LeMond Keeps Cool, Awaits Time Trial
As most of the cyclists in the Tour de France finished the 114-mile 19th stage Friday, they had a look of stoic relief.
Rider after rider wheeled his gleaming, streamlined bicycle away from the tree-lined Boulevard de Beaublanc in search of a quiet and cool place to recuperate.
Their eyes bulged with fatigue. The hot and humid conditions for the past week have drained them of strength they will need for the final two stages.
“It wasn’t a hard race today, but I was dying like a dog,” said Davis Phinney of Boulder, Colo. “I got sick from the heat.”
Yet the two cyclists being watched the most looked altogether different.
Claudio Chiappucci, wearing the malliot jaune , or yellow jersey, for the seventh successive day, had a wrinkled face.
Greg LeMond, still trailing Chiappucci by five seconds, looked relaxed and thoughtful.
“I feel good,” LeMond said. “I hope the heat takes its toll on the other riders.”
Of the 156 cyclists remaining in the 77th Tour de France, only Chiappucci and LeMond stand a realistic chance to win Sunday on the Champs-Elysee in Paris.
The victor will most likely be decided this afternoon when LeMond starts a 27.9-mile time trial next to Lac de Vassiviere en Limousin at 3:55 p.m. (6:55 a.m., PDT), three minutes before Chiappucci.
This is the moment the cycling world has been awaiting for more than a week.
In a similar position last year on the final day of the Tour, LeMond overcame a 50-second deficit and upset Laurent Fignon of France to score an eight-second victory.
In that race, LeMond benefited by using aerodynamically designed triathlon handlebars as Fignon opted for traditional road bars.
By most accounts, LeMond should overcome Chiappucci.
Yet, this unpredictable Tour has left some wondering. . . .
LeMond, who has homes at Lake Minnetonka, near Minneapolis, and Korkrijk, Belgium, is not taking any chances.
He plans to arise early today and ride the course. He said he wants to familiarize himself with the roads through the gentle, green countryside adjacent to the lake.
“It’s a very bizarre Tour de France,” he said, after finishing Friday’s stage in the same time as Chiappucci.
“I’m cautious. I’m prudent. I want to be sure.”
The cautious approaches of the overall leaders made for another uneventful stage, which Guido Bontempi of Italy won in 5 hours 16 minutes 4 seconds.
Bontempi is a sprinter who won three sprint stages in the 1986 Tour. Thus his victory in a longer road race added to the unusual nature of this Tour.
A moment of excitement was provided not by the racers but by yet another shepherd demonstration in the Dordogne farmland after Friday’s midway point.
Unlike the third stage, during which shepherds, protesting low meat prices, forced a 54-mile detour, this one was peaceful. A Dutch photographer was chased, but the cyclists were unobstructed.
Tour de France security officers are used to these distractions. As the race achieves increasing popularity, an assortment of causes organize protests along the course.
There was a moment of concern for LeMond when his tire exploded from the high pressure and high temperatures.
He averted disaster Wednesday after a flat tire left him more than a minute behind Chiappucci by reeling in the leader before the mountain stage ended.
“I’m afraid of technical problems,” LeMond said of today’s trial. “The wheel blocked because it was very hot. I certainly don’t want to lose on a mechanical problem.”
LeMond did stop the verbal sparring with Chiappucci long enough to say, “Yeah, I’m worried about him, he’s a good rider.
“I don’t want to predict. I don’t know if Chiappucci can rise to the occasion.”
Finishing second would in itself be remarkable considering that this is Chiappucci’s second Tour de France in six years of professional racing.
“Looking back, Claudio normally would have no possibility in a time trial against LeMond,” said Giavanni Grazzi, Carrera team doctor. “But he’s feeling very good now, so he will give it his maximum.”
In the last time trial, a 23.6-mile race on July 12, LeMond was nine seconds ahead of Chiappucci, who is encouraged by that result.
Tour Notes
Money Talks: Jim Ochowicz, general manager of the 7-Eleven team, said Friday the Southland Corp. is going to either drop or reduce its sponsorship next year. The team has had an outstanding Tour, holding the yellow jersey for nine stages. Canadian Steve Bauer dominated the race in the first week, and teammate Andy Hampsten of Boulder, Colo., in ninth place overall, looked strong during the mountain stages. . . .
Money Talks II: The Societe du Tour de France restructured its sponsorship concept this year to attract a handful of major sponsors. The Tour organizers make about $5 million, according to Rupert Guinness of VeloNews. The breakdown: $3 million from villages paying to play host to a stage, $4 million to $6 million for television rights--ABC is one of a dozen televising the race--and $13 million to $14 million from sponsorship contributions. . . . “It’s no wonder why some people say the Tour de France should be called the Tour de Franc,” Guinness writes.