Marc Madiot blog: American cycling then and now

I've raced in the US way before it became common for European cyclists to cross the Atlantic. In my first pro year with Renault-Elf in 1981, we took part in the Coors Classic, which was the Tour of Colorado, because we had another neo-pro who was an American: Greg LeMond. He was a 20-year-old relaxed and friendly guy and he actually won the race overall. He was the star of the event but not yet the icon he'd later become. Interestingly, there were no spectators for the town-to-town stages but people turned up when we rode criteriums. They wanted cycling to be fun, fast, short and spectacular but they had no clue of what professional road racing was like.

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The irrepressible FDJ team manager Marc Madiot brings his unrestrained opinions and insights to Cyclingnews, giving our English-speaking readers a glimpse inside the culture of the French team, and French cycling.