This year marks the 20th anniversary of Andy Hampsten’s win in the Giro d’Italia. His win was the first by an American in the Giro and remains the only win by an American to this day. There are points in your life when you say “I remember where I was when” a certain historical event takes place.
I was 20-year-old cat 4 racer just starting a summer job at a bike shop. Every day at lunch I would walk across the street to the 7-Eleven and pick up a USA Today newspaper where they printed the stage results from the Giro to see if Hampsten was still in the pink jersey. How times have changed! Now you can watch live online video of the Giro and have access to instant stage results on CyclingNews.
There is no doubt that Andy Hampsten is one of my cycling heroes, and those great memories are partly why I am the cycling addict I am today. I was able to meet Hamsten a couple of times at the Seattle Bike Expo where he talked about some of the highlights in his career, and he signed an old issue of Winning Magazine where he was on the cover in his 7-Eleven kit.
Be sure to read the series from VeloNews on the anniversary of Hampsten’s historic win, and when it is available again, you can also buy the greatest cycling poster of all time.
The photo above is one I took of Andy Hampsten racing the Redmond, Washington in 1987.
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