Anatomy of a Photo: Greg LeMan

83 Posts

1. @Marko
   ++1

   @Oli Brooke-White
   I think you may have a point, mate.

   @Jarvis

   @Marcus

   LeMond = Awesome and has a more impressive, well-rounded track record. Turning the Tour into a pharmalogical study does not make you a better rider. LeMond started from basically zero and revolutionized the sport. The only dark spot is the unfortunate fact that he started the “Tour Specialization” fad.

2. Exactly! He has the stripes, but he isn’t overdoing it. Hell, now they’ll put a yellow computer on their bike to match the jersey, plus yellow shades, bike, everything. Leman is sharp & classy.

   And he’s using a violet colored computer as well, not a green, polka dot or yellow.

   Class.

   Question: can we identify the original dawning of the Rainbow Turd? To a rider? To a specific race day?

3. @Steampunk @Cyclops A++1

4. @Ron
   blame Cipo (if you dare!) for instigating matching knicks which led onto the rainbow turd being worn by others first, but none better than him.

   @frank
   At the risk of perpetuating this unwinnable argument, 1 World Champs, 7 Tours, two Classics (Fleche and San Sebastian? plus a lot of high placings in others), plus plenty of Dauphines, etc., beats LeMelvis’ 2 World Champs, 3 Tours and an admittedly more rounded (but hardly world beating) Classics palmares.

   The drugs stuff for Armstrong is unproven (but possibly likely) – at this stage we know there are suspicions and the fact that almost everyone he beat really was a pharmacological experiment. As for LeMond, he wasn’t exactly racing against, and beating, cleanskins. But no way he was a doper right? Because he says so and seems nice? That line worked for Tyler for a while too. LeMond’s era was around about the time when the US track cycling team was (legally) blood doping, so who knows what was going on?

5. @Marcus

   @frank

   @Jarvis
   So anyways, back to that awesome photo…

6. @frank
   You mean Crocodile Dundee picked one up after he saw your father.

7. @Steampunk
   Besides, Frank’s dad didn’t use a Bowie knife for that fine pelt. He ran the beast down and slayed it with his reading glasses. He used the knife to tailor the vest–for That Perfect Look.

   Oh, and the zebra skin? That’s no ordinary white zebra with black stripes. That’s the far more rare black zebra with white stripes. Discerning fellow. I can see where Frank gets his eye for details.

8. @Cyclops
   Fuck, yeah. That’s how you climb.

9. Back to the photo:

   Despite all my years following procycling, I have never seen that photo before.
   I bought Drop-ins, or at least Specialized’s version of them. I bought Oakley Razor Blades and a Giro Air Attack because of Lemond in ’89. I even “dream built” a bike with the “Z” colour scheme – I think 50% of bikes sold in the UK back then were sold with that or a similar paintjob.

   There is also something to be said about him not having a helmet on that brings a “carefree” feeling to the photo. But for all that I wouldn’t have the rules any other way and I would never ride without a helmet.

   And to digress again briefly, I have avoided Oakley for 10 years, will never buy a Trek and am unlikely to ever buy any Giro product again all because of CotHO. I was a diehard Oakley and Giro fan before he came along.

   @Marcus
   US blood doping happened at a time when Lemond was a European Pro. So no involvement in that. But I’ll still contend that Armstrong didn’t have much opposition. There was only ever Ullrich who was interested in winning through those years.

10. Jarvis:

    There is also something to be said about him not having a helmet on that brings a “carefree” feeling to the photo. But for all that I wouldn’t have the rules any other way and I would never ride without a helmet.

    If you mean The Rules as opposed to just rules in general, I don’t believe they prescribe helmet wearing.

11. Benotto cello tape. My heart strings are quivering. Yet I’m positively appalled at the price of it now. I am clearly old. And way too fat to climb.

    Wonderful shot of LeMan. Now if I could just find all my old Winning magazines.

12. Where can I get me some of them bidons.

13. @Adam
    I just threw out a similar Pepsi one that came with a beater frame I bought last week.

14. @Adam
    You can’t get them anymore; I used to only ride with Coke bottles, no exceptions. They were magnificent and looked oh so PRO. My last set still lives, but I’m trying not to loose them. In fact, I’m planning a Deference article on them. That and my green PMU hand.

15. A quick search has found this; http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-COCA-COLA-WATER-BOTTLE-11-TALL-/120659226069?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c17d9add5#ht_500wt_949

    But it’s just not the same.

16. @Adam
    Added to my Watch List, thx!… I foretell a Velominati bidding war in a couple weeks…

17. @ChrisO
    No, I meant the rules

    @frank
    your green PMU hand wasn’t the one that nearly decapitated Thor was it? You have a bad track record in maiming PRO cyclists

18. Jeff in PetroMetro :
    It’s the white lever hoods. It’s the pearl white Benotto tape. It’s all the shiny bits. It’s the stem. It’s the round, deep bars. It’s the glint from the summer sun on the DT spokes and box rims. It’s the 53 x 11. It’s the Number 1 on his rainbow jersey. It’s the violet Avocet and Z’s. It’s the fork rake. It’s the bidons that say, “American Caffeine and Sugar. Serve it ice cold. Bitches.” It’s the blue iridium Oakley Razor Blades that we wish we still had and could wear just one more time. It’s riding without a helmet and not giving it a thought. It’s descending at 80kph with more than enough cool to flash us a smile.
    That was twenty years ago. I remember it so clearly, like it was this afternoon.
    That’s Greg LeMond. That’s my hero.

    awesome !! :-)

19. I’m such a wanker.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/24439014@N05/5272576766/

20. @Oli Brooke-White
    Celeste is transcendent.

21. @Oli Brooke-White, @Jeff in PetroMetro
    One word, “Magnifique!!!!!”

    Also, that pic makes you the opposite of a wanker, it makes you a Velominatus.

22. Chur!

23. The z-kit, it brings out his quads;)

24. Nate :
    @Marko , @frank , @Buck Rogers I am thinking of frank’s photo. As for the first, there doesn’t seem to be enough background in the frame to make a determination, but don’t let that stop you, Buck.

    So, I finally finshed watching the 2005 Paris-Roubaix DVD, the new Lombardia DVD that arrived with my renewal of Cyclesport and got around to watching the 1990 WCP Tour De France DVD today on my early morning trainer ride.

    Great DVD overall. So many parts of the DVD are worth mentioning and discussing in detail, but the original question of when the photo was taken is still not clear in my mind, even after watching the video. But, if I had to make an educated guess, I would bet that it was taken before he had the puncture on the descent after the Marie-Blanque. There is a fleeting shot of him in the DVD prior to the puncture on that stage that looks soooo much like the above photo.

    Most interestingly, and a bonus for me riding 100 minutes this morning, is that in the end credits of the DVD there is almost the exact same shot of him riding as above.

    I need to write a guest article about the DVD and that race. From Lemond mispronouncing Chiappucci’s name so badly throughout to Lemon’s wry smile as he is asked if he made anyone hurt that day, so many cool sections.

25. btw, here is a SUPER link on the ’90 tdf, including the original “chaingate” a la Cuntador and Brother Grimpeur the Younger with the puncture on stage 17.

    http://www.cyclesportmag.com/features/classic-races-1990-tour-de-france/

26. @frank

    By the way, that picture is everything cool about cycling. That is not a Lemond frame, despite the logs. It’s a TVT. Those lugs, the Deltas, the scott drop-ins, the fucking bomb-diggity. The benoto tape (which you can get at Excel Sports now, by the way, although it’s an order of magnitude more expensive now).
    I loved those drop-ins.

    Holy Merckx’s cock. I loved those Scott bars. Roomy in college knew the guy that developed them. Had one of the first pairs. But, probably a beer can now……..

27. @Jeff in PetroMetro

    It’s the white lever hoods. It’s the pearl white Benotto tape. It’s all the shiny bits. It’s the stem. It’s the round, deep bars. It’s the glint from the summer sun on the DT spokes and box rims. It’s the 53 x 11. It’s the Number 1 on his rainbow jersey. It’s the violet Avocet and Z’s. It’s the fork rake. It’s the bidons that say, “American Caffeine and Sugar. Serve it ice cold. Bitches.” It’s the blue iridium Oakley Razor Blades that we wish we still had and could wear just one more time. It’s riding without a helmet and not giving it a thought. It’s descending at 80kph with more than enough cool to flash us a smile.
    That was twenty years ago. I remember it so clearly, like it was this afternoon.
    That’s Greg LeMond. That’s my hero.

    I agree completely. This is why I love the bike.

28. Those hoods, while comfortable and substantial to hold onto, especially out of the saddle, were really difficult for me to brake effectively from the hoods position. The springs were overly stiff for my taste, and the bend of the lever was awkwardly low.

29. @Calmante

    Those hoods, while comfortable and substantial to hold onto, especially out of the saddle, were really difficult for me to brake effectively from the hoods position. The springs were overly stiff for my taste, and the bend of the lever was awkwardly low.

    Maybe. But I’m sure they were laterally stiff and vertically compliant. No?

30. What a photo.

    Just maybe it’s that the cycle computer matches the ‘Z’ on his kit. So subtle that it almost unnoticeable but, somewhere in your subconscious switches are flicked and triggers released that sends chemicals around your body. These chemicals, switched and triggers leave you with only one conclusion and that is this photo is the embodiment of what it is to ride a bike. The Rules have been distilled and triple filtered through charcoal and poured over ice – this photo is the result.

    Is that a Cartier watch? Dang!!!

31. It’s the smile.  Going fast is fun.  Greg looks fast and happy!  Great pic.

32. Utterly magnificent!!  Chapeau!!

33. Greg LeMond up next on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN.

    The first thirty-eight minutes were barely tolerable.