The 1985 Tour de France was the 72nd edition of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, one of

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

. It took place between 28 June and 21 July 1985. The course ran over and consisted of a

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

and 22 stages. The race was won by

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

(riding for the team), who equalled the record by

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ye ...

and

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

of five overall victories. Second was Hinault's teammate

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...

, ahead of

Stephen Roche Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de Fr ...

(). Hinault won the race leader's

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

on the first day, in the opening prologue

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

, but lost the lead to

Eric Vanderaerden Eric Vanderaerden (born 11 February 1962) is a retired road cyclist from the town of Lummen, Belgium. He was a considerable talent, winning the prologue time trial of the Vuelta a España in his debut year of 1983. During the 1983 Tour de Fran ...

() after stage 1 because of time bonuses. Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen then took over the yellow jersey following a successful breakaway on stage 4. Hinault regained the race lead after winning the time trial on stage 8, establishing a significant lead over his rivals. However, a crash on stage 14 into Saint-Étienne broke Hinault's nose, with congestion leading to

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

, which severely hampered his performances. Nonetheless, he was able to win the race overall ahead of teammate LeMond and Roche. For LeMond's assistance, Hinault publicly pledged to support LeMond for overall victory the following year. The large amount of time trials in this edition of the race was decisive for its outcome, leading to a decrease in time trial kilometres for subsequent Tours. In the Tour's other classifications, Sean Kelly () won a record-equalling third

points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

. The mountains classification was won by Luis Herrera (). LeMond was the winner of the combination classification,

Jozef Lieckens Jozef Lieckens (born 26 March 1959) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He rode in the Tour de France four times between 1985 and 1989 and in the 1984 Vuelta a España. Major results ;1980 :7th Overall Ruban Granitier Breton ;1981 ...

() of the intermediate sprints classification, and Fabio Parra () was the best debutant, winning the

young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...

. won both the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

and team points classifications.

Teams

The organisers of the Tour, the Société du Tour de France, a subsidiary of the Amaury Group, were free to select which teams they invited for the event. 18 teams with 10 cyclists on each started the race, meaning a total of 180 cyclists, which was a record number at the time. Of these, 67 were riding the Tour de France for the first time. The riders in the race had an average age of 26.76 years, ranging from the 20-year-old

Miguel Induráin Miguel Induráin Larraya (; born 16 July 1964) is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. Induráin won five Tours de France from 1991 to 1995, the fourth, and last, to win five times, and the only five-time winner to achieve those victories co ...

() to the 38-year-old

Lucien Van Impe Lucien Van Impe (; born 20 October 1946) is a Belgians, Belgian cyclist, who competed professionally between 1969 and 1987. He excelled mainly as a climbing specialist, climber in multiple-day races such as the Tour de France. He was the winner ...

(). The cyclists had the youngest average age while the riders on had the oldest. Two former Tour winners, van Impe (who won in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

) and

Joop Zoetemelk Hendrik Gerardus Joseph "Joop" Zoetemelk (; born 3 December 1946) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. He started and finished the Tour de France 16 times, which were both records when he retired. He also holds the distance record in T ...

of (who had won in 1980), both set a new record, by each starting in the race for the fifteenth time. The teams entering the race were: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pre-race favourites

Laurent Fignon Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He is former FICP World No. 1 in 1989. He nearly captured ...

() had won the previous year's Tour de France, his second victory in a row, by a substantial margin of more than ten minutes ahead of

(), a four-time winner of the Tour. However, he was unable to defend his title, as an operation on an inflamed

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

left him sidelined. According to Dutch newspaper ''

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...

'', Fignon missing the race was well received, considering that otherwise the race was expected to be as one-sided as the year before. In Fignon's absence, Hinault was considered the clear favourite to achieve his fifth overall victory, which would draw him level with

and

for the record number of Tour de France wins. Hinault himself commented ahead of the prologue: "If I sound sure of myself, it's because I am." Earlier in the year, he had won the Giro d'Italia. Hinault's team had been significantly strengthened for 1985, with the signings of

Steve Bauer Steven Todd Bauer, MSM (born June 12, 1959) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from Canada. He won the first Olympic medal in road cycling for Canada and until 2022 he was the only Canadian to win an individual stage of the Tour de Fr ...

, Kim Andersen, and

Bernard Vallet Bernard Vallet (born January 18, 1954 in Vienne, Isère) is a French former road bicycle racer who won the mountains classification in the 1982 Tour de France. From 2003 to 2011, Bernard Vallet was the analyst of the Tour de France on Canal Ev ...

. The biggest addition to 's roster however was

. Having turned professional with alongside Hinault and Fignon in 1981, he had enjoyed a steady rise in the cycling world, including a win in the road world championship in 1983 and a third place in the previous year's Tour. During that race, 's team owner Bernard Tapie had approached LeMond, offering him the highest-paid contract in cycling history to set him up as a successor to Hinault. LeMond was therefore considered "the other choice as a possible winner". LeMond himself stated that he would work for Hinault, but that he did not doubt that Hinault would do the same for him should he lose his chances. Equally, Hinault declared before the start that either himself or LeMond would win. The amount of individual time trials, four stages totaling , was considered in Hinault's favour, since he excelled at the discipline. Due to the race start in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, Hinault's home region and the large amount of time trialling, commentators jokingly referred to the edition as the "Tour de Hinault". The third highly ranked favourite was Phil Anderson (), who had just won both the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

, the most important preparation races for the Tour. Among the other favourites, there were mainly riders who were considered climbers, who ascended well up high mountains, but were inferior in time trials. These included Luis Herrera (),

Robert Millar Philippa York (born Robert Millar on 13 September 1958) is a Scottish journalist and former professional road racing cyclist. York, who competed when known as Robert Millar, is one of Britain's most successful cyclists. York won the "King of t ...

(),

Peter Winnen Peter Johannes Gertrudis Winnen (born 5 September 1957) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in road racing and finished in 26th place. After the Games he turned professional in 1981. Among his 14 vict ...

(), and

Pedro Delgado Pedro Delgado Robledo (; born 15 April 1960), also known as Perico (), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989. Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5&nb ...

(). Other favourites included

Ángel Arroyo Angel Arroyo Lanchas (born 2 August 1956 in El Barraco) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. In the 1983 Tour de France, Arroyo won one stage and finished 2nd place in the general classification. In stage 17 of the 1982 Vuel ...

(), Pedro Muñoz (),

Claude Criquielion Claude Criquielion (11 January 1957 – 18 February 2015) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who raced between 1979 and 1990. In 1984, Criquielion became the world road race champion in Barcelona, Spain on a gruelling course. ...

(),

(), and Sean Kelly (). Kelly was ranked number one in the

UCI Road World Rankings The UCI Road World Rankings was a men's system of ranking road bicycle racers based upon the results in all UCI-sanctioned races over a twelve-month period. The world rankings were first instituted by the UCI in 1984. Ranking Sean Kelly of Irel ...

, after taking victory at Paris–Nice and winning three stages of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

. His Irish compatriot Roche had displayed good form earlier in the year by winning the

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years ...

and the Tour Midi-Pyrénées. Charly Mottet (), winner of the

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independen ...

, considered the junior Tour de France, in 1984, was considered an outside bet for his team in the absence of team leader Fignon, given his young age.

Route and stages

Col du Tourmalet - panoramio - Itto Ogami (3)

The 1985 Tour de France started on 28 June, and had one rest day, in

Villard-de-Lans Villard-de-Lans (; oc, Lo Vilar de Lanç) is a commune in the Isère department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. The town is also situated in the Vercors Massif. It was the administrative centre of the eponymous ca ...

. The race started in

in North-West France, Hinault's home region, with a prologue time trial in Plumelec. The route then headed north towards

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

, then south-east to

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

, then south through the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

and Jura mountains into the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

for stages 11 through 13. From there, the Tour passed through the

Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,0 ...

en route to the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

for three high-mountain stages. After leaving the high mountains, the route moved north to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, before travelling inland, with a time trial at

Lac de Vassivière :''This article has been expanded with material from the corresponding page in French Wikipedia'' The ''lac de Vassivière'' or Vassivière Lake (; Vacivièra in Occitan), one of France's largest artificial lakes, is a large man-made reservoir of ...

on the penultimate day, followed by a train transfer to

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and final, ceremonial stage into Paris. It was the first time since

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

that the Tour was run clockwise around France. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the

Col du Tourmalet Col du Tourmalet (; elevation ) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds of ...

mountain pass on stage 17. The 1985 Tour was the last one to contain split stages, where two stages on the same day had the same number and were distinguished by an "a" and "b". Until

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, there were still two stages held on the same day, but given separate stage numbers. It was also the first time that two mountain stages were held on the same day, stages 18a and 18b in the Pyrenees.

Classification leadership and minor prizes

There were several classifications in the 1985 Tour de France, six of them awarding jerseys to their leaders. The most important was the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...

, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour. There were two ways to gain time bonuses, which subtracted seconds from a rider's overall time. One was at stage finishes, where the first three riders across the line received 30, 20, and 10 seconds bonus respectively. The split stage 18 awarded full-time bonuses for each of its two legs. Secondly, riders were able to gain 10, 6, and 3 seconds bonus for the first three to cross the line at intermediate sprints. Unlike the previous year, where these were only given out during flat stages, the time bonuses at intermediate sprints were awarded during every road stage of the 1985 Tour. Additionally, there was a

, where cyclists were given points for finishing among the best in a stage finish. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and was identified with a green jersey. The system for the

was changed for the 1985 Tour: in previous years, more points were earned in flat stages than in mountain stages, which gave sprinters an advantage in this classification; while in 1985, all stages gave 25 points for the winner, down to 1 point for 25th place. Unlike in many other years, between 1984 and 1986, intermediate sprints did not award points for this classification. Sean Kelly won the classification for a record-equalling third time. His 434 points were 69.4% of the maximum possible amount obtainable, a record . There was also a mountains classification. The points system for the classification was changed: mountains in the toughest categories gave more points, to reduce the influence of the minor hills on this classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either ''

hors catégorie ''Hors catégorie'' (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization". The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is the ...

'', first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. ''Hors catégorie'' climbs awarded 40 points to the first rider across, down to 1 point for the 15th rider. First-category mountains awarded 30 points to the first rider to reach the top, with the other three categories awarding 20, 7, and 4 points respectively to the first man across the summit. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and wore a white jersey with red

polka dot Red polka dots on a yellow background Girl wearing polka dot dress Polish ceramics German ceramics Polka dot is a pattern consisting of an array of large filled circles of the same size. Polka dots are commonly seen on children's clothing, ...

s. Luis Herrera won the mountains classification. CombinadaLemond

The combination jersey for the combination classification was introduced in this year's Tour. This classification was calculated as a combination of the other classifications: a first place in one of the classifications awarded 25 points, down to 1 point for 25th place. Only the general, mountains, points, and intermediate sprint classifications were included here. The winner of this classification was Greg LeMond. Another classification was the

. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders that rode the Tour for the first time were eligible, and the leader wore a white jersey. The winner of this classification was Fabio Parra, who finished in eighth place in the general classification. The sixth individual classification was the intermediate sprints classification. This classification had similar rules as the points classification, but only awarded points at intermediate sprints. Its leader wore a red jersey. The intermediate sprints awarded more points the more the Tour progressed, from 3, 2, and 1 points for the first three riders across during stages 1 to 5 to 12, 8, and 4 points respectively during the last five stages. The classification was won by

(). For the

team classification The team classification is one of the different rankings for which competitors can compete in a multiple stage cycling race. It differs from the other usual rankings (general classification, points, king of the mountain and best young rider competi ...

, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. The riders in the team that led this classification were identified by yellow

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

. There was also a team points classification. Cyclists received points according to their finishing position on each stage, with the first rider receiving one point. The first three finishers of each team had their points combined, and the team with the fewest points led the classification. The riders of the team leading this classification wore green caps. led both classifications after the prologue as well as from stage 8 until the finish. In addition, there was a

combativity award The combativity award is a prize given in road bicycle racing to a stage's or the overall race's most aggressive rider. References {{cycling-stub Cycling jerseys ...

, in which a jury composed of journalists gave points after each mass-start stage to the cyclist they considered most combative. The split stages each had a combined winner. At the conclusion of the Tour, Maarten Ducrot won the overall super-combativity award, also decided by journalists. The

Souvenir Henri Desgrange The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is an award and cash prize given in the yearly running of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. It is won by the rider that crosses a particular point in the race, mostly the summits of the highest a ...

was given in honour of Tour founder

Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France. ...

to the first rider to pass the summit of the

on stage 17. This prize was won by

Pello Ruiz Cabestany Pello Ruiz Cabestany (born March 13, 1962 in San Sebastián) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. Major results ;1980 : 1st Pursuit, National Track Championships ;1982 : 1st : 1st Stages 8b & 11 Vuelta a Guatemala : 1st St ...

. The 1985 Tour was the last to feature what was called "flying stages", introduced in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

: on stages 4 and 11, there was a finish line at the midway point of the course, which was treated as a stage finish but the race continued uninterrupted afterwards. Kim Andersen was the first to cross the line on stage 4, while Eric Vanderaerden took the honours on stage 11. They received the same prizes as regular stage winners, including prize money, time bonuses and points for the points classification, but the times were not taken for the general classification. Officially, they were also supposed to be counted as stage victories, but the public did not accept the concept and both are today not included in stage winner statistics. The idea was scrapped the following year. In total, the Tour organisers paid out 3,003,050

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

s in prize money, with 40,000 and an apartment valued at 120,000 francs given to the winner of the general classification.

Race overview

Opening stages

Hinault laid down a claim towards his fifth Tour victory immediately by winning the prologue time trial. LeMond suffered mechanical issues, as a jammed chain slowed him in the final section of the course. He nevertheless finished fifth, 21 seconds behind Hinault. Eric Vanderaerden was second, four seconds slower than Hinault, ahead of Roche in third place.

Alfons De Wolf Alfons ("Fons") De Wolf (born 22 June 1956 in Willebroek) is a retired Belgian road race cyclist, a professional from 1979 to 1990. He represented his country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was forecast, with Daniel ...

() arrived five minutes late for his start and then lost another two minutes to Hinault, eliminating him from the race before reaching the first stage proper due to having missed the time limit.

Rudy Matthijs Rudy Matthijs (born 3 March 1959, in Eeklo) is a Belgian retired professional road bicycle racer. He won 4 stages in the Tour de France, 3 of which came during the 1985 Tour de France on stages 1 and 2, and then on the final stage of the tour wit ...

() won the first stage from a bunch sprint, ahead of Vanderaerden, who with the help of time bonuses took over the race leader's

Maarten Ducrot Maarten Ducrot (born 8 April 1958, in Vlissingen) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer, and currently a cycling reporter for the Dutch television. Biography Ducrot rode the Tour de France five times, of which he finished four time ...

() had gone on a solo breakaway and held a maximum lead of 16 minutes, but was caught with to go. Ángel Arroyo, who won second place in 1983, abandoned the race after just into the first stage. Matthijs made it two stage wins in a row on the second stage, this time coming out on top in a sprint ahead of Sean Kelly. won the stage 3 team time trial by over a minute ahead of the next-best team. Their team coach, Paul Köchli, had made the decision to fit faster wheels to the slower riders, balancing out the performance of the squad. While Vanderaerden held on to the yellow jersey courtesy of the time bonuses he had collected earlier, the eight riders behind him on general classification came from . Hinault, however, was bothered by the large amount of reporters and photographers behind the finish line, punching one of them on the chin. Stage 4 saw the first successful breakaway, with a seven-rider group finishing 46 seconds ahead of the main field. While Gerrit Solleveld () won the stage, Kim Andersen took the overall lead for . Future five-time Tour winner Miguel Induráin abandoned during stage 4. Stage 5 into

, which featured some cobbled roads, was won by

Henri Manders Henri Manders (born 2 March 1960 in The Hague) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer. Major results ;1982 : 1st Overall Tour of Greece : 1st Drielandenomloop ;1983 : 2nd Grand Prix Impanis-Van Petegem : 9th Grand Prix Cerami ;1984 ...

(). He had been in a breakaway with

Teun van Vliet Teun van Vliet (born 22 March 1962 in Vlaardingen, South Holland) is a retired road bicycle racer from the Netherlands, who was a professional rider from 1984 to 1990. Van Vliet's best year was 1987, when he won Gent–Wevelgem, Omloop "Het Vol ...

(), who had done most of the work on the front, before Manders left him about before the finish when van Vliet developed spasms in his legs. Stage 6 saw a controversial sprint finish in Reims. During the sprint, Kelly and Vanderaerden pushed against each other, forcing Kelly towards the barriers. Vanderaerden crossed the line first and received the stage honours and the yellow jersey on the podium. Later however, the race jury decided to relegate both Kelly and Vanderaerden to the back of their group in the stage results, giving the stage victory to

Francis Castaing Francis Castaing (born 22 April 1959) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. He won one stage in the 1985 Tour de France. He also competed in the individual road race event at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Major results ;1979 :Tour d ...

(), while Andersen kept the race lead. LeMond, who had mixed himself into the sprint, was raised from fourth to second, giving him a twenty-second time bonus. This allowed him to move into third place in the general classification, two seconds ahead of Hinault. With raced into stage 7, an eight-rider group attacked, including

Ludwig Wijnants Ludwig Wijnants (born 4 July 1956, in Veerle) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. Major results ;1979 :Harelbeke - Poperinge - Harelbeke :Zwijndrecht ;1980 :Putte-Mechelen ;1981 :Budingen :GP Frans Verbeeck :Ronde van Limburg ;1982 ...

(), but were brought back later. Luis Herrera was active later in the stage, establishing a breakaway after . From this group, Wijnants, again in the breakaway, attacked with to go. Just as Herrera brought him back later, Wijnants attacked again to claim the stage win.

Vosges and Jura

Stage 8 saw the first long individual time trial of the Tour. At , it was the longest individual time trial in the Tour since

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

. Bernard Hinault won the stage by a high margin, with second-placed Roche 2:20 minutes slower. Hinault even caught and passed Sean Kelly, who had started two minutes ahead of him, and proceeded to gain another minute on him. Third was Mottet, ahead of LeMond, who lost 2:34 minutes to Hinault. While Hinault regained the race lead, LeMond was now his closest challenger, 2:32 minutes behind on the general classification, with Anderson and Roche already almost four minutes behind.

Dietrich Thurau Dietrich ("Didi") Thurau (; born 9 November 1954 in Frankfurt) is a retired German professional road bicycle racer. His biggest career achievements include winning the one-day classic, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, his home country's Deutschland ...

() was given a one-minute time penalty for drafting behind Mottet. Angry at the decision, Thurau physically attacked the judge who had handed out the penalty, grabbing him by the throat, and was subsequently ejected from the race on stage 10. The next stage to

Épinal Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department. Geography The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connecti ...

was won by Maarten Ducrot, 38 seconds ahead of

René Bittinger René Bittinger (born 9 October 1954, in Villé) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. He competed in the individual road race event at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Major results ;1979 :Ambert :Tour de France: ::Winner stage 1 ;198 ...

(). Jeronimo Ibañez Escribano () was taken to the hospital, following a crash from the finish. On stage 10, Jørgen V. Pedersen won the day for in a sprint finish, beating

Johan Lammerts Johan Lammerts (born 2 October 1960 in Bergen-op-Zoom, North Brabant) is a retired road bicycle racer from the Netherlands, who was a professional rider from 1982 to 1992. His biggest success came in 1984, when he won the Tour of Flanders and the ...

(). Hinault finished 15th and retained his lead in the overall standings.

Paul Sherwen Paul Sherwen (7 June 1956 – 2 December 2018) was an English professional racing cyclist and later a broadcaster on cycling, notably the Tour de France. He raced in seven editions of the Tour, finishing five, and gained a reputation for his abi ...

() was involved in a crash just into the stage and suffered throughout, reaching the finish more than an hour behind Pedersen. Since he arrived so late, he had to traverse in between spectators who thought no more riders would come across the route. He was well outside the time limit, but the race jury, against the advice of the race director, decided to allow him to start the next stage, naming his "courage" after his early fall as the reason for their decision.

Alps

The race entered the high mountains on stage 11 with the first leg in the Alps to Avoriaz. The route crossed the summits of the Pas de Morgins and Le Corbier before arriving in

Morzine Morzine (; frp, Morzena) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France. A traditional market town in the heart of the Portes du Soleil, Morzine is dominated by chalets spread across a riv ...

for the final ascent. Hinault strengthened his claim on the overall victory by escaping early with Luis Herrera, who by now was too far down in the general classification to be a threat. Instead, Herrera collected the points for the mountains classification, a lead which he would hold until the end of the race. Herrera also won the stage, seven seconds ahead of Hinault. LeMond lost 1:41, coming in fifth in a group with Delgado and Fabio Parra (). Hinault's lead therefore increased to exactly four minutes on second-placed LeMond in the overall standings. Even though stage 12 featured seven categorised climbs, it saw no changes on the top of the general classification, as Parra and Herrera fought out the victory between teammates. This time, it was Parra who emerged the winner, on the same time as Herrera. Kelly and

Niki Rüttimann Niki Rüttimann (born 18 August 1962 in Untereggen) is a Swiss former road bicycle racer. Ruttiman was one of the most important domestiques of the La Vie Claire teams of the mid 1980s. In the 1984 Tour de France he finished 11th overall ridin ...

() followed 38 seconds down, one second ahead of the group containing the other favourites, led home by Roche. During the stage,

Joël Pelier Joël Pelier (born 23 March 1962, in Valentigney) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. After the final climb of stage 17 in the 1986 Tour de France, Pelier collapsed from exhaustion and fell into a 7-hour coma. In the 1989 Tour ...

(), riding his first Tour, had followed Herrera, thinking he was joining a breakaway, not realising that Herrera was only sprinting for mountain points. Hinault, who was generally accepted as the ''patron'', meaning the most influential rider, was unhappy with the acceleration in the field, as he wanted the tempo to remain slow. This led to an altercation between the two, with Hinault riding up to Pelier and to complain. Weakened by his attacking riding style over the previous days, Hinault placed only second in the mountain time trial to

, about a minute behind Vanderaerden. Yet, his advantage over LeMond, who again had mechanical issues, increased to 5:23 minutes on the general classification. Roche lost 16 seconds to Hinault, Anderson 24 seconds and Kelly 35 seconds. Roche remained the closest competitor to the duo, sitting third overall, 6:08 minutes behind Hinault, with Kelly fourth, at 6:35 minutes. Anderson was sixth, behind Bauer.

Transition through Massif Central

Following the only rest day of the Tour, stage 14 took the riders to Saint-Étienne in the Massif Central. The stage, following a hilly route, saw Luis Herrera attack again and gain more points for the mountains classification. Although he crashed on the final descent of the day, he prevailed to reach the finish line first, soaked in blood, 47 seconds ahead of a small group of riders containing LeMond. Hinault followed in a group almost two minutes later. As they approached the finish, Bauer's rear wheel hit a piece of traffic furniture. As his bike moved sideways, it touched Anderson's, who crashed and brought down Hinault with him. The latter suffered a broken nose, but was able to finish the stage. As the accident had occurred within the final kilometre, the time he lost in the crash was not counted. However, Hinault rode the rest of the Tour with a stitched nose and two black eyes, caused by his sunglasses breaking when he fell. As a result of LeMond finishing ahead of him, Hinault's overall lead was cut down to 3:32 minutes. Stage 15 was another transition stage.

Hennie Kuiper Hendrikus Andreas "Hennie" Kuiper (born 3 February 1949) is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist. His career includes a gold medal in the Olympic road race at Munich in 1972, becoming world professional road race champion in 1975, a ...

(), winner of Milan–San Remo earlier in the year, did not take the start. Pedro Muñoz abandoned the race after .

Jean-Claude Bagot Jean-Claude Bagot (born 9 March 1958) is a French former professional cyclist. He raced professionally between the years of 1983 and 1994. He is most known for winning one stage in the 1987 Giro d'Italia and winning the general classification ...

() escaped on the third climb of the day, after . After he was recaptured, another attack went, containing Joël Pelier. Hinault, suffering from his injuries, was unhappy with the accelerations and brought the escape group back himself, not least due to the participation of Pelier. After ,

Eduardo Chozas Eduardo Chozas Olmo (born 5 July 1960 in Madrid) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. He won four stages at the Tour de France and three in the Giro d'Italia. He was also chosen as the most combative rider of 1990 Tour de Fran ...

() attacked on a downhill section and managed to get away from the field. By the time he crossed the summit of the Col d'Entremont after , his lead had increased to over ten minutes. With left to ride, the gap had increased to over 11 minutes, while

Ludo Peeters Ludo Peeters (born 9 August 1953) is a former Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He was professional from 1974 to 1990. He rode ten editions of the Tour de France and won 3 stages, one in 1980, one in 1982 and one in 1986. He also wore the ...

() escaped from the main field. At the finish, Chozas took victory, 9:51 minutes ahead of Peeters, who just held off the group of favourites, led by Kelly. Hinault retained the race lead, while Chozas rose to seventh overall. Another stage with minor categorised climbs followed the next day.

Frédéric Vichot Frédéric Vichot (born 1 May 1959 in Valay) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who won one stage in the Vuelta a España and two stages in the Tour de France. He is the uncle of racing cyclist Arthur Vichot. Major results ; ...

() broke clear of the field after , building a maximum lead of more than twenty minutes. As he approached the finish, his advantage decreased significantly, but he won the stage, 3:12 minutes ahead of Mottet and Bontempi, as Hinault remained the leader of the race overall.

Pyrenees

Congestion in his broken nose had led to

for Hinault, severely impacting his ability to perform. He was therefore weakened as the race entered the Pyrenees on stage 17. On the Col du Tourmalet, set a high tempo, putting Hinault into difficulty. Pedro Delgado later recalled that he saw Hinault yelling at Herrera, at which point he decided to attack. With Delgado went Roche and LeMond, as well as Parra. Early leader

() led over the top of the Tourmalet, 1:18 minutes ahead of Delgado, followed by LeMond, Roche, and Parra two minutes down. As they approached the final ascent to

Luz Ardiden Luz Ardiden is a ski resort in the Pyrenees. It is situated in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, in the Occitanie Region. The ski resort lies at a height of 1720 meters and was opened on January 16, 1975. In recent years the road to Luz Ardiden ...

, LeMond and Roche were in front. LeMond asked his team car about the gap to Hinault. Koechli told LeMond that Hinault was only 45 seconds behind him and that he was not allowed to work with Roche, in order not to endanger standing first and second on the general classification. He was told to hold station or attack and distance Roche. The latter heard the conversation between LeMond and his team car and remained alert, leading to both cancelling each other out and allowing other riders to catch back up. When LeMond saw that Hinault was not among them, he began to suspect that the gap he had been told was not correct. Delgado attacked from the main group and won the stage. LeMond eventually finished fifth, 2:52 minutes behind, and gained little over a minute on Hinault. At the finish, LeMond was visibly angry when interviewed by American television, saying that he felt betrayed by his team of a chance to win the Tour. In the general classification, Hinault remained in front, with LeMond 2:25 minutes behind. Views on the stage differ. LeMond describes how he was ready to quit the Tour that night, being severely disappointed by his team's refusal to let him work with Roche in order to win the Tour. Hinault meanwhile maintains that there were no bad feelings inside during the 1985 Tour and that it was a clear case of not attacking a teammate who has the race lead. Later the same day, team owner Tapie and Hinault convinced LeMond to continue riding by assuring him that the year after, Hinault would work for LeMond. LeMond emerged from the meeting with a different public statement, telling the press that he got carried away after the finish and that he would continue to work for Hinault. Stage 18a, which was held in the morning, had a summit finish on the

Col d'Aubisque The Col d'Aubisque ( oc, Còth d'Aubisca) (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees south of Tarbes and Pau in the department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Aquitaine region of France.Chany, Pierre (1988), La Fabuleuse Histoire du T ...

. Roche attacked on the final ascent and won the stage, taking one-and-a-half minutes out of Hinault's lead. According to LeMond, Hinault was suffering so badly this time that LeMond had to push his teammate in order to conserve the race lead. Stage 18b in the afternoon was won by Roche's teammate

Régis Simon Régis Simon (born 19 March 1958, in Troyes) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. He is the brother of former professional cyclists François, Pascal and Jérôme Simon. Régis Simon won a stage in the 1985 Tour de France. Ma ...

, who beat

Álvaro Pino Álvaro Pino Couñago (born 17 August 1956) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Galicia who raced between 1981 through 1991 and is most famous for winning the overall title at the 1986 Vuelta a España over favorites Robert Millar ...

() in a two-man sprint to the finish line. After the two split stages, Hinault's lead over LeMond stood at 2:13 minutes, with Roche in third, 3:30 minutes behind.

Final stages

With only one time trial to come, victory appeared all but secure for Hinault. Speaking to journalist Samuel Abt of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', five-time Tour winner Anquetil declared that he and Merckx would "accept him in our club with pleasure". Stage 19 to

remained uneventful until about to the finish, when several riders tried, but failed, to escape. The race then settled for a bunch sprint, won by Vanderaerden ahead of Kelly by a very small margin. It was the first time during this Tour that the entire field, still 145 riders strong, reached the finish together. The following day,

achieved the third stage victory for the team. He had broken away with four other riders with to go and went clear of them from the finish to win by 21 seconds ahead of Andersen. LeMond gained several seconds through bonuses at intermediate sprints, closing the gap to Hinault to 1:59 minutes. On the penultimate day of the Tour, stage 21 saw the final time trial, around Lac de Vassivière near Limoges. LeMond did not incur any mechanical difficulties this time and won the stage, five seconds faster than Hinault. It was not only the first stage win for LeMond, but the first for a rider from the United States. After the stage, LeMond said: "Now I know I can beat Hinault. I know I can win the Tour de France." Third place went to Anderson, who finished 31 seconds slower than LeMond, with Kelly in fourth, 54 seconds adrift, five seconds faster than Roche. The final stage into Paris was, per tradition, a ceremonial affair, with no attacks to alter the general classification. In the final sprint, Rudy Matthijs took his third stage victory, with Sean Kelly finishing in second place for the fifth time during this Tour. Hinault finished safely in the field to win his fifth Tour de France, putting him equal with Anquetil and Merckx as record winner of the event, as well as securing his second Giro-Tour double, winning both races in the same year. During the final stage, Pedro Delgado used the small categorised climbs along the route to move past Robert Millar into second place in the mountains classification, ensuring his team the prize money that went with it. Hinault's final victory margin over LeMond was 1:42 minutes. Roche rounded out the podium in third place, 4:29 minutes behind. His compatriot Kelly finished fourth overall, at 6:26 minutes, ahead of Anderson. Five teams finished the Tour with all ten riders still in the race: , , , , and .

Final standings

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Young rider classification

Combination classification

Intermediate sprints classification

Team classification

Team points classification

Aftermath

Hinault reiterated his promise to work for LeMond the following year several times during the final part of the 1985 Tour. Following the time trial on the penultimate day, he publicly stated in an interview with French cycling magazine ''Miroir du Cyclisme'': "I'll stir things up to help Greg win, and I'll have fun doing it. That's a promise." On the victory podium in Paris, he leaned over to LeMond, telling him: "Next year, it's you", repeating the pledge again during the celebration dinner of that same evening. Public opinion saw Hinault and LeMond as good friends. The sports newspaper ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor w ...

'' ran a cartoon on the day of the final stage, showing Hinault on a bicycle and LeMond next to him on a child's scooter, with Hinault saying "Because you've been so good, I'll take you along next year on my handlebars", to which LeMond replied: "Thanks, Uncle Bernard." LeMond's first Tour victory the following year did not come as easily as these pledges and jokes indicated. Hinault attacked several times during the 1986 Tour de France, only conceding defeat after the last time trial. LeMond was frustrated with the apparent unwillingness by Hinault to honour the deal, saying: "He made promises to me he never intended to keep. He made them just to relieve the pressure on himself." The rivalry between Hinault and LeMond in both the 1985 and 1986 Tours was subject of the documentary ''Slaying the Badger'', part of

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's series '' 30 for 30''. Based on the book by the same name by journalist Richard Moore, it premiered on 22 July 2014. In previous years, cyclists tied their shoes to their pedals with toe-clips, allowing them to not only push the pedals down but also pull them up. In 1985, Hinault used clip-ins (clipless pedals), which allowed the shoes to snap into the pedal. His victory in this Tour made these clip-ins popular. There was some criticism that the time trials were too important. If the time trials would have not counted towards the general classification, the result would have been as follows: The total length of the time trials reduced from in 1985 to in 1986. Tour director Félix Lévitan felt after the 1985 Tour de France that the race had been too easy and made the course in 1986 extra difficult, including more mountain climbs than before. This was the last year that the Tour de France was actively managed by

Jacques Goddet Jacques Goddet (21 June 1905 – 15 December 2000) was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France road cycling race from 1936 to 1986. Goddet was born and died in Paris. His father, Victor Goddet, was co-founder and finance di ...

, who had taken over as race director from the race's founder, Henri Desgrange, in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

Doping

After every stage, around four cyclists were selected for doping controls. None of these cyclists tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. After the end of the Tour, world champion Claude Criquielion, who had finished 18th overall, was involved in a doping controversy. At the national championship race before the Tour, he had tested positive for

Pervitin Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ...

, but received no repercussions. The head of the laboratory at

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when th ...

, which had administered the analysis, subsequently resigned his post in the Medical Commission of the Belgian Cycling Association (KBWB) in protest.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1985 Tour De France Tour de France by year

1985 Super Prestige Pernod International