Indurain Sets Record as Tour Ends Quietly

The lingering pain of Fabio Casartelli’s death turned the coronation of Miguel Indurain as the Tour de France’s greatest cyclist into a less joyous occasion Sunday when 115 riders finished their long, dark journey along Paris’ swank Champs-Elysees.

What should have been a crowning moment in the 82nd Tour became reflective for most of the riders, including Indurain, who won the race for an unprecedented fifth time in a row.

“It wasn’t quite the celebration it should have been,” said Steve Wood, who covered the 2,254-mile, three-week Tour for VeloNews. “All the riders just left town [after finishing].”

The Tour’s complexion changed dramatically after last Tuesday’s tragedy in which Casartelli, the 1992 Olympic champion riding for Motorola, crashed during a high-speed descent of the Pyrenees in southern France. Casartelli, who suffered severe head injuries, was the third rider to die in Tour history.

Stephen Roche, the 1987 winner from Ireland, noticed a difference at Sunday’s finish line.

“For the first time in a long time all the riders were shaking hands,” he said. “There was a sense of relief.”

Perhaps no one was more relieved than Indurain, who joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as five-time winners.

Throughout the Tour, Indurain usually rode near the front, but he stayed out of harm’s way in Sunday’s final stage, won by Djamolidine Abdoujaparov of Uzbekistan. The 20th stage was a largely ceremonial 96-mile ride from St. Genevieve des Bois to Paris.

Alex Zulle of Switzerland was second overall, 4 minutes 35 seconds behind, and Bjarne Riis of Denmark was third, 6:47 behind.

Lance Armstrong of Austin, Tex., finished 36th, 1 hour 28 minutes 16 seconds back. It was the first time Armstrong, 24, finished the race in three attempts as he tries to become the second U.S. rider after Greg LeMond to win a Tour.

Like the four previous Tours, this one belonged to Indurain, who in characteristic understatement downplayed his achievement.

“Maybe I won’t fully realize what I’ve done until I get home and have time to evaluate it, just like every year,” Indurain said.

Although Indurain’s winning margin was his smallest since 1991 when he won by 3:36 over Gianni Bugno of Italy, there was still little doubt he was the dominant rider, not that it impressed him.

“At the end of the day, you’ve won and you receive flowers but you’ve done nothing concrete,” said Indurain, 31, competing in his 11th Tour. “It’s not as if you’ve created a piece of furniture or something with your hands.”

Such analogies come from his country background in Spain, where he helps his father farm.

“I like that philosophy and way of thinking,” he said. “Country people work. You sow and you reap and you wait for the good and bad times.”

No doubt the ’95 Tour will be remembered as Indurain’s moment of triumph amid tragedy.