Lemond Still Has That Old Drive Former Cycling Star Tries Auto Racing

As the Tour de France winds its way through France, three-time winner Greg LeMond is enjoying a sport of the four-wheeled variety.

Retired from cycling, LeMond is taking tentative steps into auto racing. This weekend he’ll drive in the Russell USAC Triple Crown ProSeries at Sears Point Raceway.

He said that watching the Tour de France from afar brings mixed emotions.

“I didn’t have the end of the career that I had hoped,” he said. “I think I had the potential to win five or six Tours.”

Although, he added, “I can’t really complain.”

LeMond, 36, was forced to retire from cycling in 1994 after being diagnosed with a rare muscular disease called mitochondria myopathy, which saps his strength.

“I still have good athletic ability,” he said. “But to compete in the Tour de France you need every cell firing.”

His retirement ended a career that brought new popularity to competitive cycling in the United States.

In 1986, LeMond became the first American to win the 23-day, 2,400-mile Tour de France.

The next year, he was accidentally shot by his brother-in-law while hunting. He had more than 60 lead pellets removed from his abdomen, but several remained, including two in the lining of the heart.

In 1989, he came back from the shooting and won his second Tour de France. He successfully defended his title in 1990.

Actor Craig T. Nelson was noticeably starstruck when he met LeMond this week. Nelson is among the competitors racing in the Exxon World SportsCar Championship Sunday as part of Sears Point’s California Grand Prix.

“Well done,” Nelson complimented LeMond for his Tour de France success. “For America, that was really something.”

LeMond described himself these days as a “retired athlete.” He has his own line of bicycles and is involved in restaurants.

He broke into motorsports a little more than a year ago after taking a three-day course with Russell Racing School, then at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif. He came back for the advanced course, then eventually got offered a ride in the USAC Formula Ford 2000 series.

He has been plugging away at the sport ever since, but admits there is still a lot to learn. In five Formula Ford 2000 races, his best finish has been 17th.

This weekend he begins competition in the Triple Crown, a four-race series which features the Formula Russell open wheel race car.