1985 Tour de France - Race Details

Race Details

Hinault won the prologue, with LeMond in fifth place. Hinault lost the lead in the next stage to Eric Vanderaerden because of time bonuses, but the relative margin to LeMond stayed the same.

The La Vie Claire team showed that they were dominant by winning the team time trial in stage 3. Vanderaerden kept his lead, but places 2 to 9 in the general classification were taken by riders from the La Vie Claire team, with Hinault in second place and LeMond in fourth place.

In the fourth stage, Kim Andersen from the La Vie Claire team was part of a successful breakaway, and became the new leader. LeMond collected some time bonuses in the fifth and sixth stage, which put him two seconds ahead of Hinault in the general classification. In the sixth stage, he initially finished fourth, but initial winner Vanderaerden and second-placed Sean Kelly were relegated for not sprinting according to the rules, making Francis Castaing the stage winner.

Hinault was a time trial expert, which he showed in the individual time trial of stage 8. He beat al the other cyclists by more than two minutes, and became the new leader in the general classification. In that time trial, Dietrich Thurau was penalized for drafting to close to another cyclist. At the start of the next stage, Thurau was still angry and attacked a race official, and was removed from the race.

The next challenge for the general classification was in the first mountain stage, stage eleven. Hinault attacked early in the stage, together with Luis Herrera. Herrera was already far behind in the general classification, but was interested in the mountains classification. Hinault and Herrera worked together: Hinault was only interested in the time gains, and Herrera was only interested in reaching the mountain tops first. Herrera won the stage, with Hinault seven seconds back. LeMond had to stay in the next group, because team tactics did not allow him to attack his team mate.

Stage thirteen was run as an individual time trial. Hinault was not so strong anymore, and did not win the stage, but still won time on LeMond, who was now in second place in the general classification, more than five minutes behind Hinault.

In stage fourteen, Herrera attacked early again to win points for the mountain classification. He was followed by a group of eight cyclists, including LeMond but not Hinault. Herrera won the stage, with the LeMond group reaching the finish one minute later. One minute after that, the group with Hinault reached the finish, but less than one kilometer from the finish, Hinault and five other cyclists crashed. The rules of the Tour says that time losses due to crashes in the last kilometer are not counted, but a cyclists has to reach the finish on his own strengths. Hinault, still on the ground, was checked by the Tour doctor for some minutes, but was able to get back on his bike and finish the stage, his face all covered with blood. His nose was broken, and breathing was more difficult than normal.

Hinault survided the next two flat stages, but ran into problems in the seventeenth stage, with the Col d'Aspin, the Col du Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden. On the Tourmalet, Hinault had to let LeMond, Stephen Roche and Pedro Delgado. Delgado then left on his own, with Roche chasing him, and LeMond staying close to Roche, who was the biggest threat in the general classification. LeMond felt that he was stronger, and asked his team director Paul Koechli permission to attack. Koechli refused that, and told LeMond to wait for Hinault. LeMond asked how far Hinault was behind, and was told it was 40 seconds, whereas in reality it was several minutes. LeMond waited for Hinault, and let some other cyclists pass. At the end of the stage, LeMond finished almost three minutes behind Delgado, but Hinault was still more than one minute more behind. In the general classification, Hinault remained leader, with LeMond 2 minutes 25 seconds behind.

LeMond was frustrated after the stage, because he felt that he could have won the stage, and could have led the general classification for a few days. Hinault, who knew that his Tour victory was now certain only because LeMond had been waiting for him, promised that in the next edition, he would help LeMond to win the Tour.

In the remaining stages, Hinaults lead was not seriously challenged. LeMond was able to win the individual time trial in stage 21, his first Tour stage victory.