Russian prodigy Evgeni Berzin, winner of the Tour of Italy and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 1994, ushered in a new age in professional cycling with a stunning performance in the crucial mountain time trial to Val d'Isere. The 26-year-old, riding his second Tour, beat Miguel Indurain by over a minute and relegated his nearest challenger, Denmark's Bjarne Riis, to a 43-second deficit overall.
On yet another chilly day of light showers and gray clouds, the cream of the Tour field came irrefutably to the top -- and five-time winner Indurain was once more found wanting. While he recovered to something like his accustomed time trial form, the cracks were still showing, and Riis, Olano and Rominger all took more time from Banesto's leader. It may be premature to say it, but the Spanish dream of the Sun King clad in yellow as he rides into Pamplona next weekend may never become reality.
On a difficult course of 30.5 kilometers, twisting through the stunning peaks of the Isere valley, the fatigue of yesterday's epic stage to Les Arcs and the first tense week of rain and crashes was bound to play a significant part, and both ONCE's leaders, Alex Zulle and Laurent Jalabert, struggled to perform at the highest level.
Bizarrely, Indurain set off in the unaccustomed position of 14th rider from last, while ahead of him Chris Boardman was finishing, having set by far the best time to date of 54:23. "I don't think that will stay the best time for long," said the Briton shortly after he crossed the line.
Sure enough, at the first check point after 9.3 km, Indurain, his face set determinedly, grimacing with effort, was ominously six seconds faster than GAN's leader as he began to climb the steep hairpins climbing into the Vanoise national park.
ONCE's Zulle took to the start with a large plaster on his right knee, following his two falls on stage 7, although he claimed to be untroubled by any pain. But the Swiss was soon losing time to Indurain and had fallen behind the Spaniard even at the first check point. By the second time check, Indurain was 30 seconds ahead of Boardman and had caught Refin's Leonardo Piepoli, his two-minute man. But just as the rhythmic Indurain looked set to stage a remarkable recovery following yesterday's near collapse, the surprise news crackled over the race radio that Jan Ullrich of Telekom was faster than the Spaniard at the first check point.
Moments later, and far more significantly, the news came that his team leader Riis was also ahead of Indurain at the same point. A hush of anticipation dropped over the Tour press room as split times were announced for Rominger and Olano -- revealing both also to be ahead of Indurain. No sooner had that been digested, than a roar burst from the Italian press contingent as Berzin's best intermediate time of 11:50 after 9.3 km was announced.
At kilometer 24, with the top-placed riders still to come, Indurain posted the best time to date, and once more suspense fell over the press room as the performances of Riis, Rominger, Olano and Berzin were eagerly awaited. Incredibly, as the time checks came through, Berzin was increasing his lead, with Riis 14 seconds behind and Indurain a further 40 seconds in arrears. But Berzin and company still had to negotiate the difficult and exposed false flats leading to Val d'Isere, a section which had seemed tailor-made to Indurain's strengths over such terrain.
In fact, though, it suited Riis, Olano and Berzin that much better as all three flew into Val d'Isere and towards the finish line. With Indurain long returned to his hotel and Riis waiting breathlessly beyond the line, the helmetless Berzin powered remorselessly up the finishing straight to take his first Tour de France stage win and his fifth time trial victory of 1996. True to form, he grinned arrogantly and laughed his way through the protocol on the Tour podium before joking with French TV presenters over their marked lack of Italian.
Whatever his faults, and according to some of his former team mates there are a great many, the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy from the Russian-Finnish border is a star. While the ailing Sun King stayed inside his hotel as heavy rain once again fell on a Tour finish line, Berzin enjoyed his success as rivals Riis, Rominger and Luttenberger eyed tomorrow's mountainous stage to Sestrieres across the Franco-Italian alpine border.
RESULTS
1. Evgeni Berzin (Rus) Gewiss 30.5 km in 51:53
average speed 35.271 kph
2. Bjarne Riis (Den) Telekom at 0:35
3. Abraham Olano (Spa) Mapei at 0:45
4. Tony Rominger (Swit) Mapei at 1:01
5. Miguel Indurain (Spa) Banesto s.t.
6. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Telekom at 1:07
7. Peter Luttenberger (Aus) Carrera at 1:36
8. Chris Boardman (GB) GAN at 2:30
9. Alex Zulle (Swit) ONCE at 2:36
10. Udo Bolts (Ger) Telekom at 2:52
Non-starters:
Roberto Pistore (Ita) MG Technogym
Abandons:
Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Lotto
General Classification:
1. Evgeni Berzin in 41:39:46
2. Bjarne Riis at 0:43
3. Abraham Olano at 0:45
4. Tony Rominger at 1:08
5. Jan Ullrich at 1:37
6. Peter Luttenberger at 2:35
7. Richard Virenque (Fra) Festina at 3:56
8. Laurent Dufaux (Swit) Festina at 4:08
9. Piotr Ugrumov (Rus) Roslotto at 4:25
10. Fernandon Escartin (Spa) Kelme at 4:50
11. Miguel Indurain (Spa) Banesto at 4:53
12. Alex Zulle (Swit) ONCE at 5:06
26. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE at 17:54
39. Chris Boardman (GB) GAN at 30:44
Points Competition:
Frederic Moncassin
Mountains Competition:
Richard Virenque
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