Greg LeMond

Greg LeMond was born on June 26, 1961, in Lakewood, California, and grew up in the ranch country of Nevada’s Washoe Valley. As a boy, he spent his time hiking, hunting, skiing, and flyfishing. He later said these outdoor pursuits helped him manage what he now recognizes as ADHD—a condition that made it hard to sit still in school but that he found he could overcome on a bike. He began cycling in 1975 on the advice of freestyle skier Wayne Wong, who suggested it as off-season training.

LeMond started racing the next year, winning his first 11 races in the Intermediate category before moving up to compete against older riders. In 1977, at age 15, he finished second in the Tour of Fresno to John Howard, then America’s top road cyclist. National team coach Eddie Borysewicz called him “a diamond, a clear diamond.” LeMond raced in the Junior World Championships in 1978 and 1979, taking gold, silver, and bronze medals, including a win in the road race.

At 18, he was the youngest cyclist ever selected for the U.S. Olympic team, but the 1980 boycott kept him from competing in Moscow. Borysewicz wanted him to stay amateur for the next Olympics, but LeMond was set on turning pro. After receiving no offers as reigning Junior World Champion, he joined the U.S. national team for a six-week European campaign in spring 1980. There, he finished third in the Circuit des Ardennes and then won the Circuit de la Sarthe, becoming the first American—and the youngest rider of any nationality—to win a major pro-am stage race in Europe.

That victory caught the attention of Cyrille Guimard, directeur sportif of Renault–Elf–Gitane, who told LeMond, “You have the fire to be a great champion,” and offered him a professional contract for 1981. Back in the U.S., LeMond won the 1980 Nevada City Classic before signing with Renault.

LeMond turned pro in 1981. Two years later, he became the first American male to win the Road Race World Championship. In 1986, he won the Tour de France, the first non-European professional to do so. While hunting in 1987, he was accidentally shot with pellets and seriously injured, requiring two surgeries and forcing him to miss the next two Tours.

At the 1989 Tour, he staged an improbable comeback, winning dramatically on the final stage. He defended his title in 1990, joining the small group of riders with three or more Tour wins. LeMond retired in December 1994 and was inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1996. He was the first pro cyclist to sign a million-dollar contract and the first to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

During his career, he pushed for innovations like aerodynamic triathlon handlebars and carbon fiber frames, later marketing them through his company LeMond Bicycles. His other business interests include restaurants, real estate, and fitness equipment. He has been a vocal opponent of doping in cycling and a founding board member of 1in6, a nonprofit helping male survivors of child sexual abuse.