[4] He is also a vocal opponent of performance-enhancing drug use in cycling and is a founding board member of 1in6.org, a nonprofit charity that assists male victims of child sex abuse.

[14] In 1977, at age 15, LeMond finished second in the Tour of Fresno to John Howard, then the United States's top road cyclist and the 1971 Pan American Games champion.

[18] Nevertheless, while he was the reigning Junior World Road Champion in 1980, LeMond received no professional offers, and so in the spring of 1980, he joined the U.S. National cycling team for a six-week European racing campaign.

"[21] That victory, and the subsequent press coverage, raised LeMond's profile in Europe and he was scouted at his next event (the Ruban Granitier Breton stage race) by Cyrille Guimard, the Renault–Elf–Gitane team's directeur sportif.

[23][24] Despite eventually receiving several other offers to turn professional besides Guimard's, LeMond did not consider them seriously, and he signed with Renault in Paris on the day the 1980 Tour de France finished.

[36] LeMond rode his first Tour de France in 1984, finishing third in support of team leader Laurent Fignon, and winning the white jersey of the young rider classification.

The following year, he was brought across to La Vie Claire to ride in support of team captain Bernard Hinault who had regained his form and was attempting to win his fifth Tour.

[40][45] Hoping to end the season on a high note, LeMond entered the World Championships road race with the strongest team the United States ever fielded.

Being as he was 38 years old and long past his prime, none of the remaining contenders, including LeMond, Claudio Corti, Robert Millar, Moreno Argentin, or Stephen Roche, took the attack seriously at first.

[58][N 8] Commenting on the team situation prior to the final individual time trial at Stage 20, LeMond offered the following with a wry smile: "He's attacked me from the beginning of the Tour De France.

[73] Joining the Belgian ADR squad allowed LeMond to continue to compete, but with teammates like Johan Museeuw who were better suited to riding Classics than Grand Tours.

[74] After struggling in the 1989 Paris–Nice early-season race and failing to improve his condition, LeMond informed his wife Kathy that he intended to retire from professional cycling after the 1989 Tour de France.

[69] LeMond had some flashes of form with sixth overall in Tirreno–Adriatico and in the two-day Critérium International, sharing an escape with Fignon, Indurain, Mottet, Roche, and Madiot and finishing fourth overall.

He started the 1989 Giro d'Italia in May as preparation for the Tour to follow, but struggled in the mountains and was not in contention for any of the leaders' jerseys before the final 53 km (33 mi) individual time trial into Florence.

[69] Without the weight of expectation and other pressures of being a Tour favorite, LeMond surprised observers with a strong ride in the 7.8 km (4.8 mi) prologue in Luxembourg, finishing fourth out of 198 riders.

Inside the final kilometer, Fignon continued attacking trying to break free, but could not force open a gap and began to fall back as the sprint materialized, eventually finishing in sixth place.

[104] The squad's tactical plan was upset on the first day, when a breakaway that included LeMond's teammate Ronan Pensec, but no major favorites, arrived ten minutes ahead of the field.

Surprisingly, Pensec held the lead through the first high mountain stages, including Alpe d'Huez, but he lost it soon after to the relative unknown Claudio Chiappucci.

In September, LeMond attempted to defend his title at the 1990 UCI Road World Championships, but finished fourth, eight seconds behind the winner, his former teammate Rudy Dhaenens of Belgium.

LeMond felt that he was riding extremely well, and though his TT-effort had propelled him into the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification, losing eight seconds to Indurain shook his confidence.

He never won any of cycling's 'Monument' races, but LeMond had several high places in four out of five of them throughout his career including fourth in Paris–Roubaix, third in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and second in Milan San Remo as well as the Giro di Lombardia.

[113] Following the 1993 season, he hired renowned Dutch physiologist Adrie van Diemen to advise him on a new technique to monitor training and measure performance.

"[121] In a wide-ranging interview with American novelist Bryan Malessa in 1998, LeMond was asked if his career had not been interrupted by the hunting accident, how did he feel he would compare to five-time Tour winners such as Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin.

The following year, searching for an equipment edge for Team Z at the 1991 Tour de France, LeMond concluded an exclusive licensing agreement between his company and Carbonframes, Inc., to access the latter's advanced composites technology.

"[133][140] Burke allegedly justified his demand for an apology by advising that, "As a contractual partner, he [LeMond] could criticize doping only generally – not point his finger at specific athletes, particularly one that happens to be the company's main cash cow.

"[153] In 2002, LeMond joined his parents-in-law David and Sacia Morris, friend Michael Snow, and J.P. Morgan & Co. fund manager Jorge Jasson to invest in the exclusive Yellowstone Club, a Big Sky, Montana, private ski and golf community founded by timber baron Tim Blixseth and his wife Edra.

[168] LeMond has consistently questioned the relationship between riders and unethical sports doctors[169] and has pointed out that doping products ultimately victimize the professional cyclists who make use of them.

[188][189] On July 23, 2009, LeMond wrote an opinion article[190] in the French newspaper Le Monde where he questioned the validity of Alberto Contador's climb up Verbier in the 2009 Tour de France.

[195] In December 2012, LeMond claimed that a change needed to be made in the leadership for the UCI and stated if called upon he would be willing to take the position himself if necessary to lead cycling out of the mire of doping.

Upon signature of the bill, the White House released a statement, saying the medal was awarded to LeMond "in recognition of his service to the Nation as an athlete, activist, role model, and community leader.