Recipe for Tour de France wins by LeMond shown at Regal premier
LeMond, who along with his wife, Kathy, now calls East Tennessee “home” and owns and operates LeMond Bicycles just outside of Farragut, was born in Los Angeles, then grew up in Lake Tahoe where he and his family picked up the sport of cycling.
The film, which was directed by Alex Holmes, builds on those early years but focuses primarily on the second of his three Tour de France wins, which followed a two-year recuperation from an accidental shooting.
The documentary combines present day interviews, along with archival footage from races and family albums to present LeMond’s inspiring story, which showed how he overcame physical, emotional and psychological adversity.
As for the title, LeMond was considered “the last rider” who never took performance enhancing drugs, an issue he has been consistently outspoken against in the years since his Tour de France wins.
“The Last Rider” was first shown at the Telluride Film Festival late last year, Kathy said.
Greg and Kathy, who have been married since 1980, fielded questions following the premier, which played to a full house and concluded with thunderous applause.
As far as any takeaways from the film, Greg said, “I see films by other athletes, or others who have difficulties, and I guess (to encourage others) to never give up.”
“The Last Rider” began its theatrical release Friday, June 23, and is being shown locally at Regal Downtown West.
Personal reflections
“You just never know, what someone else is going through,” Kathy said. “I guess the universal truth to me, is that. There were a lot of hard things we lived through. I don’t know how I got so lucky to be married to a man like this, and I would hope everyone would get to have somebody who is so wonderful.”
“I’m the one who got lucky,” Greg said. “And, to get to realize, it takes a team. I could not have done this without my wife; we treat each other with equal respect.
“... I’ve been very fortunate — we have just been the luckiest group ever and been very blessed,” he added.
Greg went on to say he does not ride much currently, except on his own E-bike on occasion, as he was diagnosed in 2022 with leukemia.
“Believe it or not, I was very relieved,” he said about the diagnosis, having felt tired and run down for some time.
“It was nice to get an answer. (I) have been treated with a new drug and feel so much better this year,” Greg told the crowd.
