 Route of the 1985 Tour de France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 28 June – 21 July 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 22 + Prologue, including one split stage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 4,109 km (2,553 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 113h 24' 23" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1985 Tour de France was the 72nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours.[1] It took place between 28 June and 21 July. The course ran over 4,109 km (2,553 mi) and consisted of a prologue and 22 stages. The race was won by Bernard Hinault (riding for the La Vie Claire team), who equalled the record by Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx of five overall victories. Second was Hinault's teammate Greg LeMond, ahead of Stephen Roche (La Redoute).
Hinault won the race leader's yellow jersey on the first day, in the opening prologue time trial, but lost the lead to Eric Vanderaerden (Panasonic–Merckx–Agu) after stage 1 because of time bonuses. Hinault's teammate Kim Andersen then took over the yellow jersey following a successful breakaway on stage 4. Hinault regained the race lead after winning the time trial on stage 8, establishing a significant lead over his rivals. However, a crash on stage 14 into Saint-Étienne broke Hinault's nose, with congestion leading to bronchitis, which severely hampered his performances. Nonetheless, he was able to win the race overall ahead of teammate LeMond and Roche. For LeMond's assistance, Hinault publicly pledged to support LeMond for overall victory the following year. The large amount of time trials in this edition of the race was decisive for its outcome, leading to a decrease in time trial kilometres for subsequent Tours.
In the Tour's other classifications, Sean Kelly (Skil–Sem–Kas–Miko) won a record-equalling third points classification. The mountains classification was won by Luis Herrera (Varta–Café de Colombia–Mavic). LeMond was the winner of the combination classification, Jozef Lieckens (Lotto) of the intermediate sprints classification, and Fabio Parra (Varta–Café de Colombia–Mavic) was the best debutant, winning the young rider classification. La Vie Claire won both the team and team points classifications.
- ^ Heijmans & Mallon 2011, p. 95.