Delgado 4th in 21st Stage, Should Win Tour de France Today in Paris

Pedro Delgado of Spain virtually locked up victory in the Tour de France by finishing fourth in Saturday’s next-to-last stage, an individual time trial won by compatriot Juan Martinez-Oliver.

Martinez-Oliver finished the 21st stage in 1 hour 2 minutes 37 seconds for the 28.5-mile time trial around Santenay. Toni Rominger of Switzerland was second, four seconds back, while Milan Jurco of Czechoslovakia was five seconds behind.

Martinez-Oliver, a 26-year-old member of the Kelme team who began the day in 137th place overall, moved up just four spots.

Delgado, 11 seconds off Martinez-Oliver’s pace, extended his overall lead to 7 minutes 13 seconds over Steven Rooks of the Netherlands, who was 20th in the stage, 2:26 behind the winner.

“I have shown that I can do well in the mountains, on the flatlands and in time trials, and I hope that people will think I am the true winner of this Tour,” said Delgado, who failed a drug test during the race but was not penalized because the substance found in his system is not banned by the International Cycling Union.

Delgado’s overall time is 79:36.24 with just a 113-mile run from Nemours to Paris remaining today. The only riders within 10 minutes of Delgado are Rooks and third-place Fabio Parra of Colombia, who is 9:58 off the lead.