CYCLING TOUR DE FRANCE : Breukink Fizzles; LeMond Takes the Lead

It was not so much what lay ahead that haunted Erik Breukink in Saturday’s Tour de France individual time trial as who was behind him.

Greg LeMond.

Breukink, who started two minutes before LeMond, knew an extraordinary effort would be needed in the 45-mile chase from Argentan to Alencon if he was to have a realistic chance in this year’s Tour.

Many have called Breukink the world’s best time-trial specialist, and as he peeled off mile after mile through the French countryside Saturday, there was little argument.

Midway through his run, LeMond was told Breukink held a 20-second lead over him. With 13 miles left, Breukink was ahead by 26 seconds, which soon became 30 seconds.

LeMond was in trouble.

“I thought maybe I’m having a bad day,” LeMond said. “I just told myself to try to keep it at 20, 25 seconds.”

So LeMond, from Wayzata, Minn., kept pedaling hard. But not even the Tour’s three-time winner could have guessed what would occur over the final two kilometers when Breukink, in cycling terms, blew up.

Exhausted by stiff winds and aching muscles, Breukink had a disastrous finish, ending up 1 minute 13 seconds behind LeMond as the American took the overall lead. Breukink, expected to make the next two weeks a difficult challenge for LeMond, might have blown any chance of winning the Tour.

The last time the Tour experienced such a turnaround was in 1989, when LeMond overcame a 50-second deficit to defeat Laurent Fignon of France in an emotional finish.

“I had to really push in the middle of the stage and then I just went flat out right to the end,” LeMond said. “Today was probably one of the most decisive days in the Tour de France, although it is far from being over.”

The race might be over for some of the early favorites. Gianni Bugno of Italy fell to 3:51 behind LeMond, who regained the yellow jersey signifying the overall Tour leader. Raul Alcala of Mexico, Breukink’s PDM teammate, is 4:14 behind; Pedro Delgado of Spain is 4:30 back; Fignon is 5:12 back and Claudio Chiappucci of Italy, who finished second to LeMond last year, is 6:18 behind.

After a week, LeMond has an overall time of 31 hours 57 minutes 48 seconds. Breukink is second, Djamolidin Abujaparov of the Soviet Union is third, 1:21 behind, and Miguel Indurain of Spain, who won Saturday’s stage, is fourth, 2:17 back.

Indurain, although inexperienced, is expected to be Spain’s next great cyclist, and could give LeMond and his Z teammates problems next week as the Tour heads into the difficult mountain stages of the Pyrenees.

In 1989, LeMond also won the first individual time trial, in Normandy, but lost the yellow jersey in the Pyrenees and Alps when Delgado and Fignon proved to be the stronger climbers.

“It’s always possible to lose in the first two mountain stages, but if our team is 100%, we should control the race,” LeMond said. “But you can’t count on anything. In the Tour de France something new always happens.”

For LeMond, seeking his third consecutive victory, that happened before Saturday’s start, when he had mechanical problems.

He said his gears were not adjusted properly and he called on the mechanic shortly before his afternoon start.

“It’s always a little hectic at the start,” he said.

Tour de France Standings

EIGHTH STAGE

(45.26-mile time trial)

Rider Time 1. Miguel Indurain 1:35:44 2. Greg LeMond 1:35:52 3. Jean-Francois Bernard 1:36:37 4. Erik Breukink 1:36:58 5. Gianni Bugno 1:37:15 6. Malchor Mauri 1:37:17 7. Djamolidine Abdoujapalov 1:37:21 8. Pedro Delgado 1:37:49 9. Pascal Lance 1:38:00 10. Philippe Louviot 1:38:02

OVERALL

(After 8 of 23 stages)

Rider Time 1. LeMond 31:57:48 2. Breukink 31:59:01 3. Abdoujapalov 31:59:09 4. Indurain 32:00:05 5. Bernard 32:00:59 6. Kelly 33:00.39 7. Bugno 33:00.39 8. Marie 32:01:58 9. Alcala 32:02:02 10. Leblanc 36:17.00