ALEX STIEDA, the first North American to wear the Tour de France's famous Yellow Jersey, reunites with his former 7-Elev | dG1fV2I4M0FvZk9JYWM
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 I'm Alex Tida and in 1986 I was the first North American to ever wear the
00:06 yellow jersey in the Tour de France. It was the greatest day of my career and I
00:13 did it riding for the awesome groundbreaking 7-11 squad. We defied the
00:21 odds to become the first North American team to take on the European riders and
00:26 win. It all started when the US wanted to up their game for the 1984 Olympics.
00:32 7-11 riders won seven Olympic medals. It was tremendous equity and feeling for the
00:37 team so we couldn't stop. With surprising success this bold ambition brought us
00:42 pro status and we headed to Europe. European cycling was like a battleship.
00:50 It just kind of trucks along. 7-11 was the Nautica speedboat. We were an
00:56 unlikely band of brothers that would achieve success beyond our wildest
01:01 dreams. And when the race ends Davis Finney picks up his second Criterium win.
01:05 And now 40 years later we remember our racing days. We were full throttle. 11
01:12 days 710 miles of racing. The adventures we shared. You made it there. Your
01:19 team made it there. And the friendships we made. We're all buddies. We're friends
01:24 for life. We were accidental heroes. Okay we're no longer the laughingstock and
01:28 you can notice that in the peloton. Team 7-11. So I'm gonna connect with some of
01:35 my teammates to talk about how with absolutely no idea what we needed to do
01:40 to be pros in Europe we still won some of the most prestigious prizes in world
01:44 cycling.
01:47 [Music]
01:53 [Music]
01:56 [Music]
01:59 (dramatic music)