The Last Rider is a 2022 sports documentary film directed by Alex Holmes, about the American Tour De France winning cyclist Greg Lemond.
Synopsis
Greg Lemond, who in 1986 became the first non-European professional cyclist to win the Tour de France, recovered from a near-fatal shooting during an off-season hunting trip, to win the 1989 Tour de France in Paris on the Champs-Élysées in dramatic style, winning by only 8 seconds, the closest ever margin of victory.
Cast
Greg Lemond
Kathy Lemond
Cyrille Guimard
Pedro Delgado
Laurent Fignon (archive interviews)
Production
The project was announced in June 2020. Directed by Alex Holmes, the film is produced by James Erskine, Victoria Gregory and Sam Brayshaw as a New Black Films production. The film features interviews with Greg and Kathy Lemond, French cycling director sportif Cyrille Guimard and Tour de France winner Pedro Delgado, as well as archive footage of interviews with the late double-Tour winner and Lemond rival Laurent Fignon.
Release
The Last Rider premiered at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival. The film will be released in select theatres on June 23, 2023 by MRC and Roadside Attractions.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Last Rider holds an approval rating of 89% based on 9 reviews.
Wendy Ide for The Guardian said that Lemond made for a “likeable protagonist” and this combined with the thrilling denouncement made the film was “exciting and affecting”. Kevin Maher in The Times gave the film four stars and described it as “more compelling than any sports fiction film”.