DIJON, France -- It isn't exactly like Bjarne Riis has lost the ability or desire. After all, the Dane is the reigning Tour de France champion. But even in cycling, a sport known for its panache, heroes are fleeting.
At age 33, Riis began the 84th Tour de France almost three weeks ago as a race favorite and the leader of the Telekom team. He hadn't had much success this season, but that didn't seem to alarm anyone. Like Greg LeMond, Riis focused his season on cycling's most prestigious event.
Funny things can happen in the mountains. Riis' young teammate, Jan Ullrich of Germany, found himself wearing the yellow leader's jersey. Lo and behold, Riis was relegated to the role of "super domestique."
In other words, one year after supplanting five-time champion Miguel Indurain at the top of the cycling world, Riis found himself helping a teammate in pursuit of the crown.
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| Bjarne Riis is helping his teammate Jan Ullrich capture the Tour de France. (Allsport) |
Cycling sometimes works in strange ways. In 1985, for example, Greg LeMond obviously was stronger than his teammate, Bernard Hinault. But Hinault was the leader of La Vie Claire, not LeMond. The American rider was told his day would come and he was directed to ride for Hinault, who wasn't as strong and had a broken nose besides.
WITH RIIS AND ULLRICH, who finished second last year, the situation is reversed. The defending champion seems to have been discarded -- a prime definition of the expression, "What have you done lately?"
Early in the tour, Riis didn't seem concerned. He told the media that with Ullrich, "We (Telekom) would win the race together."
He rode side-by-side with Ullrich in pre-race festivities, and the duo almost seemed to have a father-son, or mentor-protégé, relationship.
But things changed in the Pyrenees during the 10th stage. When Riis began to falter, Ullrich took the yellow jersey on July 15, and his teammate lost 41 seconds. The next day, when Riis suffered and lost more time, his teammates left and supported Ullrich.
From there, it got worse. Ullrich became sick and he dropped to seventh place in the overall standings. The rumor spread that he nearly abandoned the race during Wednesday's stage. On Thursday, prior to the Colmar-to-Montbeliard 18th stage, the rumor spread again.
BUT WHILE ULLRICH CONTINUED TO WEAR the leader's jersey, Riis remained in the race, prideful but perhaps confused. Here he was, the Tour de France champion, and he was a forgotten man.
Danish and German journalists following the race disagreed about what had transpired. One opinion was that the Telekom team leaders knew all along that Ullrich was stronger and simply used Riis as a decoy, then tossed him aside.
Another line of thinking was that Riis simply wasn't as strong as his teammate, but couldn't accept his diminished capacity.
Although competing for different teams, Riis' compatriots couldn't watch him negotiate the hills alone. One on occasion, countryman and friend Jesper Skippy of the TVM team helped the reigning titlist negotiate a strenuous climb. Three other Danes helped Riis confront another climb.
Somewhere along the route, Riis apparently realized what had happened and decided he'd had enough. He knew he was no longer capable of defending his crown, but he ended his media silence and conducted a one-hour interview with Danish journalists. The gist of his message: "I will be back next year as the leader of Telekom and my goal will be to win the Tour de France."
FOR NOW, ULLRICH HOLDS a 6-minute, 22-second lead with two days remaining. Saturday's individual time trial suits his strength, particularly since he won the final time trial last year. All that's left then is Sunday's ceremonial final-day road race into Paris.
Riis, meanwhile, is in seventh place and trails his teammate by 18:07. He will try his best in the time trial, and then watch his teammate kiss the podium girls one last time and the other pomp and circumstance that bombards a Tour de France champion.
Bjarne Riis was there once, too. But one year later, he's lost in the shuffle, an also-ran.
And he'll also provide one prime reminder that, despite its nuances, its special status, the Tour de France is much like any other sport. Once you're on top, there's no place to go but down.
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