TOUR DE FRANCE : Everybody Looks Up at Indurain

Miguel Indurain of Spain kept his grip on the Tour de France lead Wednesday as the world’s most prestigious bicycling race completed its toughest stage in the French Alps.

But Indurain, 31, is facing two surprising challengers--second-place Alex Zulle of Switzerland and third-place Bjarne Riis of Denmark.

As Italy’s Marco Pantani won the 11th stage, defeating Indurain by 1 minute 24 seconds, Zulle and Riis stayed close in the final chase up l’Alpe d’Huez.

Indurain remained 2:27 ahead of Zulle in the overall standings and six minutes in front of Riis, who lost 12 seconds Wednesday. Swiss Tony Rominger, expected to be a serious contender, was fourth, but more than eight minutes behind.

“Normally a guy like Riis would be happy to sit back [in third] and follow, but he’s risking everything and attacking,” said Stephen Roche, a former Tour champion.

Whether Riis, Zulle or anyone else, can mount an attack to overcome Indurain is doubtful.

“They’re not even trying to beat him anymore,” said Steve Wood, a VeloNews writer covering the Tour. “The things he has done this year are totally brilliant.”

In the past four stages, Indurain has finished second, first, second and second.

Wednesday’s stage of 101 miles had three major climbs, all more than 5,886 feet, ending with l’Alpe d’Huez and its 21 hairpin curves up the final nine miles.

Pantani, who missed 26 days of training after an auto accident in the spring, was alone with six miles left. He started to fade in the final 1 1/4 miles but still held on for the victory.

“I wasn’t thinking of attacking when I reached the bottom of the climb,” he said. “Part of me was telling me to wait but another part told me I could win, so I went. It was more panache than my legs that did it for me today.”

Before the main group reached the mountains, the race was heavy with dropouts: Mario Cippolini, who had won two stages on the flats; Mauricio Fondriest, a former world champion; Jacky Durand, who held the lead after the opening prologue, and Evgeny Berzin, expected to mount a challenge to Indurain.