The 1985 Tour de France saw Bernard Hinault attempt to equal the records of Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx of winning the Tour de France for the fifth time. Hinault was forced to retire due to tendonitis in 1983, and in 1984 Hinault had finished second to Laurent Fignon, and threatened by Greg LeMond in third position on the final podium. In order to ensure the best support, Hinault's La Vie Claire team recruited LeMond into the team. In return for his support, Hinault promised on television that he would support LeMond the following year in the 1986 Tour de France.
Despite crashing on a fast descent and riding with black eyes due to his injuries, Hinault won convincingly and publicly again stated his promise to help LeMond the following year.
This edition of Tour de France saw the first use of clipless pedals (made by LOOK) by Bernard Hinault, among other riders. Hinault credited their use to saving him from worse injuries in his crash, and popularized them. Their use is now widespread among cyclists, on both road and mountain bikes.
He won the Tour again in 1989 and 1990, becoming one of only eight cyclists to have won the Tour three or more times.
In the 1985Tour the managers of his La Vie Claire team ordered the 24-year-old LeMond to ride in support of his team captain Bernard Hinault who was leading the race and was suffering from injuries sustained in a crash caused by other riders, instead of riding to win the race.
At the 1989 TourdeFrance, with 37 shotgun pellets remaining in his body (including some in the lining of his heart), LeMond was hoping only to finish in the top 20.
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