up.

He can't get the wheel.
He can't follow Delgado.

Delgado's gone away.

Laurent Fignon's up the road
in front.

And Greg is really suffering
to get that rhythm going.

Now is the time when
Greg's got to dig really deep

into his reserves
and come back again.

Greg LeMond, he's allowed
a springboard for Fignon.

Now, Delgado looks
over his shoulder

and sees at last Greg LeMond
is not with him.

The crowd now who've waited
at the top of the mountain

for a week, many of them
to see the action,

now are getting
what they came for.

The big battle
in the Tour de France.

And the surprise of the day,

Laurent Fignon, where has
he found the strength from?

Laurent Fignon, who was in
all sorts of difficulties,

has sprouted wings now
on Alpe d'Huez.

And I struggled.
It was painful.

And there is Greg LeMond

in the yellow jersey.

It must seem a desperately
long way to go now

to the top
of Alpe d'Huez today.

There is confirmation. The gap
between LeMond and Fignon

on the yellow jersey
classification is 53 seconds.

And Laurent Fignon

hits an enormous gear.

As we go down
to the kilometer,

Greg LeMond still fights on,

hoping to save just
the odd second or two,

still fighting to keep
his final hopes alive

for the yellow jersey in Paris
on Sunday.

Greg LeMond will finish fourth

in one of the most
sensational stages

of Tour de France for years.

He was pretty down

after he got dropped
on Alpe d'Huez.

When you first
just get beat, it hurts,

and he feels like he's...
"Ugh. I couldn't do it.

That means there's
a weakness in me.

He's stronger than me.
How am I gonna do this?"

I didn't have
as good a day as I'd hoped,

but I think I raced
a very good race. I...

You know, it's just that
Fignon happened to be

a little better than me today.

And he took advantage of it.

228 eight miles to go

in the Tour de France

on the morning after
the emotional ride

to Alpe d'Huez.

LeMond's number is reattached
to the team shirt,

as the Tour tug of war
now favors Fignon.

Both are refueled as the start
of the stage draws near.

And now we can go onward

to the climb
off the coast of d'Oisans.

We're looking here
at the leading group

in the Tour de France today.

And Fignon now riding high
on this Tour de France.

He's trying to push home
the advantage.

So, Fignon
is now trying to leave

the whole of the Tour
de France in his wake.

LeMond will have
to reply to this

because Greg LeMond
cannot afford to lose

even a few seconds now.

So, Fignon,
his personality was such that

when he dropped me
in Alpe d'Huez,

it emboldened him.

The next day,
he attacked again.

Unfortunately,
I was really struggling.

I was suffering.

It's Laurent Fignon
who's going clear again.

The man you don't expect
to attack,

somehow finds the reserve
and the cheek to do it.

It's being left to Delgado

to drag Greg LeMond
back into the race

and LeMond there doesn't seem
to be able to help Delgado.

Well, at the moment,

Fignon is actually going away
and Delgado's given up.

He's swung across to say,
"Well, look, Greg,

you're the man who wants
to win the Tour de France.

It's up to you to do it."

They've
completely stopped racing.

They've completely
stopped racing.

Delgado is fed up
of making the pace.

He's accelerated again now.

LeMond there, quite obviously

was not gonna defend
his position.

Neither was Theunisse.

And we could well be
looking at the moment

in this marvelous
Tour de France

when the three riders
have admitted

that Laurent Fignon
is the best.

LeMond, quite clearly,
who in my mind

is at the end of his ability

at this moment
in the Tour de France.

I was
racing with a big handicap

all the way through there.

I do believe that being shot
really impacted my body.

I have probably
45 pellets in me.

And, uh, by that point,

the race started taking
so much energy out of me.

He's in sight

of the finish now,
as he puts his head down.

He's gonna snatch
every second.

When he swings
round this corner,

then you'll see the finish.

And the crowd
are standing up here,

their hands above their heads,
they applaud Laurent Fignon

because he knows that today

he won the Tour de France,
I'm sure of that.

The seconds countdown
as Fignon salutes the crowd,

he's finally shown the rest
of the riders in the race

that he really is
the best rider.

Watch the clock now.

And this was
kind of a blow.

Two bad days.

We're looking
at the winner of this year's

Tour de France,
Laurent Fignon.

But I had started
thinking about everything

that I had worked for,

everything
that I had accomplished.

And so, losing
made me re-evaluate

what I wanted to do.

First question
we must ask,

50 seconds now,
is that too much to win

the Tour de France for you?

Uh, considering the distance
of the time trial,

it's gonna be
a difficult task to do.

Uh, if it was
a 50-kilometer time trial,

I think there would be some
very good hope that I could,

and it's still not over.

But, uh, it's...

it's less likely today.

It's, uh...

I've done my best.
I just, you know, Fignon,

yesterday and today,
has been extremely strong.

So, the next state was
almost like the race is over,

like, everybody's
kind of going,

"Thank goodness we're done."

Well that's Fignon just, uh,

just stretching his legs
a little bit.

I think he's just going to show
that he's still strong

and if they want
to play around,

he can any time.

I knew that
I was not gonna make up

the time that day,
no matter what.

We were probably 50ks
from the finish.

Fignon came up

and tapped me on the shoulder.
We shook hands.

Congratulations
on the second place.

And I remember thinking about,

why is he acting that way?

He's got the yellow jersey.

I mean, what is it

that you have
to be bitter about?

This is the beautiful
chateau of Versailles,

which is now a monument
of French history.

Last weekend,
the French celebrated

the bicentennial
of the revolution

when they marched
on the chateau

and took out
the monarchy of France.

Now today we have
another battle

starting outside of its gates.

The battle between
a Frenchman, Laurent Fignon,

and an American, Greg LeMond.

Just 50 seconds between them

after more than
2,000 miles of racing,

and it comes down
to the time trial,

the race of truth
between two men.

One thing
I'm very confident about

and that is
this Tour de France

will be the closest finish

in the history of the race.

Sitting with my mom

and Greg's mom,
and kids are there.

And Dad's like, "Well,
I think he's gonna win it."

And I said, you know,
"Knock it off.

Second at the Tour de France?

This is beyond
our wildest dreams.

Let's just be grateful."

We join now
Greg LeMond out on the course.

Let's see how he goes today.

He's just got to produce
pure speed.

It's not just got to be
the best time of the day,

he's got to win
by almost a minute.

I know that
if I just push myself,

everybody else is gonna have
to push themselves to beat me.

I don't care if it's Fignon,
Hinault, anybody.

And as we watch Fignon

depart there,

all the cheers, the shouts
here will be for Laurent.

Well, Fignon has never, ever
been in front of Greg LeMond

in a time trial
in the Tour de France.

Today is the day to do it.

You can see the yellow jersey

going through
the streets of Paris

being worn by a man
who lives here.

We saw him
turn his head back there.

Fignon will be getting
time checks

all the way
along the route here

from his team manager,
Cyrille Guimard.

Well, Greg's still down
in that aerodynamic position

using probably the white line
down the middle of the road

to keep himself in the middle
and away from trouble.

And I'm watching
live French TV

at the finish line.

I just didn't see
how he was gonna do it.

I know it's gonna be
within seconds now,

I'm not taking
any splits or anything,

so as good as I feel,

I still don't know
where Fignon was.

I could have been going great.
He could've been even better.

So whatever I did
was my maximum.

If I lost the Tour, I lost it.

Well, Phil,
at the moment,

we've got Fignon's time
coming through

at 21 seconds
behind Greg LeMond

at the first 11 kilometers
point, the half distance.

Fignon has lost half his lead
on LeMond at the moment.

Greg LeMond
is riding for his life here.

I'm going all out,

I'm doing my best
and I'm pacing myself.

I get into this mode of
just kind of visualizing

what I have to do.

Both riders
worthy of winning the Tour.

Phil, it's incredible
to watch LeMond here

because the top half
of his body

is hardly moving at all.

It's just that little twitch
when his head goes down

to get himself into
that aerodynamic position.

He picks his head
back up again

to look where he's going,
and the power

that's coming out
of his back

and out of the top
of his thighs

must be incredible

when you think
this man has still got

67 pellets in his back

from that shooting accident.

Twenty-nine
seconds, folks.

Greg LeMond could still do it.

Well, it looks like
it's gonna be even decided

actually on
the Champs-Elysées there,

because the little climb

from the Place de l'Etoile
up to the bottom

of the Arc de Triomphe,

is one of the hardest roads
in the world

when you've come this far.

Thirty-two seconds
is now the time gap.

Eighteen seconds, Paul,
is what he's got to do

on the Champs-Elysées.

I mean,
I kept saying to my mom,

"He looks so good."

And then I would
see the time checks

and then I thought,
"Oh, my God, I think

he might be able to do this."

Now, the cheers!

Greg LeMond is
on the Champs-Elysées,

and the gap is 35 seconds
ahead of Laurent Fignon.

If Fignon
can come back,

he's always been renowned
for his comebacks

in time trials.

I really don't know which way

to bet at the moment, Phil.

You cannot bring the race

to a finer finish than that,

and you could never script it
in a hundred years.

Just seeing him so powerful,

like going up
the Champs-Elysées,

like, you see them
across the road

before they make the turn
around the Arc de Triomphe

and come back down.

And I knew it was close.

You can see
he's really suffering, Greg.

This is the last part
of the Tour de France for him.

He's got to empty everything
he's got out of himself.

Very shortly,
Laurent Fignon will join us

on the Champs-Elysées.

He will get
one enormous cheer.

Greg LeMond makes
his turn to home now

where he needs a top speed
of 40 miles an hour.

He gets back into his rhythm
very, very quickly.

He'll get into
the streamlined position.

He'll grit his teeth
and he'll put his head down,

and he'll just go for home
in a dead straight line.

There's the cheer.

Laurent Fignon is on
his way up, and there he is

while Greg LeMond
is on his way down.

The two greatest athletes
in this year's Tour de France

and in the world of cycling
are battling out now

a point of honor,
a point of pride

for the greatest finish
in the Tour de France.

Phil,
it's 48 seconds now,

with three kilometers
to go for Laurent Fignon.

The gap is 48 seconds, Phil.

This is the most
incredible thing

I think I've ever seen
in my life.

This is Pedro Delgado.

Greg LeMond is catching him.

Delgado will now finish over
four and a half minutes behind

in this year's Tour de France.

Not only that, Phil,

but he's gonna also win
the stage, I think.

'Cause look
at that time, 26:57.

He goes into top place.

We've got two minutes
and 50 seconds now

to wait for Laurent Fignon
to arrive.

Oh, Greg! I love you!

Well, Fignon's time has
got to be better than 27:47.

Greg LeMond has turned in
the performance of his life.

We're still being told
the difference is 48 seconds.

Two full seconds
between two riders

who have totally refused
to concede defeat

whenever they have gone out
on the bicycle every day.

The yellow jersey
has got dizzy.

It's never known
on whose shoulders

it was going to be worn
the day after.

We're beginning the countdown
as the crowd leaps forward

and Fignon suffers all
kinds of hell out there now.

So when I crossed the line,
I'm just wanting to know

what's the lead? What's that?
It was a lot of confusion.

At the finish,
Greg LeMond

listens to French radio
analyze the numbers.

He still is not sure
if he was fast enough.

Let's move on!

I'm trying to see Fignon,

and I know
it's gonna be close,

but it's like
you're waiting to find out.

Well, Fignon's
got 43 seconds to do it, Phil.

It seems like
an awful long way.

He's given everything.
Look at that armada

of motorbikes behind him.

It's just gonna be
on the line,

so it's gonna be
one or two seconds either way.

I really don't know what.
It's incredible.

So the Tour de France

comes down to the climax,
the climax...

it's always threatened
it would be.

These two men have
been Siamese twins

throughout the race.

Now the cord is broken

and it looks like
Greg LeMond might...

But look at the finish
by Fignon.

They're all turned off.
It's gonna be close.

27:47. He must do.

The clock is counting down,
so it'll be just to the line.

This is going
to be incredible.

Fignon is bouncing off
the barriers here.

He's lost the Tour de France.

The crowd has realized it.

Laurent Fignon has lost
the Tour de France

right on the line.

He has lost the Tour de France
by eight seconds.

Can you believe that?

And Fignon has fallen over
right in the crowd

and collapsed on the floor.

It was like, "Oh, my gosh,"
like, "I won the Tour."

Did he win or not?

It was just
the freakiest thing

because Bernard Hinault came.

You know, with all of our past
with Bernard Hinault,

he grabs me and he's pulling me
across the finish line

to go to Greg because
he can see that

Greg's trying to run to me.

But I thought it was just
so extraordinary that

it was Hinault
that was being so helpful.

It was full circle.

Greg! Greg! Greg! Greg!

Greg! Greg!

And I went running,
looking for Kathy,

because I went there to say,
"Can you believe this?

I was ready to quit.
And I won the Tour."

And so for me, that was, um...

It...

Anyways, it was--
it was a powerful moment.

I can't believe it!

Oh, my God.
Like, just hugging Greg

was just like the best feeling.

Like just, "Oh, my God,
you really did it.

You're back, you're alive,
you really did this."

How does it compare with 1986,

- when you think about that?
- Nothing compares.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

After all the arithmetic
about the time trial,

did you really think that
it was gonna be possible?

I thought
it was possible, but,

I didn't know
until I crossed the line.

Unbelievable.

Kathy's reaction. Kathy?

- I can't believe he did it.
- What's your feeling?

- I never believed
he could do it.
- Did you think he could do it?

No. I thought, like, 1%.

So incredible.
I can't believe it.

It was such a relief.
I just can't even tell you.

It was more than
just the joy

of winning
the Tour de France.

It was the relief of,
"He's back."

And it had been
a long, long journey.

This is the end
of the Tour de France.

And Fignon is down
on the floor

and amongst that crowd.

We make his defeat
eight seconds.

Can you believe it
after over 2,000 miles,

we've come down
to the last 200 meters?

The equal
of our joy is gonna be

the depth of his sorrow.

It was tough for him.

And there it is,
the yellow jersey.

Geoffrey looks at it,
Greg LeMond puts it on.

I could tell
he was stunned

on that podium,
and I just said, "Hey,

you know,
you did a great race.

This was a great battle
between us.

Now you've got two,
I've got two.

Let's do this
again next year."

Something like that.

Well, I'm happy.
What can I say? It's just...

Where did it came from?

I... I won
the Tour de France before.

Everybody thinks
that the talent goes away,

but it doesn't go away.
And I feel like

I'm one of the most talented
riders in the peloton

and I proved it today.

But the strength really came

from my family and,
and my friends,

my masseur, Otto Jacome,

and my father-in-law,
mother-in-law,

everybody that's
really close to me.

But you did it yourself.

I did it with the aid
of everybody.

But, uh, I'd say that
the biggest aid was my family.

'89 was unlike
any other victory I had.

At that time, it felt like
everything that I worked for,

everything that I dreamed of,

was taken away
when I got shot.

So, to go through
those two years,

to literally wanna quit
multiple times,

to win that race
after being so low

was, you know,
it's kind of like

the best title
you'll ever have.

When I first saw Greg's mom,

she was just sobbing

and she just was like,

"You know, now that heartache
for Kathy can heal,"

for her daughter
and son-in-law,

who were carrying
so much of a burden

after wounding Greg.

I knew that
they suffered in terms of,

of, you know,
you're the brother-in-law

that shot Greg,
almost killed him.

So he has that guilt.
He feels that obligation.

So winning that
was almost like

we were able to put
that past behind us.

Well, I think
you could actually

see the relief
for his mom and dad.

It meant the end
of that nightmare.

When you go through trauma,

it takes a little bit
of that shield away.

That's one layer
of your shield.

And then another trauma
takes another one.

No doubt after I got shot,

that was
the breaking point for me.

You talk to somebody
who's minutes from death,

you know, you kind of get
stripped pretty bare,

down to what's really,
really important.

And I think that
this hunting accident

created this second trauma
in our family

just widening Greg's,
you know, raw opening.

And cycling
was always this place

that he got this validation.

He was really, really good
at something.

He had carried a lot of shame
in his life before cycling.

And with cycling,
it was this pure and good thing.

And now he was back.

Yeah, things
just changed after that.

I was optimistic.

Gone were the doubts,
self-doubt. Um...

In fact, I just felt I was
absolutely back to normal.

And I really was.
I think I won

the World Championships
four weeks later.

I do believe it took
that long to come back.

He's got it.
The World Championship title

to Greg LeMond.

When I look back
realistically, I go,

oh, my gosh, that was
really a quick comeback

even though it was
torturously slow for me.

I do not quit as a person,

even though I want to.

And I think part of that
resilience has been Kathy.

She was truly the foundation
that kept me going.

Together, honestly,
I think we can do

anything we have to do.

And I know
when I won in '89,

it was kind of
a healing race

that was part of the joy
for everybody,

for my whole family.