Stage nine of the 1996 Tour, climbing the Col de l'Iseran, Col de Galibier and Col de Montgenevre before crossing the border with Italy, was scheduled to be one of the toughest mountain stages of this year's race, but yet another dramatic turn of events saw much of the stage neutralized owing to relentless blizzards in the high Alps.
At the stage start in the ski resort of Val d'Isere, an overnight dusting of snow on the surrounding hills did not bode well. As the race organization struggled to regain control of events, confused and misleading information passed around the race convoy. Initially, the Iseran was thought to be passable - then came the news that the convoy would climb the pass with the teams staying in their cars and that the stage would start at Lanslevillard in the valley beyond, losing 44 of the 189.5 kilometers.
But upon arrival at the relocated start, race director Jean-Marie Leblanc received a fax in his car from the authorities inspecting the summit of the Galibier, informing him that 100-kilometer per hour winds and heavy snow falls were gusting around the pass.
"With that we decided that we couldn't risk the descent, that it would be too dangerous," he explained in frustration afterwards. "The only alternative was to take the race to Monetier les Bains (close to Briancon) and start from there."
That decision left just 46 kilometers of the scheduled course to race, over the climbs of the Col de Montgenevre and the finishing ascension to Sestrieres. With most of those in the press room heartily agreeing that this would play into Berzin's hands, little was expected from the race favorites on a day that most were ready to write off.
But Telekom's Bjarne Riis, just 43 seconds behind new race leader Berzin, had other ideas. Almost immediately, the tall, balding Dane was on the attack, jumping away at the foot of the Montgenevre with Luc Leblanc and Richard Virenque in pursuit.
Riis led all the way up the 11-kilometer climb of the Montgenevre and crossed the summit with a lead of 19 seconds on Leblanc and 31 seconds on Berzin, before descending at speed towards the dry roads leading to the Italian ski resort. Behind him, Miguel Indurain was showing signs of recovery, and the tall Spaniard rode tempo with Berzin, Tony Rominger and Abraham Olano as they stepped up their pursuit of Riis at the foot of the final climb. For a while Gewiss' Francesco Frattini battled to set a high pace on the slopes, but Berzin began to look increasingly isolated without his climbing specialist teammate, Ivan Gotti, who abandoned the Tour last week.
Yet Riis continued to go clear and five kilometers from the finish, his lead topped the vital 43-second mark to put him in the 'maillot jaune' on the road. As Frattini fell back, Berzin found himself alone, surrounded by his rivals who were happy to let him exhaust himself by taking on the lion's share of the chasing.
Three and a half kilometers from the summit, as Indurain found his old form and motored to the front of the lead group, Berzin suddenly looked very lonely indeed as the main contenders flew ahead and left the Russian battling to limit his losses.
Was it now that Berzin, so often a controversial figure who, in the past, has openly and bizarrely berated his Gewiss teammates for lack of support, finally regretted the loss of Riis, Piotr Ugrumov and Giorgio Furlan? Whatever, his rivals barely glanced at him as he slid backwards on the steep final bends. Riis was already celebrating his long-awaited yellow jersey exultantly on the podium by the time Berzin crossed the line. "The trouble is," the Russian said later that evening at his hotel in Turin, "I don't have a team to defend the maillot jaune - the good thing is that now I don't have to. Telekom has to defend and Mapei has to attack. That's ideal for me. If you told me now that I could sign on the dotted line and still be 40 seconds behind Riis before the final time trial I'd happily accept."
But it hadn't escaped Berzin's or Tony Rominger's attention that Indurain had arrested his decline and was showing menacing signs of his old form. "Everything's still to do," said the 35-year-old Swiss after dinner as he stood on the steps of his hotel in the center of Turin. "Nobody's won or lost the race yet, including Indurain. You saw him today ."
RESULTS
1. Bjarne Riis (Den), Telekom 46 km in 1:10:44
2. Luc Leblanc (Fr), Polti at 0:24
3. Richard Virenque (Fr), Festina 0:26
4. Tony Rominger (Switz), Mapei/GB 0:28
5. Miguel Indurain (Sp), Banesto s.t.
6. Udo Bolts (Ger), Telekom 0:41
7. Fernando Escartin (Sp), Kelme 0:42
8. Jan Ullrich (Ger), Telekom 0:44
9. Peter Luttenberger (Aus), Carrera 0:46
10. Abraham Olano (Sp), Mapei/GB 0:54
14. Evgeni Berzin (Rus), Gewiss 1:23
General Classification
1. Bjarne Riis (Den), Telekom 1,618.4 kilometers in 42:51:13
2. Evgeni Berzin (Rus), Gewiss at 0:40
3. Tony Rominger (Switz), Mapei/GB 0:53
4. Abraham Olano (Sp), Mapei/GB 0:56
5. Jan Ullrich (Ger), Telekom 1:38
6. Peter Luttenberger (Aus), Carrera 2:38
7. Richard Virenque (Fr), Festina 3:39
8. Miguel Indurain (Sp), Banesto 4:38
9. Fernando Escartin (Sp), Kelme 4:49
10. Laurent Dufaux (Switz), Festina 5:03
Points classification: Frederic Moncassin (Fr), GAN
Mountains classification: Richard Virenque (Fr), Festina