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Three-time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond was awarded the congress gold medal at the US Capitol on Wednesday morning.
Lemond became the first American to won the event in 1986, just a few years after moving to Europe to pursue his dream of becoming a professional cyclist.
“The honor is more than I ever expected, and I accept it with deep gratitude and a profound sense of humility …” Lemond said. “Cycling was an unusual sport for a 14-year-old child in 1976. In fact, I didn’t know that the sport existed before one day, a bike race that passed my home. After winning my first race, I was passionate about cycling, and as an American I thought that if I worked hard enough, there was something possible.”
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Greg Lemond celebrates winning 1989 Tour de France. (Graham Watson/Getty Images)
During his time in Europe, Lemond said people simply called him “the American” a nickname he was “proud of.”
“At one point, my parents even suggested that I leaned into it. ‘Wear a cowboy hat and boots,’ they told me. I didn’t go that far even though I grew up in Reno, Nevada, and rode horses before I rode a bike. Like an ally, a liberator and a friend.”
Lemond then discussed what it meant to be an American abroad, especially in a sport that had been dominated by Europeans until his arrival.
Greg Lemond is helped by his massage therapist at L’Alpe d’Huez in the 17th phase of the 76th Tour de France on July 19, 1989. (AFP via Getty Images)
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“Being an American, especially abroad, carries an inheritance,” Lemond said. “A legacy of sacrifice, courage and emerges when it means the most. So I am honored to words to receive this congress gold medal. I stand here knowing that this honor is not my
Five-time winner Bernard Hinault of France, Left, congratulates the Tour de France winner Greg Lemond in Paris on July 27, 1986. (AP Photo/Pierre Gleizes, File)
Lemond suffered a hunting accident in 1987, causing him to miss the next two Tour de France after his victory. But he returned in 1989 and took home back-to-back titles.
