As the peloton rolled out of Luxembourg on the first of twenty-one gruelling stages of the 1989 Tour de France, little could the race directors have known that their somewhat controversial decision of a final stage individual time trial would result in one of the most thrilling finales in the history of the race, cycling and sport in general.
But in a race that always offers unique drama, the scene was set at the opening prologue by Pedro Delgado. The reigning champion and strong favourite arrived two minutes and forty seconds late at the start of the 7.8km time trial and after dropping a further 14 seconds on the course, the Spaniard found himself in last place and out of contention for the maillot jaune. This timekeeping faux pas would open the door for a battle supreme between American Greg LeMond and Frenchman Laurent Fignon, both former Tour winners but for different reasons both struggling to hit their peak form.
