The day Greg LeMond took the Tour de France
https://cyclinglegends.co.uk/blogs/long-reads/the-day-greg-lemond-took-the-tour-de-france?utm_source=Cycling+Legends+Events&utm_campaign=8a2f4fdff0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_02_06_12_08_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-3fea6c0494-669377830&mc_cid=8a2f4fdff0&mc_eid=d1f9798bda June 19, 2026 Stage 13 in 1986 – the day Greg LeMond took the Tour de France from Bernard Hinault, or did Hinault let him? Cycling was war for Bernard Hinault. Not metaphorically, not as a line for a poster, not even as a useful racing attitude. For Hinault it was a condition of being. A bike race was territory to be conquered, enemies crushed, weakness to expose and punish. He did not just want to win; he needed his opponents to understand why they lost. That’s why Stage 13 of the 1986 Tour, from Pau to Superbagnères, matters beyond the results sheet. Yes, Greg LeMond won the stage. Yes, Bernard Hinault kept the yellow jersey, and the Tour had plenty of road left, but something shifted that day i...