8 seconds. The most exciting Tour ever. Part III

It was time for the Pyrenees.

An we had some Fignon´s statements to the press..............

".................Delgado can still be in the top five, perhaps in the top 3, but it is impossible for him to win the Tour........", " what would I do if I were in his situation?.....Iam not"



9th stage..........10th July, Pau - Cauterets 147 kilómetros

Profil iciclismo.it

 Climbs:

Col de Marie Blanque, 1st category

Col de Aubisque, Hosr category

Col des Borderes, 2nd category

 Cauterets , 1st category

It was time for Delgado comeback.

The first day was an important day , when the riders faced the Marie Blanque it was clear that one of the favourites was out of contention..............Stephen Roche dropped ( he would quit before starting the following day).

There was a breakaway with Van der Poel and Robert Forest ( teammate of Roche in the Fagor squad). However the important movement was Indurain´s one . The former winner of the Paris Niza caught Forest on the ascent of Aubisque and flew to the summit. Behind some not important attempts.

Foto www.movistarteam.com

Fignon and Lemond close one to each other. And what about Delgado, was he using Indurain?..............who knew.......
Indurain got to the bottom of Cauterets with 6 minutes to the main field. Was it enough for the young Spaniard?.
In the group there were some important attacks involving Mottet and ....................Delgado. With three kilometers left and knowing that the win was easy to Indurain, Delgado attacked and finished 3rd , after Indurain and Fuerte ( who was again second in a Tour de France stage afte his runner up positions in Alpe DHuez and la Plagne 1987)............Delgado got 29" on Fignon and Lemond, who was still in yellow by 5 seconds.

Delgado had shown his aggressive style...........but only in three kilometers. He had to force further away or the Tour would be over for him. Things were fine for Lemond.............even for Fignon.

10th stage........11th July, Cauterets - Superbagneres, 136 kilometers

Perfil iciclismo.it

Four big climbs:

Tourmalet.....Hors category

Aspin, 2nd category, from Saint Marie de Campan

Peyresourde,  1st category 

Superbagneres,  1st category

Cyclingcols profiles

The day started quietly till the Tourmalet, where a dangerous movement took place.......Mottet, Millar and Richard left the field .

The Reynolds team lead the group, Richard dropped and Fignon suffered , with his mate Gerard Rue close to him.

Delgado left the bunch on the descent, joined Mottet and Millar and put Lemond and Fignon into trouble. In fact Fignon was left back and rejoined Lemond´s group in the valley.

The gap was increasing , from a little more than two minutes on the Aspin, to more than 4 minutes in the Peyresourde...........and Fignon still suffering.

Steven Rooks was chasing in the climbs, with Theunisse. Fortunately for Lemond and Fignon, the PDM team was doing a very good job for them..........perhaps they had missed the opportunity to join Delgado inan even more dangerous breakaway, so they felt the obligation to chase in the Aspin and Peyresourde.


In the final climb the to Dutch riders attacked and left Lemond´s group, meanwhile, Millar and Delgado fighted for the stage ( Mottet had been dropped with two kilometers left) but Fignon recovered and with 1 kilometer left attacked Lemond

Photo bicyclebookreview.wordpress.com

..........putting him into trouble. He had saved a terrible day , and with a good trophy........

Photo Reuters

Fignon lost 3'26" over Delgado and Millar ( who won the stage ), but recovered the yellow jersey five years later by 7 seconds . What a happy finish......for the day.........

Photo corbis.

Stage classification:

1º.Robert Millar.................4h22'19"
2º.Pedro Delgado..............same time
3º.Mottet.............................19"
4º.Rooks............................3'04"
5º.Theunisse......................same time
6º.Lejarreta.........................3'14"
7º.Fignon............................3'26"
8º.Hampsten........................3'35"
9º.Lemond...........................3'38"
10º.Alcalá............................3'42"

Overall classification:

1º. Laurent Fignon.....46h11'59"
2º.Greg Lemond..........7"
3º.Charly Mottet.........57"
4º.Pedro Delgado........2'53"
5º.Hampsten...............5'18"
6º.Lejarreta.................5'51"
7º.Bugno.....................6'03"
8º.Millar......................6'42"
9º.Alcalá.....................6'46"
10º.Rooks...................6'59"

There were four clear contenders, Lemond, Fignon, Mottet and a surprising Delgado who had climbed up 194 positions since the prologue in Luxembourg.

Lemond had arrived totally exhausted...........

Phto www.greglemondfan.com

" I made a mistake trying to follow Fignon so fast, and I paid it".

There were several stages to come, with the Alps, and in case something were not decided, a not too long time trial from Versalles to Paris in the last Sunday.

It was being a very entertaining Tour.

Perhaps Fignon was now thinking differently about Delgado that some days before.............

Fignon lead the Tour during the transition stages from the Pyrenees to the Alps. The only remarkable situation was the duel in the way to Marseille between Mottet-Fignon and Lemond-Delgado, after an attack of Mottet.........but finally the stage made no differences in the overall.