The Last Rider

My sister Kristine has always been a fan of the Tour de France but my whole family eventually became invested in the 1989 race because of her excitement over Greg LeMond and his underdog story.  When I saw the trailer for The Last Rider, which chronicles LeMond and his uphill journey (both literally and figuratively) to win that race, I knew she would love it!  We both went to see it at the Broadway yesterday afternoon and to say that she loved it would be an understatement (I loved it, too).  The documentary briefly describes his childhood in Lake Tahoe, his beginnings in cycling as a way to train for skiing in the off season, his early successes in the sport, his pro contract with a European team, and his Tour de France win in 1986.  Then the narrative delves into the near fatal hunting accident in which LeMond was shot by his brother-in-law.  He was hit by approximately 60 pellets and suffered a collapsed lung and extensive internal bleeding.  Because of the location of some of the pellets an estimated 30 of them had to be left in his body and his recovery was long and painful and he was dropped by his racing team.  He eventually gets back on his bike and, after joining a less competitive team and riding in a few European races, he decides to enter the Tour de France without any realistic prospects of winning.  The rest of the documentary incorporates thrilling footage from the 1989 race as LeMond, two-time winner Laurent Fignon, and the heavily favored Pedro Delgado battle for the yellow jersey with interviews with LeMond, his wife Kathy, Delgado, and his former coach Cyrille Guimard interspersed.  I am a huge fan of feel-good sports stories and, even though this is a very conventional documentary, it is one of the most compelling ones I've seen!  I knew the outcome of the race and I was still on the edge of my seat at the beginning of the final stage along the Champs-Elysees (the filmmakers do a great job of building suspense by emphasizing the rivalry between LeMond and the trash-talking Fignon) and I even cheered out loud at the finish line!  Fans of cycling are sure to love this but I think it is accessible for everyone because of the inspiring story and I highly recommend it!

Note:  I was in France right before the 1990 race (which LeMond also won) and my sister asked me to try and find her some merchandise.  I couldn't find anything until I was on a coach on the way to the airport to come home.  I saw a store window full of Team Z (LeMond's team) jerseys but I couldn't stop to get one for her!