Since the first American cyclist made his way to the European pro circuit in the mid-’70s, enough gaffes, misunderstandings and flashpoints have taken place to keep a U.N. peacekeeping force busy — from Greg LeMond’s spending the Tour de France rest day playing golf, to the conversion of La Taverne Zimmer, the Montmartre bar in which the Tour was hatched at the turn of the century, into a TGI Friday’s. Among the lowlights:
1981
Sizing up the first American ever to ride the Tour de France, legendary French racing director Cyrille Guimard calls Jonathan Boyer un marginal, or weirdo — a reference to Boyer being, among other things, a Seventh-Day Adventist, a vegetarian, and a believer in acupuncture.
1984
After the World Championship road race in Barcelona, Greg LeMond publicly gripes that during the race Italy’s Moreno Argentin had offered to help him win for $10,000.
1985Â …Â Details