Quick Facts
Biography
Marianne Martin (born November 1, 1957 in Fenton, Michigan) is an American road racing cyclist. She won the first Tour de France for women in 1984 (now called the Grande Boucle), covering the 616-mile course in 29 hours, 39 minutes, and 2 seconds. The race was held in July and had 18 stages. The women's tour ran the same time as the men's and finished 2-3 hours before the men each day.
Martin suffered from anemia earlier in the year and had been riding poorly, but she took the lead in the 14th stage when they encountered the climbs. Martin was a good climber and never gave up the lead after that into Paris. The streets were said to contain more two million spectators watching the race.
Martin, along with runners up Heleen Hage (Dutch) and Deborah Shumway (American), stood on the podium that had been erected on the Champs Elysees for Laurent Fignon, Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond.