Now playing in theaters across the country, The Last Rider is a new feature-length documentary that chronicles Greg LeMond's rock bottom year and his legendary comeback at the nail-biting 1989 Tour de France.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Alex Holmes, viewers are given an intimate portrait of one of America's greatest athletes of all time as he maneuvres betrayal, childhood sexual abuse, getting shot, and coming back from the brink of death to face his rivals and win the Tour de France by just eight seconds — the closest winning margin in the race's history till this day.
"Good stories; they're timeless in a way," LeMond told Cycling Weekly, "And it's funny; it's only years later that people can appreciate something. Had I had a Netflix [show] to help others understand what was happening at that time, that would have been…well, I'd love to have had a little more forgiveness at the time and understanding what I went through."
Cycling Weekly got an advanced viewing of the film and came away with the following sentiment:
The Last Rider is a story "of persistence, of hope and overcoming, of reclaiming a lifelong dream, and of one of the greatest comeback stories in sports.
While this comeback happens at one of the most nail-biting editions of the Tour de France's 109-year history —and the film does do an excellent job building the tension— The Last Rider is much more than a documentary of that legendary race.
The Last Rider is a showcasing of one man's personal journey with his mental and physical health, a true love story between him and his childhood sweetheart turned wife Kathy, and our beloved sport at its absolute best."
