Tour Goes in Cycles With Fourth Leader in Four Days

Pascal Lino of France became the fourth cyclist in as many days to take the Tour de France lead after a 136-mile stage ended Tuesday in Bordeaux, France.

Lino changed positions with RMO teammate Richard Virenque, who fell to second, 1 minute 54 seconds behind. Rob Harmeling of the Netherlands won the third stage in 5 hours 45 minutes 17 seconds with a fierce sprint after a group of 10 pulled away from the main pack early in the race.

Defending champion Miguel Indurain of Spain fell from second to third, 6:28 behind. Gianni Bugno of Italy is fourth, two seconds behind Indurain, considered the Tour’s favorite. Greg LeMond, the three-time winner who has had a difficult start, remained in 10th, seven minutes off the lead. Motorola’s Max Sciandri of Italy is 11th, 7:05 back.

“If I start to feel good, things could change for me,” LeMond told reporters before Tuesday’s start in Pau.

The top 10 finishers gained up to seven minutes on the main pack when race favorites did not send their teammates, known as domestiques , to help close the gap. They wanted to conserve energy for today’s team time trial, where they will have a better opportunity to narrow the margin before moving to northern France.