cruiserhead

The hostile reactions towards LeMond are so disappointing. I like him because he is honest and courageous.
He is a normal guy- abnormal because most people do not have the strength to speak up. The same strength that made him an amazing cyclist is what, I believe, gave him that power to stand up for what is right and not fold under tremendous pressure.

Trek is not clean. Unfortunately, legal and moral are seperate things and it is so clear that backroom dealings are what got LeMond's brand killed. But, it's tough to prove something like that in court.

LeMond's 'sin' is that he is not a PR animal. He is a normal guy with no airs, but a lot of conviction.
That is just unforgivable in the media and they will chew up people that don't play the game well.

There is not a lot of crybaby antics when you hear LeMond speak. That is PR spin. A lot of honesty. He's the first guy to say he's fat. When you look at the person, not the PR, he's anything but arrogant or whiny.
Thank goodness that the pendulum of truth swung back around in his lifetime and I sincerely hope he has a chance at success at whatever he plans to do in the future.

I also think it's great that Greg and Kathy have been through it all together. That says a lot.
Divorce is a fact of life, and it doesn't necessarily reflect badly on the persons. No judgements from me.
It's simply great that Greg has his life partner to share everything from the beginning- he's very lucky in that regard.

Everything that LeMond speaks about from doping to training, to his life experiences, are honest and frank.
The challenges he faces, he is humble but not crushed by them. I don't know what the future holds for him but I really hope he does re-enter the cycling world in some fashion.
He said he only did because of his son, and that was a touching story too.

Look, he's like everyone else. A normal guy. He happened to have a gift: Seabuscuit's lungs.
He did not bow down to lies, no matter the cost or pressure. And now, he has redemption. That's a champion to me.

Jed19

Please tell us how you really really feel about Greg LeMond

Greg might be a lousy businessman, as you have posited, but he has been proven right about LA doping like crazy, hasn't he?

Commodus

It's strange that even now people are still repeating Armstrong's character-destroying PR talking points. He passed 500 tests too, remember?

ChasH

The LeMond haters like some on this forum are a big part of the problem and no part of the solution.

The beauty of what has happened is that LA, his acolytes and his business associates - including Trek - are in a very ugly place and it is only going to get worse. What do you suppose those 'brilliant' businessmen at Trek are now saying about their decision to make the "smart" business decision to dump LeMond and get in bed with Armstrong? Oh to be a fly on the wall in those meetings.

No, Trek won't be getting any more of my money and no, LeMond is not a bad business man. On the contrary.

Fleabiscuit

You got me! I guess Trek should go back to promoting a brand, Lemond, with zero value. This would allow Greg to go back to breaking the terms of the agreement to enrich his own financial well being. Oh, and then Greg can sue them again when they fire his fat ass, and blame the whole think on Armstrong, again.

I don't understand people like the guys in this thread. Blame Armstrong, blame Trek, blame corporate greed and society and overlook the real culprit, Lemond. His whiney, washed up personna could not carry a brand. It's all about the $$$. Every time Lemond opened his mouth, they lost sales. Why do you think no other bike company has picked him up?

I can't wait for the folks at Bikesdirect.com to add the Lemond name to their stable of defunct, er "classic" brands...somewhere between Motobecane and Windsor.

Mod edit: Please do not "inventively" spell words to go around the filter.

cruiserhead

you drank too much

Fred Smedley

Lemond has and remains my cycling hero, he stimulated my interest in cycling as a 12 year old kid and remains a hero unlike the lot a modern cheaters.

kc0yef 

Greg did all that with pieces of buckshot in his heart he was being Greg and he won the TDF with lead in his heart why so much hate?

Rowan

I think Fleabiscuit also has to prove that LeMonds have zero value. I don't think he can, otherwise they wouldn't be selling on the secondhand market as well as they do.

Sort of makes Trek look really stupid over all this.

Jed19

I agree that LeMond has sued some of his previous business partners before. The main issue with him and Trek though, was Lance Armstrong, who was making quite a bit of money for Trek. Anyway, in my opinion, even if the excuse officially given by Trek for terminating the partnership was true, then Trek's business lawyers were incompetent in drafting an iron-clad business agreement to begin with. That is hardly Greg's fault.

cruiserhead

A little OT but I love that Giro brought out a LeMond Z Team Reverb (modern version of the helmet he used in the Tour)

Giro's development and LeMond go hand-in-hand in the early days, as did Oakley. LeMond pioneered those companies into the peloton along with a lot of other innovations.
As a pro, LeMond brought some of the most important and influential products and developments to racing. Far more technologically advanced for his time than Armstrong.

Kind of Blued

I'm reading "Slaying the Badger", and one supposition proposed throughout is that if one is a remarkably successful cyclist, one probably has some psychosocial/mental issues. I tend to agree with that, given the evidence.

mprelaw

Just as an example. As of last Wednesday, there were 36 Lemond's listed on the auction site. By Saturday, that number had dwindled to 11. And only a handful were due to the auction expiring over those 3 days.

Not too shabby for a brand that has no value.

waikikihei

^ I'd love to have a Lemond frameset. I had a poster of him on my fridge.

My pride and joy is an ebay Litespeed Vortex (team bike) bought from Scott Mercier. If I wasn't so far away I'd track him down and have him sign it.

**** Lance and his empire. I trained with guys on the national team back in 89-92. They had nasty stories about him. Amazing talent, but his climb was dirty from the outset. Weisel, and his millions, is obviously the Sith Lord of this whole mess. That ahole was winning on the track - as a USCF master - back in the day. Obviously on drugs. Interesting to see the Amgen story come out. I hope this saga continues for a long time. I'm really enjoying it.

Lemond frames, as I recall, were good stuff back in the day. Greg was a damn good bike racer.

daveF

Hey, I have a Windsor & my wife has 2 Motobecanes (all from Bikesdirect.com & their stores, not the originals) don't drag them down in the mud with Lemond All kidding aside, I wouldn't doubt that his brand name eventually gets sold to them.

daveF

Later ones were made in Taiwan at one of the plants that make many other brands. My daughter has one of their aluminum framed bikes. Fine bike but it was overpriced at the time for what it is.

daveF

Some of us don't respect either. Nothing about Lemond was significantly endearing to me or many of the French, particulary some on his team. Just because he was correct about Armstrong doesn't change what I consider poor manners in the 80's.

cruiserhead

What did LeMond do that was "poor manners"??
"many of the French" loved LeMond, what are you talking about??

eja_ bottecchia

LeMond was an inspiration to many US riders, especially after his thrilling victory over Fignon. LeMond, however, seems to be a troubled individual who can't stand the fact that he is no longer in the limelight.

It is sad that the unholy Trinity of Landis-Armstrong-LeMond have all created such a mess of the sport.

Sort of makes one yearn for the days of Anquetil and Coppi where the elite riders openly boozed, smoked, doped and screwed around. I especially like Anquetil's response to questions about him doping. He said in a French TV interview that only a fool would think it was possible to ride Bordeaux-Paris on just mineral water.

daveF

There were articles published & written from the European perspective about him & his lack of adapting into a French team's environment. PLus just some of his behavior in front of the camera when he didn't get his way.

cruiserhead

LeMond was well known and really well-loved by French fans. He was and is very popular there. Even when he was battling Hinault for the Yellow Jersey, he was popular and well liked in France.
I really don't understand all the negative spin LeMond gets. Why cycling fans perpetuate it is silly, they should know better than fall for that.

Be specific, what did he do in front of the camera that was so bad?
Like punch a spectator or two like Hinault? I mean, what did he do that you completely dismiss his character?
It doesn't jive with the truth.

LeMond didn't make a mess of anything. It's called vindication.

Commodus

Everyone's allowed to have an opinion. I just don't think people should repeat nonsense, that's all.

daveF

This is from Andy Hampsten about the drama between Lemond & Hinault:

Interestingly, the team car with the director sportif Koechli came up to me before Greg bridged up. I thought I was going to get an earful and have to explain I was just up the road to help Greg, and started doing so when the car was next to me. I was shocked when Paul told me to stop worrying and ride! “Andy, there is no reason this team doesn’t want YOU to win the Tour! Greg and Bernard are fighting over who gets to win, and having you take the jersey will stop them arguing.”
That was the greatest compliment of my career, and I wasn’t even thinking of winning the stage because I knew I had already been dropped and I was racing with empty legs.
The team was Koechli’s. He explained that all the drama from ’85 when Greg had to wait for Bernard was simply that the team started the day with 1st and 2nd in GC. When Greg attacked and was joined by Roche the team told him he could not work with Roche. If he could attack and win solo that was OK. But the team would not allow him to work with Roche and out the team in 1st and 3rd at the end of the stage.
I don’t doubt Greg’s version that he was deceived about where Hinault was during the stage to discourage him from riding hard. But I agree that a racer in 2nd can’t work with an opponent in 3rd to move them both ahead one place.

cruiserhead

So Greg does not deserve respect because of a third-hand account of race tactics? Ok....

And that race has been analyzed so much that you can't possibly think Hinault was in support of LeMond.
The fact is, he wanted to win his 6th. Even if Hampsten's account is true, it doesn't change the fact that Hinault rode to win and broke his promise to LeMond.

As LeMond said, "...[it's too bad it had to come to this...sure he can say he helped me but he always rode to win his 6th and you have to remember, he wouldn't have a 5th if it were not for me...
I still think he's the greatest cyclist of all time... we will still be friends after this but I want people to know, I won this fair and square.]"

So, true competitive battle in sport is not deserving of respect? It needs to be lumped in with doping?

daveF

You have first hand account? You form opinions like all of us do on first, second, & third hand accounts. I've also watched 05 & 06 & formed the same opinion long ago that I have now. Only it has been reinforced by Andy Hampsten's account.

And, if you want to respect someone for competitive battle in sport, I would say Hinault ranks up there quite a bit higher than Lemond. But, that is not anywhere close to the point I was making which seems to be lost on you.