George Mount never raced the Tour de France ... "only" the Giro d'Italia.
Jonathan Boyer was the first American in the Tour in 1981 or '82, followed by Greg LeMond in 1984.
Steven L. Sheffield stevens at veloworks dot com veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea aye tee why you ti ay aitch aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [four word] slash
> Hey all,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Everybody knows that the classic bicycle era ended in '86. That's when
\r?\n> they let us Yanks into the Tour de France. (George Mount was just a
\r?\n> scout) After Greg LeMond, Andy Hampsten, and the 7-11 guys raced in
\r?\n> Europe, everything changed: People started buying mountain bikes
\r?\n> instead of road bikes, Shimano moved the shifters from the down
\r?\n> tubes to the brake levers, and cycle shoes clicked into the pedals.
\r?\n> Lugs became extinct!
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Within a few short years, Lance was winning stages on titanium
\r?\n> bicycles (and the French weren't winning stages on any sort of
\r?\n> bicycle) Folks in Europe were wearing Yankee's baseball caps and
\r?\n> drinking Budweiser from St. Louis instead of from Czechoslovakia.
\r?\n> McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken opened restaurants in London and
\r?\n> Paris. And the only bikes that were being sold were aluminum models made
\r?\n> by Trek, Cannondale, and Specialized.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> So '86 was the beginning of the end. It is a little known fact that
\r?\n> in that year, Gary Fisher and Bob Roll stole all of the European
\r?\n> MOJO and shipped it back to California and Colorado where it was
\r?\n> distributed to mountain bike companies. It was a big conspiracy to
\r?\n> put the European bike builders out of business. :-)
\r?\n>
\r?\n> '86 is a good cut off point. (Now we can include my lovely '86
\r?\n> Huffy-Serotta 7-11 bike with cut-away Henry James lugs in the
\r?\n> discussions--even though it has Shimano components).
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Let's get back to more important debates like, "How many Angels can
\r?\n> dance on the head of a pin" :-)
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Just my tuppence worth,
\r?\n> I'm kidding you know; '83 is fine with me,
\r?\n> Off like a flock of turtles,
\r?\n> Stratton Hammon
\r?\n> Louisville, Kentucky, USA
\r?\n>
\r?\n> >Dale wrote:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> >Therefore, despite previous thoughts, I am strongly inclined to freeze
\r?\n> the CR
\r?\n> >cut off at 1983!
\r?\n> >Seeing as how y'all are friends hanging out my garage, what do you
\r?\n> think? I
\r?\n> >promise to listen but not necessarily take your advice! <g>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> >Dale Brown
\r?\n> >cycles de ORO, Inc.