If the Netflix series “Unchained” doesn’t rapt American audiences, perhaps the new Greg LeMond feature film will connect them to cycling in a new way.
Premiering today in theaters across the country, “The Last Rider” is a feature-length documentary that chronicles Greg LeMond’s rock bottom year and his legendary comeback at the nail-biting 1989 Tour de France.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Alex Holmes, the race almost serves as a backdrop. Instead, viewers are offered an intimate portrait of one of America’s greatest athletes of all time as he maneuvres betrayal, childhood sexual abuse, getting shot, and coming back from the brink of death to face his rivals and win the Tour de France by just eight seconds — the closest winning margin in the race’s history till this day.
The film features never-before-seen footage from the 1989 race as well exclusive interviews with LeMond himself, his former coach Cyrille Guimard and his wife Kathy, whom LeMond credits for his success.
The film has been a long time in the making. Holmes first met LeMond when making his 2014 film, Stop at Nothing, about the now-disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong. That film was “a very dark story about a man who set out to destroy anyone who questioned his reputation,” Holmes said, and upon finishing that project, he felt inclined to make a film that shines a more positive light on the sport.
“Good stories; they’re timeless in a way,” LeMond told Cycling Weekly, “And it’s funny; it’s only years later that people can appreciate something. Had I had a Netflix [show] to help others understand what was happening at that time, that would have been…well, I’d love to have had a little more forgiveness at the time and understanding what I went through.”
Intrigued? See a list of theaters currently showing the film here.
(Image credit: The Last Rider promotional material)
L’Americain
It’s been more than 40 years since LeMond burst onto the international cycling scene, so you’d be forgiven if you’re not too familiar with LeMond’s story. Allow me to give you the Cliffs Notes on America’s greatest cyclist.
Born in California in 1961, LeMond started cycling in his early teens and proved to be a natural. He reportedly won the first 11 races he entered, and that success followed him on the world’s stage as he earned several junior national and world titles.
He was scouted by famed team director Cyrille Guimard in 1980, and LeMond made his professional debut with the Renault team in 1981…