[8] Joop Zoetemelk, the reigning road world champion, started and finished his 16th Tour de France, a record that stood until it was tied by Sylvain Chavanel in 2018.

[12] Prior to the start of the Tour, LeMond was confident of his chances, and pointed out that having Hinault, who he expected to take an early lead, would play to his advantage.

[14] LeMond's season up to this point had been good, but had not yielded any major victories; he finished second at Milan–San Remo, third at Paris–Nice, fourth at the Giro d'Italia and third at the Tour de Suisse.

He named LeMond and Frenchman Charly Mottet as potential contenders if their team captains – Hinault and Fignon, respectively – failed to perform to the level expected.

"[17] Stephen Roche (Carrera Jeans–Vagabond), third overall the year before, had injured his knee in a crash at the Paris Six-Day event in the winter, necessitating surgery in April, which meant that he arrived at the Tour out of form.

"[19] Sean Kelly (Kas) was considered the main favourite for victory in the points classification, having won the trophy a record-equalling third time the year before.

[7] On stage 1, Alex Stieda (7-Eleven) attacked 40 km (25 mi) from the finish and collected time bonuses at the intermediate sprint, which would move him into the race lead.

A crash by Eric Heiden slowed the team and forced several riders to take evasive action in order not to run into him, in the process scraping their tyres at the street curbing, which caused several punctures.

[35] Hinault personally instructed the team to wait for Niki Rüttimann and Guido Winterberg, who were nursing the after-effects of crashes during the morning stage, accounting for La Vie Claire's comparatively poor performance.

Dutch champion Jos Lammertink (Panasonic–Merckx–Agu) retired after suffering a broken skull in a crash, while Fabio Parra (Café de Colombia–Varta) also dropped out, courtesy of knee problems, leaving his team with only five of their original ten starters.

They finished 39 seconds ahead of van der Velde's teammate Eddy Planckaert, who in turn was followed by Miguel Induráin (Reynolds), while the field, led by Alfonso Gutiérrez (Teka), was 1:15 minutes behind.

Planckert, who only started the stage with the help of analgesic pills from his masseur due to back pain, won the sprint, beating out his teammate Eric Vanderaerden.

At around 90 km (56 mi) from the finish, Hinault raised the pace on the ascent of the Col de Burdincurutcheta, forcing other contenders to chase back on, such as Herrera.

[47] Shortly before an intermediate sprint after 125 km (78 mi), Hinault told his teammate Jean-François Bernard to accelerate,[48] and the two, accompanied by Delgado, made the bridge to a lead group containing Eduardo Chozas (Teka).

However, unlike the day before, the other favourites worked together to give chase, with Millar, Herrera, and Urs Zimmermann (Carrera Jeans–Vagabond) committed to bringing Hinault back as the group reached the climb of the Peyresourde.

They made contact with him on the descent and as the group began the final climb to Superbagnères, it became clear that Hinault had overexerted himself, falling back quickly.

While Herrera suffering from cramp dropped back to his team car, LeMond counter-attacked, leaving Zimmermann and Millar behind and joined his teammate at the head of the race.

[57] At the team hotel later in the evening, La Vie Claire owner Bernard Tapie had to intervene in an argument between his two leaders and Andrew Hampsten described the mood on the squad from then on as "super tense".

They exchanged attacks in the final 5 km (3.1 mi) of the stage, with Rüttimann putting in the decisive move to win solo ahead of his pursuers, jumping into eighth place in the general classification.

Jean-François Bernard from La Vie Claire won the stage after the two other riders in the final breakaway both punctured a tyre on the descent of the Col d'Espreaux.

[69] Zimmermann set a strong pace on the final climb to the Col du Granon and took second place on the stage, 6:26 minutes behind Chozas, with LeMond right behind him.

[70] The night before stage 18 to Alpe d'Huez, Hinault called a team meeting, complaining about the fact that Zimmermann now split the two La Vie Claire riders.

[74] Sensing that the French public, clearly favouring Hinault, made LeMond nervous,[75] the former led all the way up the climb, with both riders steadily increasing their advantage over everybody else.

[74][77] Tapie later revealed that he had orchestrated the moment, having told LeMond before the climb to Alpe d'Huez that he had effectively won the race and that he should let Hinault take the stage.

[82] In 2015, cycling journalist Peter Cossins called stage 18 "the best remembered on the mountain [Alpe d'Huez]", while describing it as "a victory parade rather than a sporting contest.

[87] The night before the time trial, Tour director Jacques Goddet came to see LeMond at dinner and warned him to watch his water bottles and other equipment, saying: "There are many who do not want you to win.

Hinault, now no longer trying to dislodge LeMond, instead focused on securing his lead in the mountains classification, which he did by collecting maximum points at the top of the Croix de l'Homme, the first climb of the day.

LeMond felt betrayed by Hinault's failure to live up to the clear assertion that he would assist him to win the Tour, saying: "He made promises to me he never intended to keep.

[109][110]After the final time trial, Hinault claimed to have attacked repeatedly to toughen LeMond up, adding: "Next year maybe he'll have to fight off another opponent who will make life miserable for him.

"[110] In France, Hinault's aggressive riding style was widely celebrated and did much to improve his public image, which had suffered due to an alleged lack of panache during his Tour wins and his behaviour towards fans and officials.