Tour de France : Delgado Maintains 21-Second Overall Lead; Clere Wins Stage

Pedro Delgado of Spain and Stephen Roche of Ireland kept the 74th Tour de France a two-man race heading into the final weekend by finishing together in the pack Friday on the mainly flat 139.5-mile 23rd stage.

Delgado retained the overall lead for the fourth consecutive day. However, his advantage remained just 21 seconds over Roche. Today’s 23.6-mile individual time trial, the next-to-last stage of the event, is mainly flat, and Roche is considered better on flat courses than Delgado.

France’s Regis Clere broke from an eight-man lead group less than 1,000 yards from the finish to win Friday’s stage from St. Julien-En-Genevois in 6 hours 41 minutes 22 seconds.

Clere, who also won the 16th stage, joined Dutchman Jean-Paul Van Poppel as the only riders to win two stages in the 25-stage race that began July 1 in West Berlin.

“It was a quiet day today, but tomorrow, I have a duel on my hands to win the Tour de France,” said Delgado, the 1985 Tour of Spain winner who was outstanding in five mountain stages in the Alps this week.

The race ends with a flat run into Paris Sunday, when no change is likely among the leaders.

Roche, 27, is trying to complete a double, winning the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year--a feat accomplished only by Benard Hinault of France and Eddy Merckx of Belgium in the past decade.

American cyclist Andy Hampsten blamed poor health, resulting from a mild case of bronchitis, for his disappointing performance in the race.

Hampsten, 25, who was fourth in last year’s Tour de France, finished the 23rd stage in 16th place overall, 40 minutes 29 seconds behind Delgado. He was in the main pack Friday, 2 minutes 54 seconds behind Clere.

“I’m disappointed,” said Hampsten, a resident of Boulder, Colo. “I’ve had health problems that prevented me from accomplishing my goals.”

Alla Jakovleva of the Soviet Union won the 57.4-mile 14th stage of the Women’s Tour de France, from Lons Le Saunier to Dijon, but barring a major upset, Jeannie Longo of France is expected to cross the finish line first on Sunday in Paris.

Having easily won Thursday’s 13th stage, comfortably ahead of her rival, Maria Canins of Italy, Longo had a quiet day in the pack. Longo leads Canins by 2 minutes 52 seconds overall.