that having Hinault, who he expected to take an early lead, would play to his advantage. Even with Hinault's assurances of support for LeMond, excitement over a possible record-breaking sixth Tour win was high in France. In a survey of 15 Dutch journalists, eight named Hinault as their main favourite for overall victory, just three chose LeMond. LeMond's season up to this point had been good, but had not yielded any victories; he finished second at Milan–San Remo, third at Paris–Nice, fourth at the Giro d'Italia and third at the Tour de Suisse. Laurent Fignon (), winner in 1983 and 1984, was working on his comeback, having won the La Flèche Wallonne classic in the spring. He had missed the chance to defend his title the year earlier due to surgery on an inflamed Achilles tendon. Juan Mora of El País believed that the race would be highlighted by a duel between Fignon and Hinault. He named LeMond and Frenchman Charly Mottet as potential contenders if their team captains – Hinault and Fignon, respectively – failed to perform to the level expected. Mora believed Pedro Delgado to be the best Spanish contender for the overall title citing that his should perform well in the team time trial. Gian Paolo Ormezzano of La Stampa believed that there was no Italian rider competing that could be a legitimate threat to win the race, despite the fact that three Italian based teams were invited – the most since the 1979 edition. Ormezzano also thought the favourites going into the race were Hinault and Fignon. Fignon later recalled in his autobiography that he did not share the view of himself as a favourite, writing: "I felt terrible physically. [...] My body — and perhaps my mind as well — was registering deep fatigue rather than an urge to get on with it." Stephen Roche (), third overall the year before, had injured his knee in a crash at the Paris Six-Day event in the winter, necessitating surgery in April, which meant that he arrived at the Tour out of form. Five-time Tour winner Jacques Anquetil named Luis Herrera () as his main favourite. Herrera himself declared: "If I do not lose more than ten minutes before the mountains, I can win." Sean Kelly () was considered the main favourite for victory in the points classification, having won the trophy a record-equalling third time the