Two time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon dies at age 50

August 31, 2010 , the two time former winner of the, has died at the age of 50. His death was confirmed by his wife, Valerie. The cause of death was announced as. Fignon had been battling the disease since 2009.

Fignon won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 but is also remembered for the 1989 race. Fignon lost out to in the final time-trail stage by just eight seconds. In his career Fignon won 76 races including the in 1986,  in both 1988 and 1989 and the  in 1989.

Fignon stayed in cycling even after his retirment managing races. In 2006 he joined the television station as a commentator. It was as his time with France 2 that he announced he had cancer of the digestive system. He continued to work for France 2 throughout his treatment and even commentated on the 2010 Tour de France.