Telekom’s Bjarne Riis won the bizarre stage nine, which was cut short due to severe snowstorms, and took over the race lead in the Tour de France.
Due to terrible conditions on the first two scheduled mountain passes, Jean Marie Leblanc, race organizer, re-routed the riders along a 46-km course, which contained the col de Montegenevre and the Sestrieres. After several attacks on the Montegenevre, Riis made a decisive move and pedaled away from his rivals. Crossing the top with a 19-second lead over Luc Leblanc and 31 seconds on a group containing Gewiss’ Evgeni Berzin, Mapei’s Tony Rominger and Miguel Indurain of Banesto, Riis kept up an impressive pace.
After Berzin and teammate Francesco Frattini led the chase for several kilometers, a determined Indurain went to the front of the chase group and forced the pace, effectively dropping Berzin and Mapei’s Abraham Olano in the process. But even Big Mig’s powerful effort could not reel in Riis, who held on to his lead, crossing the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Festina’s Richard Virenque, 26 seconds ahead of Leblanc, and 28 seconds in front of Rominger and Indurain.
Riis took the yellow jersey, with a 40-seond advantage over Berzin. Indurain’s performance today moved him into eight-place overall, 4:38 down on the race leader.
Due to the inclement weather and some technical problems, our correspondent Jeremy Whittle was unable to submit today’s online report. Winning hopes to be able to post today’s report and diary Tuesday afternoon.