LeMond

Since Greg Lemond won a time trial on the Champs-Elysees to pip France's Laurent Fignon by eight seconds in the overall rankings, the final stage has always been a ceremonial procession to Paris with only the final sprint being contested.

“Everyone remembers the last occasion the Tour finished with a time trial, when Greg LeMond stripped the yellow jersey from the shoulders of Laurent Fignon on the Champs-Elysees in 1989, by just eight seconds,” Prudhommne said.

“We’ve got a pretty passionately held belief at USA Cycling that there are three things that have grown bike racing in America at the grassroots level: Greg LeMond, Lance Armstrong and Kate Courtney,” Quirk said, referring to the two Americans who have won the Tour de France and the former mountain bike world champion.

It’s the heartfelt, heart-stopping testimony of LeMond’s longtime wife, Kathy, in which she recounts a near-tragedy the family endured in 1987.

That was when LeMond, the year after he became the first American to win the Tour de France, was shot by his brother-in-law, Patrick, during a horrible turkey hunting accident.