Greg LeMond has attacked Lance Armstrong again. There has never been good blood between the two Americans. Armstrong retired in 2011 after nearly 20 years of cycling, while LeMond was a professional from 1981 to 1994.

In the program "Ravito" of the French newspaper Le Télégraphe, yesterday aired an interview lasting over 30 minutes in which the three-time winner of the Grande Boucle returned to his rivalry with his fellow countryman, banned for life and stripped of his seven Tour victories. Not only Armstrong in the interview, but it also covered the duel with Fignon in 1989 and the crisis that, just weeks before, had led Lemond to consider retiring.

Greg LeMond doesn't mince words: "I saw his VO₂ max. He couldn't have won the Tour unless he had enormous support, far beyond simple doping". An accusation that LeMond formulates as his own assessment, while Armstrong has admitted to doping and was stripped of his seven successes at the Grande Boucle.

But the American's judgment goes beyond sporting performance. "He treated me terribly. I couldn't stand his attitude towards other riders. I remember the day he threatened (Marco) Pantani on Mont Ventoux. I couldn't stand the way he carried himself towards other riders," LeMond continued. He then recounts having hoped for a long time that Armstrong would leave him alone: "He wanted to destroy me". LeMond claims that his fellow countryman committed actions he cannot report publicly because they involve his family. "He is a bad person", he concludes. These are serious accusations, reported as LeMond's statements, which in the interview he does not elaborate on.

The account then expands to the years of his career and another rivalry, that with Laurent Fignon. The 1989 Tour remains the most memorable: LeMond won it by just eight seconds over the Frenchman, at the end of one of the most fiercely contested editions. But, for him, the highest moment athletically had been 1986, when he finished ahead of his hero, Bernard Hinault.

The 1989 victory, he recalls, came after a deep crisis. During the Giro d'Italia he had lost a lot of time and, in the final week, he thought about quitting: "I wanted to give up right that day". At the Tour, with the Belgian ADR team, LeMond didn't start thinking about victory: he first hoped for a stage win, then a top-five finish. The yellow jersey conquered at Rennes changed the perspective; the mountains would decide the rest.

"In 1989 there was a moment when I wanted to give up everything; I cried with my wife. The pressure had become unbearable. During the final week of the Giro d'Italia I had lost 17 minutes to Stephen Roche – the American finished the Giro in 39th place - And to think I was in a condition equal to his! During that period I suffered from very strong allergies, I didn't know it at the time and then I lost 70% of my abilities. Coming from such a Giro I was already happy to be at the Tour; I had confidence that my team would perform well. Then I got a fourth place in the prologue, which was a good sign, but I was especially thrilled to be back at the Tour: it's always a special race. I've always said I built my career precisely for this".

For him 1989 is the most beautiful year. "That was a beautiful duel between Laurent and me. But, from a physical standpoint, I believe 1986 was my best Tour de France: I won ahead of Bernard Hinault, who was a hero to me, as well as being one of the greatest of all time".

LeMond thus intertwines his resentment towards Armstrong and memories of a career marked by great duels and moments of fragility. The 1989 Tour gave him a memorable victory; today's account shows how, for him, some wounds have remained open and how certain traumas witnessed during the years he raced still linger in his mind, as if the shadows of his past continue to obscure those great results that only a few riders have managed to achieve.