CYCLING TOUR DE FRANCE : LeMond Says Virus Might Be Taking Toll

Greg LeMond revealed Saturday that he might be suffering from a recurring virus of unknown origins that left him listless in the Pyrenees, where his chances of winning a fourth Tour de France might have been lost.

LeMond, 30, told broadcaster Brian Drebber that a blood test this weekend showed he has a high white blood cell count.

“(It’s) an indication I wasn’t my normal self this weekend,” LeMond said. “I don’t want to make an excuse. (But) I felt much too tired given the hardness of (Thursday’s) stage.”

LeMond faltered on the Tour’s toughest climb Friday, and now is in fifth place, 5 minutes 8 seconds behind leader Miguel Indurain of Spain. Bruno Cenghialta of Italy won the 107-mile 14th stage Saturday, but the overall standings did not change.

Indurain leads Charly Mottet of France by three minutes, followed by Gianni Bugno of Italy, 3:10 back; Claudio Chiappucci of Italy, 4:06 back, and LeMond.

LeMond was forced to drop out of the Tour of Italy in June because he was suffering from fatigue. His father-in-law, Dave Morris, an immunologist, said the cause was never determined, but LeMond was getting regular blood tests.

LeMond’s lawyer, Nathan Jenkins, said the blood disorder was being treated with shots. The three-time Tour winner said he was feeling strong at the start of the 78th Tour on July 6.

Saturday, he said the latest blood tests concern him.

“The doctors are going to talk to me about it,” he told Drebber. “But the problem is, in a three-week race, where do you get the time to recuperate?”

LeMond said the 144-mile 13th stage from Jaca, Spain, to Val Louron, France, was his first bad day in six Tours.

“A lot of bad things went though my mind last night,” he told reporters. “My first thought was that it was over for me. But then I thought there are nine days to go and that everyone else can have a bad day, too.

“It’s quite possible that I lost the Tour . . . but it’s not over yet. If my legs recover, I can fight back.”

LeMond denied that he was mentally broken on the Col du Tourmalet, where Indurain and Chiappucci made a decisive move that proved to be the defending champion’s undoing.

“If anything, my mind was what kept me in the race,” LeMond said. “When you crack psychologically, you totally lose it all. I was very close to it. I’ve never been so tired in my life in the Tour.”

In 1990, LeMond suffered through a miserable spring during which he could barely train without becoming fatigued. Morris diagnosed LeMond’s ailment as Epstein-Barr Syndrome, an illness similar to infectious mononucleosis. After treatments, LeMond went on to win the Tour.