Greg LeMond

Greg LeMond grew up in Nevada and took up cycling as a teenager to train for skiing. He was quickly better at it than anyone around him and moved to Europe at 19, where Americans in professional cycling were a novelty. He won the world championship in 1983 and, in 1986, became the first non-European to win the Tour de France, after a tense race in which his own team leader, Bernard Hinault, appeared to be riding against him.

In April 1987, out turkey hunting in California, he was accidentally shot by his brother-in-law. Around 60 shotgun pellets went into his back, liver, kidney and the lining of his heart, and he lost most of his blood before a helicopter reached him. He later said he had been minutes from death. Dozens of pellets are still in his body.

He missed two Tours. When he returned, his team did not want him and his results were poor. He entered the 1989 Tour with modest ambitions and found himself in second place going into the final day, 50 seconds behind the Frenchman Laurent Fignon, with only a short time trial into Paris left. Using aerodynamic handlebars that few had seen, he rode the fastest time trial in Tour history and won the race by eight seconds, the narrowest margin ever.

He won the world title again that year and the Tour in 1990. He retired in 1994 and later became an outspoken critic of doping in the sport.