LeMond - Samuel Abt

This text is about an authentic American hero who refused to give up and became a winner by ignoring pain, medical advice and all the odds against him. After winning the 1986 Tour de France, Greg LeMond was accidently shot while hunting in April 1987, just before the beginning of the new racing season. The accident was nearly fatal and he was told by doctors that he could never race competitively again. Ignoring this advice, he suffered incredible pain re-habilitating himself for the 1988 season. But his ordeal was not over; during that year he suffered several bad falls and then an emergency appendectomy. Despite physical agony and lack of stamina, he persisted, though as late as May 1989 his showing in the Tour of Italy was so bad that there were doubts that he would even be able to finish the Tour de France in July. However he was doing well in the Tour, even leading for a few days, until the very end, when Laurent Fignon passed him and established a seemingly insurmountable lead of fifty seconds on the second to last day of the race. LeMond won on the final day, ending at the Arc de Triomphe at an average pace of 34 miles an hour and winning the Tour by just 8 seconds.