An interview with Greg LeMond: part two

CyclingTips’ roving reporter Dave Everett recently caught up with three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond and, in addition to going for a ride, the pair sat down to talk about LeMond’s career, the Tour de France and cycling more generally.

In this final part of a two-part interview, LeMond talks about his ongoing love for cycling tech, the importance of bike position, and some advice for young riders rising through the ranks. If you haven’t already, check out part one of the interview with Greg LeMond here.

by Dave Everett

As a rider Greg LeMond was extremely forward thinking when it came to using technology to help gain an advantage. From the Scott Time trial bars that helped him take Tour de France victory in 1989 by eight seconds, to being the original Oakley athlete.

Greg’s back in the game with a new bike brand, working with Time bikes of France. Interbike 2013 was the showcase event where we first got a glimpse of his new brand and what we could expect. Greg has a few interesting thoughts about cycling tech in this interview too, including why crank lengths aren’t as ideal as many would think.

Amongst other things we touch on bike position, descending and advice that a multiple tour winner and world champion can give to the young guns of the sport and new pros. Finally we talk about the direction that the Tour de France and cycling as a whole is heading in, how the sport has changed and whether it is changing for the better.

Meeting people that you’ve looked up to can be a tricky thing at times. Sometimes you can come away disappointed, realising that the person that you may have respected while watching or reading about them is just a persona that they put on while in the media’s eye. Meeting Greg and his family though wasn’t like that at all — the whole experience will go down as a day that I’ll look back on fondly. My memories of him winning or being interviewed aren’t diminished, in fact the respect and admiration I had for him has only grown.

I hope that you enjoy part two of the interview. A massive thank you to Greg, Kathy and Scott.