Big Day for Denmark: Sorensen Wins Stage and Riis Keeps Lead
Bjarne Riis held his overall lead in the Tour de France after his Danish countryman, Rolf Sorensen, won the 110-mile 13th stage in 4:03:56 Saturday.
In the stage that went from Le Puy en Velay to SuperBesse-Sancy, Riis crossed the finish line with five-time defending champion Miguel Indurain.
Riis’ closest challenger changed when Abraham Olano of Spain moved into second place, 56 seconds back.
Russian Yevgeny Berzin fell from second to third, 1:08 back, and Tony Rominger of Switzerland slipped to fourth, 1:21 back. Both lost time in the quick-paced stage through France’s Massif Central.
Indurain, in eighth place, 4:38 back, had a flat and the team had to pull back while Indurain’s brother and teammate, Prudencio Indurain, gave him his bike.
Countrymen Sorensen and Riis are not close because they both refused to work for the other in a road race at the 1994 world championships and neither won.
“It was tough because it was the closest I ever came to winning a world championship title,” said Sorensen.
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