TOUR DE FRANCE : Fading LeMond May Be Out of It

The French call it the piece de resistance, a winding and daunting near-vertical climb of 3,764 feet up the side of a mountain named l’Alpe d’Huez.

On Tuesday, the hopes American Greg LeMond had of winning his third consecutive Tour de France--and fourth overall--were all but dashed when race leader Miguel Indurain of Spain and Italian Gianni Bugno overcame all resistance while climbing the 15 switchbacks and 12% grade to the summit of this resort in the French Alps.

Bugno outsprinted Indurain to win the stage in 3 hours 25 minutes 48 seconds but trimmed only one second off the lead held by the 27-year-old Spaniard, who is 3 minutes 9 seconds in front.

L’Alpe d’Huez dealt its most painful blow to LeMond, who finished 1 minute 57 seconds behind in the stage, dropping him 6 minutes 39 seconds behind Indurain.

“Greg lost the Tour today,” said Roger Legeay, LeMond’s coach. “He is only 80%. Indurain and Bugno looked very strong today. In Greg’s condition, that is difficult to compete against.”

LeMond’s ailment was diagnosed by team doctors Saturday as a high white blood cell count and an iron deficiency. His countermeasure was immediate antibiotics, a treatment that was debated because it might further weaken LeMond.

“I have no reserves,” said LeMond, who remains in fifth place and whose worst Tour finish was third in 1985. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t have it. For the first time, I am finding out what it’s like to suffer during a Tour de France. At the base of l’Alpe d’Huez today, I was not nervous, which is a bad sign. No adrenaline.”

At the base of the imposing climb, Bugno, Indurain and two others left LeMond in the field and turned upward, snaking through the estimated half million people, many waving Spanish and Italian flags.

The two climbed together along with Frenchmen Jean-Francois Bernard and Luc LeBlanc. After Bernard pulled the group for more than half of the 13-kilometer (eight-mile) climb, the threesome promptly disposed of him with quick acceleration on the final kilometer.

Bugno said: “Jean-Francois was extremely strong today, and I hope to take advantage and add time to Indurain’s lead. But for the second time in two years, I’m happy to be the first to the summit of l’Alpe d’Huez. I needed this victory. It gives me great confidence until the end of the Tour.”

The 3,900-kilometer (2,200-mile) Tour de France concludes Sunday in Paris. The two most critical stages are Saturday’s 57-kilometer (35.3-mile) time trial and today’s arduous 255-kilometer (159-mile) mountainous trek with three major climbs from Bourg d’Oisans to Morzine.

Despite these stages, many say Indurain’s lead is insurmountable.

“I haven’t won the Tour yet,” said Indurain, who has remained calm since taking the leader’s yellow jersey last Friday. “Every stage is dangerous, including (today). It is over 250 kilometers and very perilous.”

LeMond said Indurain will win the Tour if he does not make any tactical errors. “He is a better time trialist than Bugno,” he said. “That is the difference.”

For more than two weeks, LeMond, Bugno and Indurain have jousted with other favorites Claudio Chiappucci of Italy and Charley Mottet of France.

In an event in which mental fortitude is measured as much as physical endurance, LeMond remains steadfast. Despite his condition, which includes a large lump on his right foot surrounded by skin ulcers, he vows to continue.

“Even though I am not 100%, I will continue to race because this is the Tour de France, the biggest cycling event,” LeMond said. “For the first time, I have hit a dead spot in the Tour. I have never been in this position before.”