Cycling legend dies
08/31/2010 07:29:52 PM
Frenchman Laurent Fignon, a two-time winner of the Tour de France, has died in Paris at the age of 50 after a long battle with cancer.
Most glittering among his 76 career victories, Fignon won the Tour in 1983 and 1984.
He also claimed the Giro d'Italia in 1989, the Milan-San Remo events in 1988 and 1989, La Fleche Wallone in 1986 and the Criterium International in 1982 and 1990.
In the 1989 Tour de France, he lost out to American Greg Le Mond by just eight seconds - still the smallest margin in Tour history, and regarded as one of the most exciting races ever.
Fignon, nicknamed Le Professeur (The Professor) because of the glasses he wore while riding, announced he was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer of the digestive system in June 2009.