Who knows how Howard and Mike Neel might've done in Montreal in '76 if they hadn't crashed out? Howard won the GC in the first 2 Red Zinger Classics, btw, in '75 & 76. Wayne Stetina won in '77. Mount won in '78. Dale Stetina in '79 and Jock Boyer won in '80 when the race was bought by Coors and became the Coors Classic. Who knows how far the late Bob Cook might've gone had he not died from a brain tumor?



And former 7-11 Team assistant coach Mike Neel was also one of the earlier Americans to turn pro along with Mount and Jock Boyer. He won 2 stages in the '80 Coors Classic among many other wins. Don't know if he still rides or not. He had some (recreational) drug problems for awhile. Hopefully he's broke enough by now not to be able to afford much more of that.



Another early photo of Mike Neel and 7-11 team founder and coach Jim Ochowicz. Och also manages the currently active BMC team which has a number of top American riders including Tejay van Garderen, Taylor Phinney (who is the son of Davis Phinney), and, starting this year, Peter Stetina (who is the son of Dale Stetina).

All of these guys preceded Lemond and helped to bring American cycling to what it is today.