LeMond Hits Quitting Stage : Tour de France: Fatigued three-time champion drops out. Hampsten wins prestigious stage in Alps.

Greg LeMond, three-time winner of the Tour de France, dropped out of this year’s race 70 miles into Sunday’s tough 113-mile stage that began in Sestriere in the Italian Alps.

LeMond went into Sunday’s race in 41st place overall and it was evident early on that he was in trouble as he labored through the 14-mile climb up 8,600-foot Col du Galibier near last place.

After the race he displayed his characteristic professionalism, albeit in uncharacteristic hollow spirits.

“Quitting the race has nothing to do with my cardiovascular system or illness,” he said, fatigue evidenced in his tone. “When you’re dead, you’re dead and have to admit it. My legs are gone. This has been the hardest Tour I’ve done.”

It was a dramatic day for the United States, as LeMond symbolically passed the red, white and blue baton to Andy Hampsten of Boulder, Colo., who became the first American to win a stage up l’Alpe d’Huez, considered the most prestigious race to win each year in the world’s most prestigious cycling event.

“This is the best feeling I’ve ever had,” said Hampsten, a veteran of seven Tours. “The stage to l’Alpe d’Huez is the best race on this planet in my eyes. As soon as I began riding a bike and knew of the Tour de France, this stage is the one I dreamed of winning.”

Hampsten, 30, who rides for Team Motorola, the only U.S.-based professional team in this year’s Tour, won the mountainous stage in a time of 5 hours 41 minutes 58 seconds.

For his efforts, Hampsten moved into third place in the overall standings, 8:01 behind race leader and defending champion Miguel Indurain of Spain. In second place is Claudio Chiappucci of Italy, 1:42 behind.

Hampsten’s highest Tour de France finish was fourth in 1986. Saturday night, he said his goal was to finish better than fourth, adding: “The overall title is probably out of reach.”

LeMond knew ahead of time that Sunday was going to be a tough day. Before the start of the race, he said: “I will go easy today and see if I can recuperate and try to win a stage in the final week. Quit the tour, why? It is a very difficult thing to do. But I’m in a position I’ve never been in before. I’ve never had this feeling in any other Tour de France. It’s unexplainable. We will see today.”

Sunday’s race featured three “above-category” climbs (mountains are categorized from one to four with four being the least difficult) with the last being a nine-mile haul up to l’Alpe d’Huez at 13-to-15% grade through an estimated 500,000 people.

Sunday’s stage is considered the most prestigious to win because of the severity of the final climb up to the mountainous resort of l’Alpe d’Huez.

Hampsten had to literally fight his way through thousands of fans, and threw punches at some who tried to touch him.

But it was all worth it. “I couldn’t be more pleased,” Hampsten said. “I’d rather win this than the world championship or any other race.”

Standings

AFTER 14 OF 21 STAGES

1. Miguel Indurain (Spain), 69:20:04

2. Claudio Chiappucci (Italy), 1:42 behind

3. Andy Hampsten (United States), 8:01

4. Pascal Lino (France), 9:16

5. Gianni Bugno (Italy), 10:09

6. Pedro Delgado (Spain), 11:38

7. Erik Breukink (Netherlands), 15:48

8. Giancarlo Perini (Italy),15:56

9. Franco Vona (Itlay), 16:41

10. Jens Heppner (Germany), 17:51.