CYCLING: TOUR DE FRANCE : Fignon Wins Stage in Mountains; Lino Still Leads

Laurent Fignon, two-time Tour de France winner, rode back into prominence Wednesday when he won the 155-mile 11th stage in the Vosges mountains from Strasbourg to Mulhouse, France.

Fignon’s victory, in 6 hours 30 minutes 49 seconds, gave him back the record for stage victories by an active rider but had little effect on the overall standings. Pascal Lino of France retained the lead for the ninth day. Miguel Indurain of Spain is second, 1 minute 27 seconds behind.

Jeper Skibby of Denmark fell out of the top 15. As a result, Stephen Roche of Ireland moved to third, 4:15 behind, and Greg LeMond of Wayzata, Minn., a three-time Tour winner, moved to fourth, 4:27 behind.

Fignon moved into 10th place, 7:32 behind Lino.

Despite the shift, LeMond struggled in the mountains as he had in the Tour’s second stage in the Pyrenees. LeMond’s problems do not bode well for him as the 172-rider field, down from 198 starters, will face the Tour’s toughest stages in the Alps this weekend.

Fignon took advantage of LeMond’s difficulties on the Bagenelles pass, one of five moderate climbs in the Alsatian hills. At that point, LeMond, who beat Fignon by eight seconds in the 1989 Tour, trailed the other favorites by more than two minutes.

“When I saw that LeMond was struggling, I told (Gianni) Bugno that we should do something about it,” Fignon said.

Bugno, the defending world champion from Italy, is Fignon’s Gatorade teammate, and is fifth, 4:39 behind Lino.

The attack gave Fignon his ninth stage victory in a Tour, his first in three years. Jean-Paul Van Poppel of the Netherlands equaled Fignon’s record in Monday’s stage.

Fignon had difficulty maintaining the advantage and almost was caught at the finish. A group of six riders crossed the line 12 seconds behind him. The main bunch, including Lino and all the favorites, reached Mulhouse 22 seconds after Fignon.

Fignon extended himself Wednesday because of today’s rest day in Dole, he said.

“I knew I could give it all I had and afford to be exhausted at the finish,” he said. “I was.”

Although Lino has the yellow jersey as the overall leader, the cyclists were talking about how to stop Indurain, whose time trial Monday was one of the fastest in the modern Tour.

“It seems that Indurain is beatable, but we have to verify it,” Fignon said.

Indurain, 27, has a lead of more than three minutes over his main contenders. Lino, a weak climber in past Tours, is expected to drop in the standings during the mountain stages starting Friday.

“I don’t want to be unjust to Lino, but Miguel in some ways became the yellow-jersey leader of the favorites,” said Francis Lafargue, manager of Indurain’s Banesto team.

Standings

AFTER 11 OF 21 STAGES:

1. Pascal Lino (France), 48:32:59

2. Miguel Indurain (Spain), 1:27 behind

3. Stephen Roche (Ireland), 4:15

4. Greg LeMond (United States), 4:27

5. Gianni Bugno (Italy), 4:39

6. Claudio Chiappucci (Italy), 4:54

7. Yvon Ledanois (France), 5:52

8. Giancarlo Perini (Italy), 6:44

9. Pedro Delgado (Spain), 7:01

10. Laurent Fignon (France), 7:32