Interview with Alex Holmes, director of ‘The Last Rider’ a film about Greg LeMond and the 1989 Tour

[@stevenmeyer9674]

Not widely reported, but there was only one pro rider from the European peloton who called on Greg after his accident, that rider was Laurent Fignon.

[@stevenp.sparks2953]

Thanks for that!

[@bellavia5]

Yes - thank you. I would'nt have figured. Fignon is always painted as self involved pie hole.

[@michaeldrout7900]

Very interesting

[@TheCrushah]

They tried to portray Greg and Laurent as rivals during the 89 tour but in reality they were quite close. Greg rode in support of Laurent when he won the tour in 84 and they were on the same team for 3 years.

[@bellavia5]

@@TheCrushah I DISagree with that.

[@MilesCobbett]

When I first met Greg at a bike race in Santa Cruz he was 15 and beating everyone. After becoming an instant fan and seeing him dominate every race he was in I knew right then that he had what it takes to race the Tour.

[@PInk77W1]

I saw Greg race in Santa Ynez CA when he was 18

[@jwtfpv8957]

Great interview. 👍

[@markmiller8903]

I remember watching the 89 TDF TT. I left work early to watch it and will never forget it.

[@stevenmeyer9674]

great interview, great film. I hope "The Last Rider" gets Oscar considerations.

[@ivannachoo]

Love the interview! Thanks!

[@ride-media]

Great. Glad you enjoyed the chat... Alex is certainly an interesting bloke. - Rob

[@BlTCHEZAlNTSHlT]

Great interview! Thank you. I’m gonna go watch the film now 😃

[@mikeburgoyne9133]

Such an intelligent well thought interview. Thank you so much for this 👍

[@ride-media]

Thanks Mike. Glad you like the interview. - Rob

[@stevenp.sparks2953]

Great interview and movie; Thanks to you both!!! Sparks in Daytona

[@katiebee266]

Great film, like really outstanding and 30 years overdue. Thank you for making it

[@ivanmay7890]

Greg LeMond is famous for being the first American to win the Tour De France bike race, which means he is one of the best professional cyclists who has ever lived. Greg LeMond basically does for cycling what Jeff Gordon did for NASCAR.

[@johnsiebesma]

Great interview

[@aliverbirduponmychest3055]

Greg Lemond is a true legend of the sport and my hero. The cycling history books are not a fair reflection of just how good he was. Henault cost him at least one TDF title and the run of terrible luck Greg had robbed him of the right to be remembered in the same category as the guys who have won 5 TDF titles! In my opinion he could and should have won at least 5 or 6 Yellow Jerseys in Paris. I loved Armstrong until I found out what he did to Greg, absolutely destroyed my faith in my cycling heroes such as Indurain, Delgado and a host of the greats. Greg Lemond is a true legend!!

[@craigpavia8943]

Let me say that I enjoyed the interview and of course the movie. That said the material in the movie was essentially covered in the ESPN 30 for 30 special from a few years back...swapping out the interview with Hinault(movie was titled Slaying The Badger and focused on '85/'86 debacle) with Pedro ('89). I would've loved to hear from TMarie!!! He was a teammate and beloved rider in the peloton. My issue is that Fignon does give amazing details about the race in his biography called We Were Young and Carefree...The whole first chapter is named Eight Seconds (it's my favorite single chapter of any book ever). That's not the only issue with this movie. Bigger for me is the total pass that Pedro "Perico" Delgado gets when discussing drugs in the sport...I mean Greg hammers PDM (Rooks and Gert) pretty hard but not one mention of Pedro getting caught red-handed with probenicide in '88...A major technicality saves him in 1988, the masking agent was present in his A&B samples 1988 but itself was not banned. I'm guessing that Pedro wouldn't agree to the interview if that was brought up as I'm sure he's sensitive...Had Alex dug deeper he could've gotten Rooks to discuss that side of the sport. Hard to believe none of this is reviewed in 2023 post-Lance? Well, in 1987 Pedro raced for, you guessed it, PDM!!!!! PDM would later do a complete TEAM abondon because of "bad I.V. food" LOL, wtf. I also think that even Greg downplays his achievement in 1989 considering he was the leader of a wildcard team that had zero support climbers or even a decent "tempo/rouleur" on his squad (Love you Gilbert). Greg was covering breaks himself...No young Indurain on his team that's for sure. To that effect this movie is not detailed enough...again nothing wrong with it but it gave nothing new to the actual story. No "details" are certain...Alex should have hammered down if Fignon had saddle sores or epididymitis (really painful and essentially untreatable during an event). #MyTwoCents

[@JanGreyAndSoOn]

I live in South Africa and have tried all the tricks I can (including a VPN) to BUY (read that word again - BUY) this movie. Either outright buy or watch. Amazon, Apple, Google.... BUT I CANNOT. Because the moment my IP address or my Amazon address is recognised as being in South Africa it blocks me. Last chance will be to get a UK address to go with the VPN TO BUY THIS MOVIE. To give you people money. Jeez.... Now you and know why people pirate movies, hey?

[@leepretorius4869]

Same problem bru

[@johnferuglio8795]

Is this movie on Netflix? Where?

[@adamc2579]

My #1 Hero. (Greg. Sorry Alex 😊)

[@PInk77W1]

24:35 Yes aero bars and Fignon wins

[@nicholasbusetti7882]

Great interview, I am keen to watch the doco, the trailer looks really good. Can I ask where you watched it?

[@aliverbirduponmychest3055]

The sport of cycling should be a sport of real hard men and heroes. Since the Festina affair and doping hit the press and become very real, the TDF and cycling had their chance then to clean the sport up but they allowed it to spread and then we got Lance!! What really, really annoys me is they declare the sport clean now but the race is completed in record time year after year! How is that possible if they are all clean? How are they smashing records held by riders we know doped? It is difficult to see this new generation of around 4 - 6 riders who are so unrealistically far ahead of the entire pellaton!!

[@iamthedalilama]

The movie to me just seemed like a repeat of what I’ve already known. Nothing knew to reveal and I felt like I was watching a repeat. Pretty disappointed. Still better than anything MCU or Disney churns out.

[@Joseminario]

I disagree. I've been following Greg's story since 1986 or '87. I watched this documentary in the theater and actually shed a tear once and was close to tears at least 3 other times. I know the story front and back but the documentary was so well made that it just sucked you in.