Laurent Fignon

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**Laurent Fignon**
Personal information
Full name	Laurent Fignon
Date of birth	August 12, 1960 (1960-08-12) (age 47)
Country	France
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Major wins
1983 Tour de France 1984 Tour de France 1989 Giro d'Italia
Infobox last updated on:
May 24, 2008

Laurent Fignon (born August 12, 1960 in Tournan-en-Brie, France) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, and missed winning it a third time, in 1989, by the closest margin ever to decide the tour, 8 seconds ^[1]. He also won the Giro d'Italia in 1989, having been runner-up in 1984, and the Milan-Sanremo Classic two times.

1 Amateur career
2 Professional career
3 Retirement
4 Significant victories by year
5 References

[edit] Amateur career

Fignon's first sport was soccer and he got as far as playing for his département or area. Friends encouraged him into cycling and he rode his first official race in 1976. He won it. He won 17 more races in his second season while still studying at secondary school. It was when he rode with the national 100km time trial team that he caught the eye of the former rider and manager, Cyrille Guimard, who gave him a place in his Renault-Elf-Gitane professional team.

[edit] Professional career

Fignon won his first Tour de France in 1983 when Bernard Hinault did not start due to injury. Hinault had won the Tour in 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1982, whereas Fignon was just a young newcomer on his team. Mid-way through the 1983 Tour, the leader Pascal Simon lost more than three minutes of his advantage to Fignon in a 15.6km individual time trial, with Fignon claiming the maillot jaune two days later. Victorious also in the final time trial, Fignon, at 22, was the youngest man to win the Tour since 1933.

With his round glasses, ponytail and an air of debonnaire, Fignon was a contrast to Hinault's hard-knocks image. He earned the nickname The Professor. In 1984, Hinault changed to the new La Vie Claire team, directed by Paul Koechli, but in the 1984 Tour, Fignon and his Renault team proved stronger. Fignon won the stage 7 time trial, beat Hinault in the sprint for second place on the 14th stage, then beat him soundly in stage 16 (another time trial). On the stage to Alpe d'Huez, Fignon gained a further three minutes over Hinault; he then won the mountain top finish stage at La Plagne, stage 20 from Morzine to Crans-Montana, and the final time trial stage (22) - giving him five stage victories in the Tour. With his air of indifference in interviews and his crushing dominance, he was hailed as France's newest superstar.

A knee injury meant Fignon missed the 1985 Tour, and he did not finish the 1986 race, retiring on stage 12 to Pau. In 1987, he finished 7th overall, taking another victory at La Plagne (stage 18). He also abandoned the 1988 Tour (on Bastille Day).

In 1989, he overtook Seán Kelly to become the number one ranked cyclist in the world. That season included a win at Milan-Sanremo and the Giro d'Italia. However, Fignon is also particularly remembered for finishing second in the 1989 Tour de France, losing to Greg Lemond by only eight seconds. While Greg Lemond used aerobars (handlebars which enabled a new and more aerodynamic riding position, also known as tri-bars as they had previously only been used in triathlons) and a new type of teardrop-shaped aerodynamic helmet in the time trials, Fignon used normal road handlebars and wore no helmet, and his ponytail also created additional drag. Fignon also suffered in the 1989 tour from saddle sores and he claimed this is what really slowed him down. Before the final stage time trial, Fignon had a 50-second advantage over Lemond on general classification, but Lemond beat Fignon by 58 seconds in the stage and, with an overall lead of just eight seconds, gained his second Tour de France victory after having become the first American winner of the Tour de France in 1986.

Fignon withdrew from the 1990 Tour, but finished 6th in 1991, and 23rd overall in 1992, taking his ninth and last stage win at Mulhouse on stage 11.

Fignon won the Milan-Sanremo Classic twice (1988, 1989) and the 1989 Giro d'Italia, finishing second in 1984 behind the Italian favorite Francesco Moser.

[edit] Retirement

Upon retirement Fignon started to become involved with managing several races, most notably Paris-Nice until it was taken over by ASO, the organizer of Tour de France in 2004.

Fignon remains active as a race organizer, for races such as Paris-Corrèze. He recently criticized the state of French cycling, lamenting in L'equipe that, "The sports directors don't do a good job any more. They lack competence and don't have any authority over their riders. The non-results of French teams are not only the consequences of doping," alluding to the more stringent French doping control practices compared to other nations.

On his relationships with Cyrille Guimard and Bernard Hinault, Fignon said that with Bernard Hinault, Cyrille Guimard already found a champion, whereas with himself, Cyrille made a champion. Therefore his bond with Guimard was much stronger than Hinault's bond with Guimard.

[edit] Significant victories by year

1982 Renault-Elf-Gitane: 1st, Critérium International

1983 Renault-Elf-Gitane: 1st, Critérium International; 1st Overall, Tour de France (and stage 21 win); Stage, Tirreno-Adriatico; Stage, Critérium International; Stage, Vuelta a España

1984 Renault (Gitane): 1st Overall, Tour de France (and stage 7, 16, 18, 20 and 22 wins); 1st mountains classification, 2nd Overall, Giro d'Italia (and stage 20 win); France National Road Race Cycling Champion

1986 Systeme U (Gitane): 1st, La Flèche Wallonne; Stage, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

1987 Systeme U (Gitane): Two stages, Paris-Nice; Stage, Vuelta a España; 7th Overall, Tour de France (and stage 21 win)

1988 Systeme U (Gitane): 1st, Milan-Sanremo; Stage, Critérium International; 1st, Paris-Camembert

1989 Super U (Raleigh)

1st Overall, Giro d'Italia (and stage 20 win)

1st, Milan-Sanremo

2nd Overall, Tour de France (Combativity award and stage 18 win)

11 days in maillot jaune (stages 10-20)

1st Overall, Ronde van Nederland

1st, Grand Prix des Nations

1990 Castorama (Raleigh): 1st, Critérium International

1991 Castorama (Raleigh): 6th Overall, Tour de France

1992 Gatorade (Bianchi): 23rd Overall, Tour de France (and stage 11 win)
1993 Gatorade (Bianchi): 1st Overall, Ruta Mexico

Sporting positions
Preceded by Bernard Hinault	Winner of the Tour de France 1983-84	Succeeded by Bernard Hinault
Preceded by Andrew Hampsten	Winner of the Giro d'Italia 1989	Succeeded by Gianni Bugno