Greg LeMond: Yellow Jersey Racer book review
The blurb on the back of a book is usually straight forward: it’s a description of what’s inside. The blurb on the back of Greg LeMond: Yellow Jersey Racer , however, carries a subtext. “Greg LeMond was the first and only American Tour de France winner…” True, but like many facts in cycling, especially from the past 20 years, you can say, “Yes, but…” So, Lance Armstrong didn’t win any Tour de France. LeMond did. Fine. Those are the facts. With Greg LeMond , I was bracing for a history lesson re-written by an old winner.
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The book is not that political, if you will. (Maybe I read too much into that blurb.) It is a portrait of LeMond and his career. There are gorgeously printed photos from his era of racing, mostly 1977–1994. Author Guy Andrews has also collected stories from athletes who rode with, or against, LeMond during those years. We hear from Sean Kelly, who jokes that he and LeMond would happily swap one of the American’s world championship wins with one of the Irishman’s Monument victories so each can round out his palmares. There are also stories by Ron Kiefel who tells how LeMond could eat McDonalds, party, train and still recover better than the rest. The tales from others – Stephen Roche, Robert Millar, Chris Boardman and more – not only tell us about LeMond, but also road racing at the time that U.S. riders made serious inroads into what was previously a cloistered European sport. Greg LeMond: Yellow Jersey Racer is a coffee table book that you should read cover to cover.
The book retails for $59.
