CYCLING TOUR DE FRANCE : Losing Lead May Help LeMond Win

Greg LeMond lost the yellow jersey on the steep mountain passes of the Pyrenees Thursday, but that might help him win his fourth Tour de France.

Today, on the narrow, twisting roads from Jaca, Spain, to Val Louron, France, the Tour will reach its most dramatic point.

“It’s the toughest stage,” LeMond told broadcaster Brian Drebber.

The 13th stage has two unclassified climbs, the most difficult in cycling; two Category One ascents and a Category Two. The 7.8% grade over the Col du Tourmalet is the event’s Toit du Tour , or roof of the Tour.

“There will be hurting legs out there,” LeMond said.

LeMond and his Z teammates could not withstand a strong attack Thursday that led to Luc Leblanc of France taking the yellow jersey, emblematic of the overall lead, 2 minutes 35 seconds ahead of LeMond. Charly Mottet of France won his second consecutive stage, in 5 hours 12 minutes 52 seconds, and is in third place.

LeMond said he is not concerned about Leblanc’s lead, but said the Tour will be difficult to win. LeMond is afraid that the other competitors will scratch team allegiances and gang up against him.

He sounded frustrated Thursday.

“I was totally isolated,” he told Drebber. “I had no teammates. I thought they would do a little better. There was a lot of suffering. I had guys jump on the climbs, so I attacked myself.”

Besides the physical torture of racing in the mountains, the Tour becomes “a poker game,” as LeMond put it, in the winding passes.

Thursday, the Banesto riders who are LeMond’s chief rivals--Miguel Indurain of Spain, Pedro Delgado of Spain and Jean-Francois Bernard of France--chose to follow LeMond. Indurain was criticized on Spanish radio for failing to attack.

“I can’t drop them because they won’t ride with me,” LeMond said. “Delgado and Indurain are not riding like winners. They’re all waiting for me to falter before they doing anything.”

It is possible that the Banesto riders will mount separate attacks today to wear down LeMond and his Z companions.

LeMond will be unable to counter all three. “I could race against any of them individually,” he said.

This is where teammates become most important. LeMond gets the credit for winning a Tour, but he often says it is a team victory. Today, he will need his mountain climbers--Eric Boyer of France, who so far has not been a factor, and Robert Millar of Scotland, who was injured early in the Tour. LeMond received help from Jerome Simon, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle and Bruno Cornillet Thursday, as they tried to keep their team leader within striking distance of the breakaway.

LeMond also could recruit Andy Hampsten, of Boulder, Colo., who rides for Motorola. Hampsten, one of the Tour’s best climbers, and LeMond are friends. Hampsten, in eighth place, has no chance of winning, so he might be enlisted to support LeMond.

Greg Miller, a mechanic who has worked for teams in the Tour and the World Championships, said it is not uncommon to offer friendly opponents as much as $50,000 to help in such crucial situations.

LeMond needs someone to control the pace and stop the kind of breakaway that occurred Thursday when Leblanc finished 6:57 ahead of the main pack.

Leblanc moved from sixth to first in the overall standings. Soviet rider Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, who was second entering the mountains, dropped to 35th, about 20 minutes back.

The start of the stage was delayed 36 minutes because of a protest by the riders who were upset by the disqualification of Urs Zimmermann, a Swiss who was penalized for failing to travel to Pau on the plane provided by race organizers. Zimmermann, who is appealing, has a fear of flying.