THE SIDELINES : East German Wins Spain Cycle Race; Greg LeMond Drops Out

World champion Greg LeMond of the United States, suffering from severe foot pain, dropped out of the Tour of Valencia cycle race today after 52 miles of the fourth stage.

LeMond, winner of the Tour de France last year, had been struggling since his custom-made shoes were stolen on Wednesday.

Spain’s Jose Maria Ahedo dominated most of the fourth stage with a remarkable 104-mile solo breakaway, but failed to stop East German Uwe Raab from winning.

Dutchman Tom Cordes retained a slim five seconds overall lead over West Germany’s Andreas Kappes after the 123-mile stage from Sagunto to Vinaroz, covered by Raab and the rest of the pack in five hours five minutes nine seconds.

Ahedo broke away in the ninth mile and built up a lead of up to 16 minutes only to see his dream of a stage victory in his second year as a professional shattered 10 miles from the end when Irish veteran Sean Kelly burst past him to set up Raab for victory in the final sprint.