LeMond Asserts Control : Tour de France: American leads by 2:16 heading into today’s final stage. He is expected to win for the third time.

The type of equipment Greg LeMond would use was foremost on the minds of bicycling enthusiasts Saturday. Which handlebars, frame and wheels would he select as he embarked on the biggest of the 21 stages in the Tour de France?

Would LeMond opt for specially designed triathlon handlebars rushed from the United States the night before, or would he try something else in an attempt to erase Claudio Chiappucci’s five-second lead?

But while the equipment question was paramount among the thousands who came to watch the 29.9-mile time trial featuring LeMond vs. Chiappucci, there was an element to this showdown that most did not realize:

Family superstition.

The LeMonds say their world champion bicycle racer has an uncanny knack of performing well when someone in the family circle has a birthday.

Saturday, LeMond’s close friend, Fred Mangoni, turned 63. LeMond was well aware of that before he started the circular stage in 95-degree temperatures in late afternoon.

Whether Mangoni’s birthday made a difference is anyone’s guess.

But this much is clear: LeMond all but assured his third Tour de France victory. Today’s 117-mile stage from Gbretigny-Fur-Orge to the Champs-Elysee in Paris is expected to be little more than a coronation procession. LeMond is expected to ride to Paris without losing the yellow jersey.

Last year, when the time trial was held on the final day, LeMond overcame a 50-second deficit to Laurent Fignon of France, and won by eight seconds. That was hailed as one of the Tour’s greatest finishes.

Although Saturday’s ride did not match last year’s for theatrics, it was equally devastating. LeMond defeated Italy’s Chiappucci by 2 minutes 21 seconds and holds the overall lead by 2:16.

Chiappucci, who had led since the 12th stage, had mixed feelings after finishing the stage.

“I’m very disappointed because it didn’t go as well as I wanted to,” he told the Associated Press. “Still, it’s a good experience to wear the yellow jersey during eight days, especially in my second Tour de France.”

Although LeMond also won the World Racing Championship a year ago, he was not among this year’s favorites when the race began June 30. He was weakened this year by a virus, and his spring performances were unworthy of a world champion, other riders complained.

As the summer approached, he did not improve much. In the Tour de Trump, LeMond struggled with second-class riders. In the Giro d’Italia, he did not crack the top 100. Finally, in the Tour Suisse five days before France, he looked stronger.

“I’ve always had a hard time in the early season,” LeMond told Bicycling Magazine last spring. “They (European riders) say, ‘Oh, that’s not the way a world champion rides.’ They think when you win a world championship, you’re transformed into a superhuman being.”

But when it comes to LeMond, there are reasons for such talk.

After becoming the first American to win a Tour de France, in 1986, LeMond’s career seemed prematurely over when he was accidently shot by a brother-in-law during a turkey hunt near Sacramento.

LeMond recuperated only to have an appendicitis operation the same year. He competed little in 1987.

In 1988, he suffered a tendon injury that required surgery and affectively ended another summer of racing.

After this year’s poor start, LeMond asked friends, “What else can go wrong?”

In a pressure situation again Saturday, all of the traumas were forgotten. His only concern was to devastate Chiappucci.

And that he did.

Eric Breukink of the Netherlands won the stage in 1 hour 2 minutes 40 seconds to practically assure himself of a third-place finish over Pedro Delgado of Spain.

LeMond finished fifth, 57 seconds behind Breukink, but Chiappucci was 17th, 3:18 back.

Chiappucci’s downfall was hastened by LeMond’s start. By about six miles, Chiappucci had lost 11 seconds to LeMond.

Although French television predicted LeMond’s victory at that point, the cyclist from Wayzata, Minn., was not convinced.

“I knew I had it won with 10 kilometers to go,” he said.

LeMond had told ABC Sports he expected to beat Chiappucci by two minutes Saturday.

LeMond said he had been tired the last three days, but when he awoke Saturday morning he felt fresh.

“He said he was feeling good, and when he says he is feeling good, he is,” said Otto Jacome, LeMond’s masseur. “Greg complains a lot when he has problems, no matter how little. He is honest.”

LeMond had had plenty to complain about during the earlier stages. Early in the race, his foot was swollen from a boil that had to be lanced.

Perhaps the only thing bothering LeMond these days is the criticism he generates in Europe. Belgian cyclist Claude Criquielion, for one, said he would be disappointed if LeMond won the Tour after his poor spring season.

But LeMond confronted Criquielion, telling him, “You don’t know what I went through.”

Said Jacome: “When he is underrated like that, he hammers his opponents (during the race).”

If LeMond does not win today’s stage but wins the Tour, he will be the first Tour victor since 1966 to fail to win a stage. French television reporters highlighted that possibility.

“That’s true,” he told them. “But I worked hard from the start of the Tour. I never quit trying to win a first place. It was me who attacked at St. Etienne (Stage 13). It was me who attacked at Luz Ardiden (Stage 16). It was me who made the difference in this Tour de France.”

“But you did not win a stage,” a reporter persisted.

“Well, to win a stage is not the objective,” LeMond said. “If I wanted to win the stage, I could have won Luz Ardiden. But I wanted to win the Tour De France.”

Before Saturday’s stage, LeMond remained in his hotel relaxing and concentrating for the ride. Nor was he nervous the night before, going to bed late and rising early but sleeping well.

He then tested the course, one on which he won his first Tour stage in 1985.

He took mental notes as he wound his way through the narrow streets of Auphelle.

The test run was important because LeMond had to decide on equipment.

The style of bicycle frame, wheel and handlebars are important in time trials, but it was difficult to ascertain which was best suited to the uneven course.

Everyone, it seems, had an opinion.

But Davis Phinney, the competitor from Boulder, Colo., broke it down to the simplest of terms:

“All the equipment, it is going to come down to the person with the strongest legs.”

LeMond, wearing a sky blue bicycle cap instead of a high-tech aerodynamic helmet, opted for a somewhat standard bicycle. He chose the same U-shaped handlebars he used to defeat Fignon.

He also used a spoke wheel instead of a solid one often used in sprinting.

Chiappucci used a basic road bike with ram-horned bars.

Did any of this make a difference?

Not on the day Greg LeMond took the yellow jersey.