Tour de Trump - 1989 Tour de Trump

1989 Tour De Trump

On a rainy, windy evening, unknown American cyclist Thomas Craven stole the leader's jersey in the inaugural Tour de Trump, the predecessor to the Tour DuPont. Seven years later, Craven would be one of only three Americans to wear the leader's jersey in America's Premier Cycling Event.1986 Tour de France winner Greg Lemond returned to racing after his career had been shattered in a horrible accident.Lemond posted an indifferent time in the prologue and would improve only slightly as the tour progressed.

The big story of the first Tour was the strength of the US's 7-Eleven Cycling Team. While the number one and two ranked teams were present and pressuring, 7-Eleven did not crack. Norwegian Dag-Otto Lauritzen broke away with two unlikely counterparts, Henk Lubberding of Panasonic and Paul Curran of England's Team Bilton.

During the Stage 2 race, Lauritzen built a handsome lead over Panasonic's Belgian top man Eric Vanderaerden. The remainder of the event, Vanderaerden chipped away at the Norwegian's lead, and a key sub-plot unrolled. Young Viatcheslav Ekimov (who would go on to win the overall event five years later) became an unknown contender after capturing the leader's jersey in Stage 1. The top pro teams were shaken by the young amateur. A planned breakaway during Stage 5 put Ekimov to rest and left the rest of the race for a battle of the titans.

Lauritzen's teammate Davis Phinney had the task of stopping Vanderaerden from picking up valuable time bonuses four stage wins. As Vanderaerden rolled to four stage wins, and drew closer to Lauritzen via big time bonuses, Phinney had to pull off two key wins to help protect time for Lauritzen.

In a dramatic final time trial in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Vanderaerden had one final chance to steal the $50,000 winner's check. While Lauritzen posted a good split time, and Vanderaerden veered (actually led by a motorcycle) 400 meters off course and lost valuable seconds. Vanderaerden and his team director Peter Post immediately protested the results, but race directors posted the results as final. Thus, Lauritzen posted a time faster to Vanderaerden, and won the first Tour in the shadows of sponsor Donald Trump's casino on the boardwalk in the famous gambling city.

There has been speculation Eric Vanderaerden's off-course excursion was intentional to allow an American-sponsored team to win the race sponsored by an American Icon. Questions remain why Eric Vanderaerden was led off course that day, especially being one of the final riders of the day when the course would be well known.

Leaders Jersey

• Prologue - Thomas Craven (USA), Wheaties-Schwinn
• Stage 1 - Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS), USSR
• Stage 2-11 - Dag-Otto Lauritzen (NOR), 7-Eleven

Highlights

• Eric Vanderaerden's four stage wins
• Davis Phinney two stage wins
• Lauritzen in leader's jersey for a record 9 stages
• Overwhelming welcoming crowds in Richmond
• Start on Central Park south in New York City.