Appropriately, when he won yesterday at Hautacam, Riis was the first custodian of the "maillot jaune" to win a Tour road stage since Fignon’s 1989 stage win at Villard de Lans. Hautacam was a stage that Riis had always seen as integral to any successful Tour challenge. "I’ve said all along that it was the key stage to the Tour," he admitted.
In the style of Fignon in 1989, Riis has attacked often in both the Alps and the Pyrenees. The policy of following his own good sensations has paid off handsomely so far, and he even extends his ambitions as far as this weekend’s time trial. "I want to win, with this on my back," he related, tugging at the yellow jersey.
Like Indurain, Riis’ success in based on a long apprenticeship, working for and learning from, one of the modern sport’s great riders. "I have to say thank you to Fignon," Riis stated. "If I’m here now in yellow, it’s thanks to him. He really changed me, and riding with him made me understand things so much better. He gave me strength and will power, the desire to make sacrifices."
For his part, Fignon was modest in response when he heard of his former domestique’s comments. "Bjarne’s too kind," he said, "but I wasn’t the only positive influence. He was changed by riding with the Italians, too. It was in Italy, with Ariostea, that he first realized what he was really capable of. When he was with Toshiba in 1988, nobody was really interested in him. But sometimes you could see little signs of his quality, the way he climbed and the way he rode at the front of the bunch .... So he joined Super U with me in 1989 — maybe without that he wouldn’t have stayed professional. But he had no confidence and he wouldn’t take any responsibility during the races. You had to push him, all the time. He doesn’t need pushing any more."