Phil Liggett first commentated on the Tour de France in 1973. Since then, he has never missed a stage and has become an unofficial English-speaking journalistic record.
Phil noted that many journalists have covered the opening weekend of the Tour de France and then gone home, or come to the finish, but there’s nobody who has covered every single day on the Tour de France.
Because of this, Phil has commentated on approximately 1092 stages and with that much experience, I was keen to hear some of his stories and given that the 2024 final stage of the Tour de France is a time trial, only the second time that this has happened, it is fitting that one of Phil’s strongest memories is from the first time that happened, way back in 1989.
1989 Tour de France
The 1989 Tour de France, was won by Greg LeMond and is one of Phil’s favourites. “The one that sticks in the mind is 1989, when Greg LeMond won the race, as you know, by eight seconds on the last day in the time trial.”
Phil recalls the event. “Well, before the race had started that day, I’d done a piece to camera saying that Greg LeMond would win the tour, I thought, by six seconds. It couldn’t be much, because he was losing it by 50 seconds and it was only a short 15-mile time trial. So, if he was to reverse the situation, it would be a very close finish.
So, I plugged for six seconds. That was recorded and sent to London to bolt onto the front of our live coverage. So, after the opening had gone out at two o’clock in the afternoon, we then picked up coverage live, but we told the story in the morning (because it’s just a factor of having to organise it properly for television).
And then, of course, Paul Sherwen and I were calling the last race ride through to the end and LeMond finished. He was the second to last rider to start. He finished, we had his time on the board.
We knew exactly the time that Laurent Fignon had to record to win the Tour de France and that time faded away just before the finishing line. And at the time he crossed the line I said, “I can’t believe this, but Greg LeMond has just won the Tour de France by eight seconds.”
And in London, my Executive Producer put the key over into my ear, because I was in Paris, and said, “Liggett, next time get it right.” And that was a very emotional moment. I started to cry.
Greg LeMond leaping for joy and screaming and crying with his wife, Cathy, having just won the Tour after his comeback from near death with the shooting when he was out hunting with his brother-in-law. And then Fignon was in tears, rolled up like a foetus on the Champs-Élysées, also crying because he couldn’t believe he’d just lost the Tour with a 50-second start on the last day. And he’d lost the Tour by eight seconds.
So, it was a very dramatic day. So, that has to always be a best moment for me in commentating, I think.”
1989 results, the closest in Tour de France history
To this day, the 8-second victory by Greg LeMond is the smallest margin by which the Tour de France has been decided. It was the first time that the ‘aerobar’ design was used, which has now become commonplace in time trialling.
