Laurent Fignon: My way or the fairway

In 2005, our sister magazine Cycle Sport persuaded Laurent Fignon to be interviewed by bribing him with a game of golf. The Tour winner was notorious for not wanting to talk about his riding career, but his love of golf was enough to tempt him to open up to Edward Pickering.

laurent fignon, cycle sport 2005

There is a famous photograph of Laurent Fignon, rounding a corner in the fateful final time trial of the 1989 Tour de France. He is wearing the yellow jersey for the 22nd and last time in his life, and his face is drawn and lined.

From that photo alone, it is possible to guess that he is undergoing one of the most dramatic and painful reversals of fortune in cycling history.

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