2 time Tour de France winner and French cycling great Laurent "Professor" Fignon passed away Tuesday. Fignon, ever the fighter that he embodied throughout his career, finally succumbed to cancer after over a year-long battle with the fatal disease. He was just 50 years old. Many of the major figures of French cycling and cycling throughout the world took a moment to reflect upon the life and career of this legend of the sport. Though Fignon may be best remembered by many for his legendary duel with Greg LeMond in '89 that was arguably decided by the type of equipment that LeMond used during the final time trial. Though the Professor goes down on the losing end of that chapter in history, he has made many of his own. He burst onto the cycling scene with a completely uncalled for win in the 1983 Tour after being doubtful of even being selected. Fignon was 22 at the time and was strictly a domestique for Bernard Hinault, but was inserted into his team's lineup as a stage hunter after Hinault became injured. Fignon repeated his success in 1984 after switching to a new team with a dominating performance in the '84 Tour taking 5 stages and destroying the rest of the field by about 10 minutes. Injuries then plagued the next few years of his career, but he would make a comeback in 1988 by winning the classic Milan - San Remo in back to back years ('88 and '89) and also by winning the 1989 Giro d'Italia. After his historic runner-up finish in 1989 Tour, Fignon began to slow down before finally retiring in 1993. His death was mourned by many across the cycling world, but most notably by former teammate Hinault, who spoke at a memorial tribute, and also by Lance Armstrong who obviously knows quite a bit about battling cancer. Laurent also has a biography out named "We Were Young and Carefree," which was published in 2009 during the early stages of his battle with cancer.
8/31/10
Remembering the Professor
2 time Tour de France winner and French cycling great Laurent "Professor" Fignon passed away Tuesday. Fignon, ever the fighter that he embodied throughout his career, finally succumbed to cancer after over a year-long battle with the fatal disease. He was just 50 years old. Many of the major figures of French cycling and cycling throughout the world took a moment to reflect upon the life and career of this legend of the sport. Though Fignon may be best remembered by many for his legendary duel with Greg LeMond in '89 that was arguably decided by the type of equipment that LeMond used during the final time trial. Though the Professor goes down on the losing end of that chapter in history, he has made many of his own. He burst onto the cycling scene with a completely uncalled for win in the 1983 Tour after being doubtful of even being selected. Fignon was 22 at the time and was strictly a domestique for Bernard Hinault, but was inserted into his team's lineup as a stage hunter after Hinault became injured. Fignon repeated his success in 1984 after switching to a new team with a dominating performance in the '84 Tour taking 5 stages and destroying the rest of the field by about 10 minutes. Injuries then plagued the next few years of his career, but he would make a comeback in 1988 by winning the classic Milan - San Remo in back to back years ('88 and '89) and also by winning the 1989 Giro d'Italia. After his historic runner-up finish in 1989 Tour, Fignon began to slow down before finally retiring in 1993. His death was mourned by many across the cycling world, but most notably by former teammate Hinault, who spoke at a memorial tribute, and also by Lance Armstrong who obviously knows quite a bit about battling cancer. Laurent also has a biography out named "We Were Young and Carefree," which was published in 2009 during the early stages of his battle with cancer.
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