1986 Tour de France

The 1986 Tour de France was the 73rd edition, held from 4 to 27 July, and was won by Greg LeMond ahead of his La Vie Claire teammate Bernard Hinault, the first victory by a rider from outside Europe. Hinault, the five-time champion who had won the year before with LeMond's support, had publicly pledged to ride for LeMond in 1986, but his repeated attacks cast doubt on that promise and split the team; the duel is widely considered one of the most memorable in the sport's history. Thierry Marie won the prologue, Alex Stieda and then Marie again held yellow, and after Dominique Gaigne and Johan van der Velde, Jørgen V. Pedersen led from a stage 7 breakaway through the first long time trial, which Hinault won. Hinault attacked with stage winner Pedro Delgado on stage 12 to take the lead, attacked again the next day, was caught and dropped, and LeMond began clawing back time.