1989 - The greatest Tour de France ever
20 years ago this summer, the most exciting Tour in history had cycling fans enthralled. It had everything – a brilliant route, drama, attacking riding and an unpredictable two-way battle which swung backwards and forwards from the Grand Départ in Luxembourg, all the way to the final metres of the Champs Elysées. Greg LeMond's final eight second victory over Laurent Fignon remains the closest margin in the event's history.
The current edition of Cycle Sport is celebrating the anniversary of this greatest of all Tours with a special 20-page feature. There are interviews with the protagonists, an extract from runner-up Laurent Fignon’s new book, unseen pictures, eyewitness accounts from journalists who saw it first hand and a special bonus feature by award-winning journalist Paul Kimmage, whose retirement as a professional cyclist came during that Tour.
To run in conjunction with the Cycle Sport feature, we’ve uploaded the original, contemporary race reports from the Cycling Weekly archive, written by Keith Bingham, who followed the Tour from start to finish. We’ve got an exclusive picture gallery from renowned cycling photographer Graham Watson, and video extracts from ‘Never So Close’, the DVD of the 1989 Tour, which is available from the Cycling Weekly shop.
THE FULL STORY OF THE 1989 TOUR
Stage reports, pictures, videos, analysis and an extract from Cycle Sport's special feature on the 1989 Tour.
The Greatest Tour - extract from Cycle Sport August 2009
How the 1989 Tour happened
Graham Watson's pictures from the 1989 race
Video highlights of the race, from the race DVD, Never So Close!
Never So Close: Introduction
Never So Close: Stage five, Rennes TT
Never So Close: Stage nine, Cauterets
Never So Close: Stage 10, Superbagnères
Never So Close: Stage 17, Alpe d’Huez
Never So Close: Stage 21, Paris TT
Never So Close! 1989 Tour DVD available from the Cycling Weekly Shop
Cycling Weekly's contemporary reports of the race
Start list
1989 Tour de France prologue: Breukink in yellow
1989 Tour stage one: Da Silva takes all the jerseys
1989 Tour stage two: Super-U win TTT
1989 Tour de France stage three: Alcala's victory in Spa
1989 Tour de France stage four: Nijdam's late attack
1989 Tour de France stage five: LeMond's resurrection
1989 Tour de France stage six: Pelier's long break
1989 Tour de France stage seven: De Wilde wins sprint
1989 Tour de France stage eight: Earley to rise
1989 Tour de France stage nine: Indurain's mountain win
1989 Tour de France stage 10: Millar wins at Superbagneres
1989 Tour de France stage 11: Hermans takes sprint
1989 Tour de France stage 12: Tebaldi's 21-minute win
1989 Tour de France stage 13: Bastille Day glory for Barteau
1989 Tour de France stage 14: Nijdam repeats in Gap
1989 Tour de France stage 15: LeMond back in yellow
1989 Tour de France stage 16: LeMond increases lead
1989 Tour de France stage 17: Theunisse wins Alpe d'Huez
1989 Tour de France stage 18: Fignon's solo attack
1989 Tour de France stage 19: The great escape
1989 Tour stage 20: sprint win for Fidanza
1989 Tour de France stage 21: LeMond crushes Fignon
1989 Tour: Results
