Top two can deliver Tour de force

1989 set a high bar for drama in the Tour de France but 2014 has all the ingredients to eclipse it

“I’ve lost. By eight seconds. Eight seconds in Hell. LeMond has taken 58 seconds out of me in 24.5km. In the chaos, someone finally brings me up to date by admitting: “You’ve lost Laurent.” I can’t get a grip on what he is saying. I don’t believe it. More precisely, I can’t manage to believe it. No man should endure that much pain.”

— Laurent Fignon after losing the 1989 Tour de France by eight seconds on the last day