Oh yeah, somehow lucking into the Hinault/LeMond drama opened my eyes into the TdF.
drama? what drama?

that was quite a soap opera... but it was pre-internet... at least as we know it today. it existed but only DARPA, .mil, .gov and .edu had access AFAIK. speeds were low and computers were slow.
Hinault should have known that an American kid named "The World" would be trouble!