Greg LeMond Takes Lead in Tour de France

American Greg LeMond, bidding to win the Tour de France for the second time, left his competitors behind in an individual time trial Thursday and took the lead in the overall standings.

LeMond holds a five-second margin over the 1983 and 1984 winner, Laurent Fignon, who was third in the time trial.

“It’s quite a surprise for me,” LeMond said. “I haven’t won yet, but I’m very happy to be where I am.”

LeMond won the world’s most prestigious cycling race in 1986, the only American to do so.

Thursday, he took the fifth stage in the rain from Dinard to Rennes in western France in 1 hour 38 minutes 12 seconds, winning by 24 seconds over defending champion Pedro Delgado.

LeMond was shot by his brother-in-law in a hunting accident in April 1987. Since then, an emergency appendectomy and knee and shin problems have slowed his comeback.

“It’s a miracle that I’m riding again,” LeMond said. “Two years ago, I was almost dead.”

But he said he doubted he would be strong enough in the mountain stages to keep the lead.

“Since (the Tour of) Italy, I have been feeling very good but it’s going to be difficult to hold onto the yellow jersey against Fignon,” LeMond said.

Fignon was 57 seconds behind LeMond in the time trial, moving him into second place overall, followed by Thierry Marie of France.

Fignon, showing signs of the power that carried him to two Tour de France victories, won the Tour of Italy last month.

LeMond finished the Tour of Italy impressively, with a second-place showing in the final time trial. He followed that with an encouraging fourth in the Tour de France prologue last Saturday in Luxembourg and held his form to enter Thursday’s leg 3:28 behind the leader, Acacio da Silva of Portugal.

Da Silva faded Thursday, finishing the time trial in 1:44:20 to drop to seventh in the overall standings, more than three minutes behind LeMond.

LeMond said he may not be able to hold up through the rest of the 23-day, 2,020-mile race. But for now, he is the rider the others must catch going into today’s sixth stage, a 161-mile leg, the longest of the race.

“I’m still lacking a little confidence but the last week wasn’t too bad,” LeMond said. “But coming back has taken a lot of dedication and a lot of sacrifice. And right now I am almost as pleased as I was in 1986.”

Delgado, last year’s winner, had a disastrous start to this year’s race but showed Thursday he is still a threat. He jumped from 134th to 28th in the standings and is 6:53 behind LeMond.

Delgado arrived late for Saturday’s prologue and started almost three-minutes behind the pack. Then he fared poorly in the team time trial and entered the third stage in 197th place, almost 10 minutes behind leader Da Silva.