It's one of the most famous images in Tour de France history. The ageing superstar Bernard Hinault and young pretender Greg LeMond crossing the line together at l'Alpe d'Huez having destroyed the field - and nearly each other - in an astonishing display of dominance.
The iconic image resonates to this day, which is why we've chosen it for the first in our limited edition
Top Ten series of t-shirts - available for just ten days.

But what's the story behind the image? Here's the history of the glory and hostility, in the riders' own words.

1985: the pact

The year before their iconic photo Greg LeMond proved he was capable of winning the Tour on his own merit. Yet he was asked to sacrifice his chances and support his teammate Hinault’s bid for a record‑tying fifth victory.
 
Hinault acknowledged the debt. After his win, he leaned over and said, “Next year, it’s you” – promising to ride in service of LeMond’s chances. Meanwhile, LeMond made it clear that he could have won if he'd wished: “If I had not wanted to keep my promise, it would have been easy for me to race for victory.” 

And so the stage was set for LeMond's coronation in 1986 - but the reigning king had other ideas.

The 'betrayal'.

By the 1986 Tour LeMond and Hinault were simply miles better than the rest of the peloton. Their La Vie Claire superteam was dominant, and Hinault's fiery character cast a long shadow over the race.
 
As the undisputed patron in the bunch, backed up by awesome team firepower, Hinault could choose who could attack and which attacks would be successful - but the problem for LeMond was that more often than not the attacker was Hinault himself.

Hinault’s attacks felt anything but supportive. When asked why he continued to press on, he shrugged: “Because I felt like it. If he doesn’t buckle, that means he’s a champion …”

LeMond saw it as betrayal. “He made promises to me he never intended to keep,” he said. “Just to relieve the pressure on himself.” And later “He’s attacked me from the beginning… he’s never helped me once.” 

Team orders.

The La Vie Claire team might have been super-strong - placing five riders in the overall top twelve - but they became a team divided, with the North American riders in one clique and the French core of the team in the other. The team's other American wonderkid, Andy Hampsten, laid bare the struggle.
 
“It was rotten being on the team… Steve Bauer and I had to chase down Hinault on the stage into Saint‑Étienne. That really sucked.”

The showdown on l'Alpe d'Huez.

By the end of stage 16 (of 23) Hinault's relentless attacking had driven LeMond to distraction - and taken Hinault into the yellow jersey. The following day Hinault's aggressive start to the race started to take its toll, and LeMond put a seemingly race-winning four minutes into his rival on the slopes of the Col du Granon.

Unfazed, Hinault went on the attack again on stage 18 to l'Alpe d'Huez, whittling the lead group down to just him and LeMond by the base of the Alpe - and at one point telling LeMond to slow to let Urs Zimmerman catch up, just so they could attack him again and definitively break him psychologically.

As the lead duo approached the finish, team owner Bernard Tapie asked LeMond to slow down so they could cross arm in arm. The handshake was for the cameras, the smiles were for show. “It was choreographed”, LeMond later admitted.

Even then - with the rest of the peloton in tatters and seeing himself in a distant second - Hinault refused to fold. “The Tour is not finished”, Hinault told French TV after the stage, despite the apparent truce between the two La Vie Claire riders on l'Alpe d’Huez.
“There could be a crash, many things can still happen. But if we have a war, it’ll be a fair war and the stronger one will win.”

The aftermath.

The uneasy ceasefire continued through to Paris, and Hinault settled for second place in his final Tour. The young prince LeMond took his seat on the throne, and looked set to dominate for years to come - but fate had other ideas.

The following winter, LeMond was accidentally shot, and very nearly killed, by his father-in-law whilst hunting in the US. It took years for LeMond to fully recover, losing perhaps the best years of his career in the process. Miraculously, he returned to win a further two Tours (including that win in 1989). He'd cemented his place among the greats, but we'll never know if he'd have been able to beat Hinault's own record tally of five Tours.

And Hinault? He returned to his farm, and to ceremonial roles at his beloved Tour - although every now and then we'd get another glimpse of the Tour's most terrifying patron.

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