1987 Tour de France

Roche, eight yellow jerseys and the closest race in years.

The 1987 Tour de France was the 74th edition, held from 1 to 26 July over 25 stages and 4,231 km, and was won by Stephen Roche, the first and so far only Irishman to do so. It was the closest three-way finish until 2007 and among the closest races ever, with the first four riders all wearing the yellow jersey at some point; eight different men wore it, a record. Defending champion Greg LeMond could not ride, having been accidentally shot by his brother-in-law while hunting turkeys on 20 April. After stage 1 Lech Piasecki of Poland became the first Eastern Bloc rider to lead the Tour. Teams were cut from ten riders to nine to admit more of them, and a record 207 riders in 23 teams started, 62 of them debutants.