Tour de France : Belgian Wins 19th Stage, but Hinault Keeps Lead

Belgium’s Eric Vanderaerden won the 19th stage of the Tour de France cycling race Thursday, a 126-mile sprint from Pau to Bordeaux in the southwest part of the country.

France’s Bernard Hinault kept the yellow jersey of the overall leader and appeared to be within reach of winning the race for a record-tying fifth time. There are three stages remaining as the race ends Sunday on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Vanderaerden, who won the against-the-clock sprint in the 13th stage, outdistanced Ireland’s Sean Kelly in the closing minutes of the nearly six-hour stage.

Kelly finished second and France’s Francis Castaing was third, ahead of Belgium’s Jozef Lieckens and Benny Van Brabant. Hinault finished 22nd.

Greg Lemond, who was eighth, was the top American finisher and remained second overall. Hinault has a combined time of 101 hours, 13 minutes, 29 seconds. Lemond is 2:13 behind, followed by Stephen Roche and Kelly.

Henny Top of the Netherlands won the third stage of the second half of the women’s Tour de France cycling race over 54.1 miles from Luxey to Bordeaux in the southwest.

Italy’s Maria Canins maintained the yellow jersey of the leader. She also won the 12-stage first-half competition.

According to international women’s cycling rules, no endurance race can exceed 12 legs or stages. For that reason the second annual women’s Tour de France is being run in two phases. The second began Monday and will end July 21 in Paris.

West Germany’s Vera Wasmuth finished second behind Top. Switzerland’s Marion Levin was third. All three riders were timed in 2 hours, 00 minutes, 1 second but Top had 15 seconds of bonus points.