CYCLING / TOUR DE FRANCE : Delion Holds Off Late Surge by Roche

After Friday’s breakaway with Greg LeMond helped Claudio Chiappucci of Italy move into contention for his first Tour de France title, he told Carrera teammate Stephen Roche of Ireland, “Today, it’s your turn.”

Roche, the 1987 Tour winner who has had back injuries for five years, continued the hectic pace Saturday as the Tour entered its second week with a 122-mile stage that ended in Valkenburg, Holland.

Gilles Delion of France won the seventh stage in 4 hours 21 minutes 47 seconds as about 300,000 Dutch fans lined the final five miles of the course. Roche, starting the day in eighth place, gained more than a minute on his rivals to move into fourth after Delion outsprinted him in the last 500 meters.

“Stephen did a lot of work in the breakaway,” Delion said. “I have to thank him for my win.”

Roche may not have a realistic chance to win this year’s event because of his back problems, but he is in strong position to help Chiappucci, who was second in 1990 and third last year.

Pascal Lino of France held the leader’s yellow jersey for the fifth day in a row, and Steve Bauer of Canada was second, trailing by 3 minutes 11 seconds. Chiappucci is third, 3:34 behind, with Roche 4:11 back. LeMond, of Wayzata, Minn., slipped to sixth but did not lose any time at 4:29 back.

The race’s favorites, Gianni Bugno of Italy and Miguel Indurain of Spain, also did not lose time on a rainy day through Belgium and an area of the Netherlands known as “Little Switzerland.” Bugno is ninth, 5:06 back, and Indurain 10th, 5:33 behind.

They were satisfied to wait for Monday’s individual time trial before trying to shake up the standings.

Roche, however, saw no reason to hold back.

“I haven’t felt anything like this since 1987,” he said.

Roche, who received treatment for his back before the stage’s start in Brussels, looked strong on the short climbs near the end of the day. But he will have difficulty continuing the aggressive pace that is producing record times as the Tour enters its most challenging stages.

“It still hurts,” he said of his back.

“I’m afraid it’s going to give me problems in the time trial and mountains. It’s a pity.”

Roche looked in top form during Saturday’s breakaway, which began outside the Dutch city of Maastrict. He took off on a short climb with eight others but midway through the climb only five remained in the breakaway. LeMond’s Z teammates tried to catch the attackers, but failed. The Tour will enter its fifth nation on its trans-European journey when today’s eighth stage ends in Koblenz, Germany.