Indurain Leaves Doubters Nothing to Question : Tour de France: Spaniard wins world’s premier cycling event for fourth consecutive time.

Miguel Indurain answered his critics Sunday by riding into history with his fourth consecutive Tour de France victory.

“I’m not going downhill yet,” the 30-year-old Spanish cyclist said. “After my third place (earlier this year) in the Tour of Italy, everyone started questioning things. I answered on the road, in the Tour.”

He did it in convincing fashion, winning the world’s premier cycling event by the largest margin in six years.

On whether he will have the incentive to try to win an unprecedented fifth consecutive Tour, Indurain said he will have to wait and see.

“There’s still a year to go before the fifth one and we have to train with hope and drive,” he said. “Whether it’s possible or not, only the road can say for sure.”

Jacques Anquetil of France and Eddy Merckx of Belgium are the others to win four in a row, and five overall. France’s Bernard Hinault also won the race five times.

Indurain seemed to get stronger as the 21-stage race rolled along. Meanwhile, his biggest challengers of the past--Tony Rominger, Claudio Chiappucci and Gianni Bugno--were out of the race by the end of the second week, victims of illness or exhaustion.

“Rominger, Chiappucci and the others were sick,” Indurain said. “I think a lot of riders enter the Tour tired after a lot of early season races. The Tour doesn’t pardon anyone. You have to begin with reserves.”

And though this year’s race was especially demanding because of hot weather, Indurain won by the biggest margin since 1988, crossing the line after the final 109-mile stage with an overall time 5 minutes 39 seconds better than Piotr Ugrumov of Latvia. Marco Pantani of Italy was third, 7:19 back.

Among the crowds cheering Indurain on the Champs-Elysees were eight busloads of fans from Villava, his Pyrenees hometown of 7,500. Back home, cycling fans rang church bells, shot off fireworks and uncorked champagne.

Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez sent a telegram praising Indurain’s “capacity for sacrifice, class and healthy spirit of competition.”

Indurain rode near the head of the pack most of the day on the final stage from Euro Disneyland to the Champs-Elysees.

The stage was won by France’s Eddy Seigneur. Indurain finished in the pack with the other leaders Sunday, 29 seconds behind Seigneur.

The Spaniard said he did not expect to win the final stage.

“It was difficult to win (Sunday) because the Champs-Elysees is reserved for the sprinters,” he said.