1991 Tour de France results by BikeRaceInfo (original) (raw)
1991 Tour de France stages and results
Prologue: Sunday, July 6, Lyon 5.4 km Individual Time Trial. Stage and GC places and times are the same.
1. Thierry Marie: 6min 11sec
2. Erik Breukink @ 2sec
3. Greg LeMond @ 3sec
4. Francis Moreau @ 7sec
5. Melchior Mauri @ 8sec
6. Jelle Nijdam s.t.
7. Miguel Indurain @ 9sec
8. Viatcheslav Ekimov s.t.
9. Jean François Bernard @ 10sec
10. Jesper Skibby s.t.
Stage 1: Sunday, July 7, Lyon - Lyon, 114.5 km.
1. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov: 2hr 28min 54sec
2. Sean Kelly s.t.
3. Greg LeMond s.t.
4. Rudy Dhaenens s.t.
5. Michel Vermote s.t.
6. Rolf Sorensen s.t.
7. Gilles Delion s.t.
8. Erik Breukink s.t.
9. Rolf Jaermann @ 5sec
10. Bruno Cornillet s.t.
GC after Stage 1:
1. Greg LeMond: 2hr 34min 54sec
2. Erik Breujink @ 11sec
3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 23sec
4. Rolf Sorensen s.t.
5. Sean Kelly @ 25sec
Stage 2: Sunday, July 7, Bron - Chassieu 36.5 km Team Time Trial
1. Ariostea: 41min 23sec
2. Castorama @ 8sec
3. Panasonic @ 35sec
4. PDM @ 40sec
5. CLAS @ 45sec
6. Buckler @ 49sec
7. Z s.t.(?)
8. Motorola @ 59sec
9. Gatorade s.t.
10. Banesto @ 1min 5sec
GC after Stage 2:
1. Rolf Sorensen: 3hr 16min 56sec
2. Greg LeMond @ 10sec
3. Erik Breukink @ 12sec
4. Sean Kelly @ 26sec
5. Rudy Dhaenens @ 33sec
6. Bruno Cornillet @ 50sec
7. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 53sec
8. Raul Alcala @ 1min 2sec
9. Michel Vermote @ 1min 12sec
10. Rolf Jaermann @ 1min 18sec
Stage 3: Monday, July 8, Villeurbanne - Dijon, 210.5 km
1. Etienne De Wilde: 5hr 15min 11sec
2. Jean-Paul Van Poppel s.t.
3. Olaf Ludwig s.t.
4. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov s.t.
5. Johan Museeuw s.t.
6. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
7. Uwe Raab s.t.
8. Sean Kelly s.t.
9. Phil Anderson s.t.
10. Jan Schur s.t.
GC after stage 3:
1. Rolf Sorensen: 8hr 32min 7sec
2. Greg LeMond @ 10sec
3. Erik Breukink @ 12sec
4. Sean Kelly @ 22sec
5. Rudy Dhaenens @ 33sec
6. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 47sec
7. Bruno Cornillet @ 50sec
8. Raulm Alacala @ 1min 2sec
9. Michel Vermote @ 1min 12sec
10. Rolf Jaermann @ 1min 18sec
Stage 4: Tuesday, July 9, Dijon - Reims, 286 km
1. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov: 7hr 49min 14sec
2. Olaf Ludwig s.t.
3. Sean Kelly s.t.
4. Jan Schur s.t.
5. Uwe Raab s.t.
6. Johan Museeuw s.t.
7. Phil Anderson s.t.
8. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
9. Andréas Kappes s.t.
10. Remig Stumpf s.t.
GC after stage 4:
1. Rolf Sorensen: 16hr 21min 21sec
2. Greg LeMond @ 10sec
3. Erik Breukink @ 12sec
4. Sean Kelly @ 14sec
5. Djamolidine Abdoujaprov @ 23sec
6. Rudy Dhaenens @ 33sec
7. Bruno Cornillet @ 50sec
8. Raul Alcala @ 1min 2sec
9. Michel Vermote @ 1min 12sec
10. Rolf Jaerman @ 1min 18sec
Stage 5: Wednesday, July 10, Reims - Valenciennes, 149.5 km
1. Jelle Nijdam: 3hr 17min 38sec
2. Remig Stumpf @ 1sec
3. Olaf Ludwig s.t.
4. Andreas Kappes s.t.
5. Viatcheslav Ekimov s.t.
6. Johan Museeuw s.t.
7. Hendrik Redant s.t.
8. Sean Kelly s.t.
9. Uwe Raab s.t.
10. Eric Vanderaerden s.t.
GC after stage 5:
1. Rolf Sorensen: 19hr 39min 8sec
2. Greg LeMond @ 9sec
3. Sean Kelly @ 10sec
4. Erik Breukink @ 16sec
5. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 27sec
6. Rudy Dhaenens @ 37sec
7. Bruno Cornillet @ 49sec
8. Michel Vermote @ 58sec
9. Raul Alcala @ 1min 6sec
10. Rolf Jaermann @ 1min 22sec
Stage 6: Thursday, July 11, Arras - Le Havre, 259 km
1. Thierry Marie: 6hr 38min 27sec
2. Remig Stumpf @ 1min 54sec
3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov s.t.
4. Sean Kelly s.t.
5. Etienne De Wilde s.t.
6. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
7. Johan Museeuw s.t.
8. Phil Anderson s.t.
9. Olaf Ludwig s.t.
10. Jan Schur s.t.
GC after Stage 6:
1. Thierry Marie: 26hr 18min 31sec
2. Sean Kelly @ 1min 4sec
3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 1min 7sec
4. Greg LeMond s.t.
5. Erik Breukink @ 1min 14sec
6. Rudy Dhaenens @ 1min 35sec
7. Bruno Cornillet @ 1min 47sec
8. Michel Vermote @ 1min 56sec
9. Raul Alcala @ 2min 4sec
10. Olaf Ludwig @ 2min 17sec
Stage 7: Friday, July 12, Le Havre - Argentan, 167 km
1. Jean-Paul Van Poppel: 4hr 2min 18sec
2. Johan Museeuw s.t.
3. Jan Schur s.t.
4. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
5. Remig Stumpf s.t.
6. Uwe Raab s.t.
7. Sean Kelly s.t.
8. Andreas Kappes s.t.
9. Stefano Zanatta s.t.
10. Steve Bauer s.t.
GC after Stage 7:
1. Thierry Marie: 30hr 20min 49sec
2. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 59sec
3. Sean Kelly @ 1min 4sec
4. Greg LeMond @ 1min 7sec
5. Erik Breukink @ 1min 14sec
6. Rudy Dhaenens @ 1min 35sec
7. Bruno Cornillet @ 1min 47sec
8. Michel Vermote @ 1min 56sec
9. Raul Alcala @ 2min 4sec
10. Olaf Ludwig @ 2min 17sec
Stage 8: Saturday, July 13, Argentan - Alençon 73 km Individual Time Trial
1. Miguel Indurain: 1hr 35min 44sec
2. Greg LeMond @ 8sec
3. Jean-François Bernard @ 53sec
4. Erik Breukink @ 1min 14sec
5. Gianni Bugno @ 1min 31sec
6. Melchior Mauri @ 1min 33sec
7. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 1min 37sec
8. Pedro Delgado @ 2min 5sec
9. Pascal Lance @ 2min 16sec
10. Philippe Louviot @ 2min 18sec
GC after Stage 8:
1. Greg LeMond: 31hr 57min 48sec
2. Erik Breukink @ 1min 13sec
3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 1min 21sec
4. Miguel Indurain @ 2min 17sec
5. Jean-François Bernard @ 3min 11sec
6. Sean Kelly @ 3min 51sec
7. Gianni Bugno s.t.
8. Thierry Marie @ 4min 10sec
9. Raul Alcala @ 4min 14sec
10. Luc Leblanc @ 4min 20sec
Stage 9: Sunday, July 14, Alençon - Rennes, 161 km
1. Mauro Ribeiro: 3hr 40min 51sec
2. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
3. Dimitri Konyshev s.t.
4. Giuseppe Calcaterra s.t.
5. Alberto Elli s.t.
6. Guido Bontempi s.t.
7. Edwig Van Hooydonck @ 2sec
8. Johan Bruyneel @ 4sec
9. Thierry Bourguignon s.t.
10. Henri Abadie @ 18sec
GC after Stage 9:
1. Greg LeMond: 35hr 39min 32sec
2. Erik Breukink @ 1min 13sec
3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 1min 15sec
4. Miguel Indurain @ 2min 17sec
5. Jean-François Bernard @ 3min 11sec
6. Sean Kelly @ 3min 51sec
7. Gianni Bugno s.t.
8. Thierry Marie @ 4min 10sec
9. Raul Alcala @ 4min 14sec
10. Luc Leblanc @ 4min 20sec
Stage 10: Monday, July 15, Rennes - Quimper, 207.5 km
1. Phil Anderson: 5hr 23min 23sec
2. Nico Emonds s.t.
3. Brian Holm s.t.
4. Michel Dernies s.t.
5. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 6sec
6. Olaf Ludwig s.t.
7. Johan Museeuw s.t.
8. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
9. Rudy Verdonck s.t.
10. Jan Schur s.t.
GC after Stage 10:
1. Greg LeMond: 41hr 3min 1sec
2. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 1min 9sec
3. Erik Breukink @ 1min 13sec
4. Miguel Indurain @ 2min 17sec
5. Jean François Bernard @ 3min 11sec
6. Sean Kelly @ 3min 51sec
7. Gianni Bugno s.t.
8. Thierry Marie @ 4min 10sec
9. Raul Alcala @ 4min 14sec
10. Luc Leblanc @ 4min 20sec
Stage 11: Tuesday, July 16, Quimper - St. Herblain, 246 km
1. Charly Mottet: 5hr 12min 31sec
2. Johan Museeuw s.t.
3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov s.t.
4. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
5. Olaf Ludwig s.t.
6. Maurizio Fondriest s.t.
7. Etienne De Wilde s.t.
8. Hendrik Redant s.t.
9. Andreas Kappes s.t.
10. Wilfried Peeters s.t.
GC after Stage 11:
1. Greg LeMond: 46hr 15min 32sec
2. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 51sec
3. Miguel Indurain @ 2min 17sec
4. Jean-François Bernard @ 3min 11sec
5. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 51sec
6. Luc Leblanc @ 4min 20sec
7. Thierry Marie @ 4min 22sec
8. Pedro Delgado @ 4min 30sec
9. Rolf Golz @ 4min 36sec
10. Melchior Mauri @ 4min 53sec
Stage 12: Thursday, July 18, Pau - Jaca, 192 km
Major Ascents: Soudet, Ichère, Somport
1. Charly Mottet: 5hr 15min 52sec
2. Pascal Richard s.t.
3. Luc Leblanc @ 2sec
4. Maurizio Fondriest @ 2min 6sec
5. Andy Hampsten s.t.
6. Eduardo Chozas @ 6min 21sec
7. Miguel Indurain @ 6min 49sec
8. Frederic Vichot @ 6min 55sec
9. Claudio Chiappucci s.t.
10. Jan Nevens s.t.
24. Greg LeMond @ 6min 57sec
GC after stage 12:
1. Luc Leblanc: 51hr 35min 46sec
2. Greg LeMond @ 2min 35sec
3. Charly Mottet @ 3min 52sec
4. Maurizio Fondriest @ 4min 22sec
5. Miguel Indurain @ 4min 44sec
6. Pascal Richard @ 5min 17sec
7. Jean François Bernard @ 5min 46sec
8. Andy Hampsten @ 6min 9sec
9. Gianni Bugno @ 6min 26sec
10. Pedro Delgado @ 7min 5sec
Stage 13: Friday, July 19, Jaca - Val Louron, 232 km
Major Ascents: Pourtalet, Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin, Val Louron
1. Claudio Chiappucci: 7hr 11min 16sec
2. Miguel Indurain @ 1sec
3. Gianni Bugno @ 1min 29sec
4. Laurent Fignon @ 2min 50sec
5. Charly Mottet @ 3min 53sec
6. Andy Hampsten @ 6min 1sec
7. Eduardo Chozas @ 6min 24sec
8. Eric Boyer @ 7min 17sec
9. Greg LeMond @ 7min 18sec
10. Jean-François Bernard @ 7min 38sec
GC after Stage 13:
1. Miguel Indurain: 58hr 51min 47sec
2. Charly Mottet @ 3min
3. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 10sec
4. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 6sec
5. Greg LeMond @ 5min 8sec
6. Laurent Fignon @ 5min 52sec
7. Andy Hampsten @ 7min 25sec
8. Luc Leblanc @ 7min 51sec
9. Jean-François Bernard @ 8min 39sec
10. Eduardo Chozas @ 13min 11sec
Stage 14: Saturday, July 20, St. Gaudens - Castres, 172.5 km
1. Bruno Cenghialta: 4hr 15min 51sec
2. Jean-Claude Colotti @ 20sec
3. Marco Giovanetti @ 21sec
4. Andreas Kappes @ 37sec
5. Davide Cassani s.t.
6. Stephen Hodge s.t.
7. Luc Leblanc s.t.
8. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 56sec
9. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
10. Stefano Zanatta s.t.
GC after stage 14:
1. Miguel Indurain: 63hr 9min 14sec
2. Charly Mottet @ 3min
3. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 10sec
4. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 6sec
5. Greg LeMond @ 5min 8sec
6. Laurent Fignon @ 5min 52sec
7. Luc Leblanc @ 6min 52sec
8. Andy Hampsten @ 7min 25sec
9. Jean-François Bernard @ 8min 2sec
10. Eduardo Chozas @ 13min 11sec
Stage 15: Sunday, July 21, Albi - Alès, 235 km
1. Moreno Argentin: 6hr 21min 22sec
2. Thomas Wegmuller @ 1min 7sec
3. Mauro Rebeiro @ 1min 12sec
4. Maurizio Fondriest @ 1min 14sec
5. Frans Maassen s.t.
6. Valerio Tebaldi s.t.
7. Rolf Golz s.t.
8. Philippe Louviot s.t.
9. Dominik Krieger s.t.
10. Eddy Schurer @ 1min 38sec
GC after Stage 15:
1. Miguel Indurain: 69hr 32min 29sec
2. Charly Mottet @ 3min
3. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 10sec
4. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 6sec
5. Greg LeMond @ 5min 8sec
6. Laurent Fignon @ 5min 52sec
7. Luc Leblanc @ 6min 52sec
8. Andy Hamsten @ 7min 25sec
9. Jean-François Bernard @ 8min 2sec
10. Eduardo Chozas @ 13min 11sec
Stage 16: Monday, July 22, Alès - Gap, 215 km
1. Marco Lietti: 6hr 6min 39sec
2. Greg LeMond @ 2sec
3. Maurizio Fondriest @ 19sec
4. Jean-Claude Colotti @ 21sec
5. Davide Cassani s.t.
6. Phil Anderson s.t.
7. Frederic Vichot s.t.
8. Gerrit De Vries s.t.
9. Eduardo Chozas s.t.
10. Gérard Rué @ 28sec
GC after Stage 16:
1. Miguel Indurain: 75hr 39min 36sec
2. Charly Mottet @ 3min
3. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 10sec
4. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 6sec
5. Greg LeMond @ 4min 42sec
6. Laurent Fignon @ 5min 52sec
7. Luc Leblanc @ 6min 52sec
8. Andy Hampsten @ 7min 25sec
9. Eduardo Chozas @ 13min 4sec
10. Maurizio Fondriest @ 14min 25sec
Stage 17: Tuesday, July 23, Gap - L'Alpe d'Huez, 125 km
Major Ascents: Bayard, Ornon, L'Alpe d'Huez
1. Gianni Bugno: 3hr 25min 48sec
2. Miguel Indurain @ 1sec
3. Luc Leblanc @ 2sec
4. Jean-François Bernard @ 35sec
5. Steven Rooks @ 43sec
6. Claudio Chiappucci s.t.
7. Thierry Claveyrolat s.t.
8. Pedro Delgado @ 45sec
9. Laurent Fignon @ 1min 12sec
10. Alvaro Mejia @ 1min 13sec
14. Greg LeMond @ 1min 58sec
GC after Stage 17:
1. Miguel Indurain: 79hr 5min 25sec
2. Gainni Bugno @ 3min 9sec
3. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 48sec
4. Charly Mottet @ 4min 57sec
5. Greg LeMond @ 6min 39sec
6. Luc Leblanc @ 6min 53sec
7. Laurent Fignon @ 7min 3sec
8. Andy Hampten @ 9min 25sec
9. Eduardo Chozas @ 16min 22sec
10. Gérard Rué @ 16min 56sec
Stage 18: Wednesday, July 24, Bourg d'Oisans - Morzine, 255 km
Major Ascents: Aravis, Colombière, Joux-Plane
1. Thierry Claveyrolat: 7hr 26min 47sec
2. Thierry Bourguignon @ 6sec
3. Claudio Chiappucci @ 30sec
4. Uwe Ampler s.t.
5. Gert-Jan Theunisse s.t.
6. Eric Caritoux s.t.
7. Gianni Bugno s.t.
8. Steven Rooks s.t.
9. Didier Virvaleix s.t.
10. Gérard Rué s.t.
11. Miguel Indurain s.t.
12. Luc Leblanc s.t.
58. Robert Millar @ 7min 52sec
59. Greg LeMond s.t.
GC after Stage 18:
1. Miguel Indurain: 86hr 32min 42sec
2. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 9sec
3. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 48sec
4. Charly Mottet @ 4min 57sec
5. Luc Leblanc @ 6min 53sec
6. Laurent Fignon @ 7min 15sec
7. Andy Hampsten @ 9min 43sec
8. Greg LeMond @ 14min 1sec
9. Gérard Rué @ 16min 56sec
10. Pedro Delgado @ 17min 14sec
Stage 19: Thursday, July 25, Morzine - Aix les Bains, 177 km
Major Ascent: Le Revard
1. Dimitri Konyshev: 4hr 18min 28sec
2. Pascal Richard s.t.
3. Eduardo Chozas @ 11sec
4. Greg LeMond @ 14sec
5. Steven Rooks s.t.
6. Gérard Rué s.t.
7. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 34sec
8. Francisco Espinosa @ 50sec
9. Eric Caritoux @ 1min 3sec
10. Alvaro Mejia s.t.
GC after Stage 19:
1. Miguel Indurain: 90hr 53min
2. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 9sec
3. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 48sec
4. Charly Mottet @ 4min 57sec
5. Luc Leblanc @ 6min 53sec
6. Laurent Fignon @ 7min 15sec
7. Andy Hampsten @ 9min 43sec
8. Greg Lemond@ 12min 25sec
9. Gérard Rué @ 15min 20sec
10. Eduardo Chozas @ 16min 25sec
Stage 20: Friday, July 26, Aix les Bains - Mâcon, 160 km
Major Ascent: Berthiand
1. Viatcheslav Ekimov: 4hr 12min 52sec
2. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 7sec
3. Olaf Ludwig s.t.
4. Jean-Claude Colotti s.t.
5. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
6. Jan Schur s.t.
7. Davide Cassani s.t.
8. Etienne De Wilde s.t.
9. Andreas Kappes s.t.
10. Rudy Verdonck s.t.
GC after Stage 20:
1. Miguel Indurain: 95hr 5min 59sec
2. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 9sec
3. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 48sec
4. Charly Mottet @ 4min 57sec
5. Luc Leblanc @ 6min 53sec
6. Laurent Fignon @ 7min 15sec
7. Andy Hampsten @ 9min 43sec
8. Greg LeMond @ 12min 25sec
9. Gérard Rué @ 15min 20sec
10. Eduardo Chozas @ 16min 25sec
Stage 21: Saturday, July 27, Lugny - Mâcon 57 km Individual Time Trial
1. Miguel Indurain: 1hr 11min 45sec
2. Gianni Bugno @ 27sec
3. Greg LeMond @ 48sec
4. Claudio Chiappucci @ 1min 8sec
5. Viatcheslav Ekimov @ 1min 49sec
6. Jean-François Bernard @ 2min 14sec
7. Melchior Mauri s.t.
8. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 2min 27sec
9. Dimitri Zdhanov @ 2min 32sec
10. Charly Mottet @ 2min 40sec
GC after Stage 21:
1. Miguel Indurain: 96hr 17min 44sec
2. Gianni Bugno @ 3min 36sec
3. Claudio Chiappucci @ 5min 56sec
4. Charly Mottet @ 7min 37sec
5. Luc Leblanc @ 10min 10sec
6. Laurent Fignon @ 11min 27sec
7. Greg LeMond @ 13min 13sec
8. Andy Hampsten @ 13min 40sec
9. Pedro Delgado @ 20min 10sec
10. Gérard Rué @ 20min 13sec
22nd and Final Stage: Sunday, July 28, Melun - Paris (Champs Elysées)
1. Dimitri Konyshev: 4hr 43min 36sec
2. Olaf Ludwig s.t.
3. Laurent Jalabert s.t.
4. Hendrik Redant s.t.
5. Phil Anderson s.t.
6. Rudy Verdonck s.t.
7. Etinne De Wilde s.t.
8. Eric Vanderaerden s.t.
9. Thierry Marie s.t.
10. Philippe Casado s.t.
Complete Final 1991 Tour de France General Classification
The Story of the 1991 Tour de France
This excerpt is from "The Story of the Tour de France", Volume 2 If you enjoy it we hope you will consider purchasing the book, either print, eBook or audiobook. The Amazon link here will make the purchase easy.
Of course, after his 1989 and 1990 Tour victories, LeMond was expected to be the man to beat in the 1991 edition. His spring was less auspicious than ever. He abandoned the Giro and finished twelfth in the Tour of Switzerland. But a less than sparkling spring was never a sign that LeMond should be counted out of the Tour de France.
Thierry Marie started the 1991 Tour the same way he had the year before, by winning the Prologue time trial.
The real racing started with the first stage. A break of serious Tour men got away: LeMond, Erik Breukink, Sean Kelly and Rolf Sorensen among them. With the time bonuses and his good prologue, LeMond was back in Yellow. This was a 2-stage day. The afternoon was a team time trial: Sorensen's Ariostea squad won the stage and put Sorensen in the lead. Sorensen kept the Yellow Jersey until stage 5. 4 kilometers from the finish of that stage Sorensen hit a traffic island and broke his clavicle. His Tour was over.
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| Sorensen's Ariostea sqaud wins the team time trial. |
Prologue specialist Thierry Marie showed that he could do more than just a few kilometers at speed. He won the sixth stage with an astounding 234-kilometer solo break, the third-longest post-war escape by a single rider (Albert Bourlon's 253-kilometer ride in 1947 remains the postwar record). At the end of the stage the pack was breathing down his neck, but he had 1 minute, 54 seconds to spare. That was enough to put him back in Yellow for a couple of days.
Stage 8's long 73-kilometer individual time trial brought out the real Tour riders. Miguel Indurain won the stage.
Here are the times of the top finishers:
1. Miguel Indurain: 1 hour 35 minutes 44 seconds
2. Greg LeMond @ 8 seconds
3. Jean-François Bernard @ 53 seconds
4. Erik Breukink @ 1 minute 14 seconds
5. Gianni Bugno @ 1 minute 31 seconds
That put LeMond back in Yellow. In the Overall, Breukink was 1 minute, 13 seconds back and Indurain was at 2 minutes, 17 seconds.
A couple of days later, things got messy. Before the start of stage 10, 2 riders on the PDM team quit the Tour. Along the road to Quimper where the stage finished, a couple of other PDMs retired. That evening it was revealed that several PDM riders including Erik Breukink, Sean Kelly and Raul Alcala were very ill. Only the riders and none of the support staff of the team were sick, which ruled out food poisoning. Eventually Jonathan Boyer, spokesman for the team, said that it might have been a bad glucose drip (perfectly legal) that infected the riders. The team withdrew from the Tour amid speculation that a doping program gone wrong was involved. Nothing was ever proven to that effect and the PDM team always denied using banned substances.
The real action of the Tour began with the first Pyrenean stage, from Pau to Jaca with 2 category 1 climbs. A break got away on the first climb, the Soudet. By the second climb, the second category Ichère, the break was established and contained 3 riders of real class: Luc Leblanc, Pascal Richard and Charly Mottet. LeMond was unable to either get up to the break or enlist help from the other teams. By the end of the day, with a winning margin of almost 7 minutes over the LeMond group, Leblanc had gained the lead with LeMond 2 minutes, 35 seconds down.
It was the next stage, unlucky (for LeMond) number 13 that changed the face of the Tour and set the tone for the next 4 years as well. It was a 232-kilometer stage that crossed the Pourtalet (category 1), the Aubisque (hors category), the Tourmalet (hors category), the Aspin (category 2) and the final ascent to Val Louron (category 1). Only the well-prepared and truly competitive would survive the stage with their high classifications intact.
It was on the Tourmalet that fortunes were reversed. LeMond broke away near the bottom of the mountain. Indurain chased, bringing with him Leblanc, Hampsten, Chiappucci, Gianni Bugno, Charly Mottet and Gérard Rué. Near the top, with just 500 meters to go, LeMond slid off the back. He could do nothing as he watched the others slowly distance themselves from him. At the top of the Tourmalet LeMond, as he fought with every ounce of energy he could command to keep them in sight, was only 17 seconds behind the leading group. Never one to give up, LeMond descended with that terrific ability that had saved him so many times before. He rejoined the leaders, but Indurain had taken off. In a giant gear, LeMond bolted from the leading group, fully understanding the importance of what was happening. This was the Tour's pivotal moment. At the foot of the Aspin, he could see Indurain. Once the climbing began anew, LeMond lost ground again, unable to keep pace with the soaring Spaniard.
Meanwhile, Claudio Chiappucci had extracted himself from the leaders and was chasing Indurain. Getting word from his director that the Italian was on his way, Indurain slowed to allow Chiappucci to join him. The 2 then relayed each other to the finish with Chiappucci taking the stage and Indurain taking the overall lead. LeMond finished 7 minutes, 18 seconds later. The Yellow Jersey, Luc Leblanc, fared worse. As LeMond fought to get back on terms with Indurain and Chiappucci, Leblanc was jettisoned from the chasers. He came in sixteenth, 12 minutes, 36 seconds after Chiappucci.
Here is the General Classification after Indurain made his Tour abilities very clear:
1. Miguel Indurain
2. Charly Mottet @ 3 minutes
3. Gianni Bugno @ 3 minutes 10 seconds
4. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4 minutes 6 seconds
5. Greg LeMond @ 5 minutes 8 seconds
6. Laurent Fignon @ 5 minutes 52 seconds
7. Andy Hampsten @ 7 minutes 25 seconds
8. Luc Leblanc @ 7 minutes 51 seconds
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| Moreno Argentin wins stage 15 into Alès with a 1 minute gap on his chasers. |
Stage 16 showed that LeMond had absolutely no intention of giving up. He had been down this much time before and had managed to win the Tour. On a day with no highly rated climbs, he fought to get into breaks and when caught, went again. He got second in the stage and pulled back 26 seconds. This was a hard but successful day's work.
There was no avoiding the fate that awaited him the next day with its finish at the top of L'Alpe d'Huez after the Bayard and Ornon, both second category climbs. Gianni Bugno took the stage with Indurain right on his wheel. Chiappucci and Rooks were 43 seconds back. LeMond, Theunisse and Hampsten were about 2 minutes behind.
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| Stage 17 atop L'Alpe d'Huez: Bugno wins with Indurain (in Yellow) and Leblanc following. |
The final Alpine stage was the cruelest of all, 255 kilometers covering the Aravis, the Colombière (both first category) and then the Joux-Plane (hors category). Thierry Claveyrolat won the stage with most of the contenders, including Indurain, about 30 seconds behind. LeMond was fifty-ninth at 7 minutes, 52 seconds, accompanied to the finish by his teammate Robert Millar.
LeMond broke away again on stage 17 and snatched back a minute and a half. Because LeMond was no longer a threat to Indurain, Indurain was content to finish in the middle of the pack.
The twenty-first and penultimate stage was a 57-kilometer time trial. Indurain won it, Bugno was second and LeMond was third. The Tour was sealed.
On the final day with the criterium up and down the Champs Elysées Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, nicknamed the "Tashkent Express", was involved in a spectacular crash. With less than a kilometer to go, Abdoujaparov, the wearer of the Green Jersey, ran into a barrier and went flying. It took a quarter of an hour before he could get up and cross the line. Because it was in the last kilometer, Tour rules mandated that he get the same time as the pack and he was allowed to keep his Green Jersey.
The final 1991 Tour de France General Classification:
1. Miguel Indurain (Banesto): 101 hours 1 minute 20 seconds
2. Gianni Bugno (Gatorade-Chateau D'Ax) @ 3 minutes 36 seconds
3. Claudio Chiappucci (Carrera) @ 5 minutes 56 seconds
4. Charly Mottet (RMO) @ 7 minutes 37 seconds
5. Luc Leblanc (Castorama) @ 10 minutes 10 seconds
6. Laurent Fignon (Castorama) @ 11 minutes 27 seconds
7. Greg LeMond (Z) @ 13 minutes 13 seconds
8. Andrew Hampsten (Motorola) @ 13 minutes 40 seconds
9. Pedro Delgado (Banesto) @ 20 minutes 10 seconds
10. Gérard Rué (Helvetia) @ 20 minutes 13 seconds
Climbers' competition:
1. Claudio Chiappucci: 312 points
2. Thierry Claveyrolat: 277 points
3. Luc Leblanc: 164 points
Points Competition:
1. Djamolidine Abdoujaporov: 316 pts
2. Laurent Jalabert: 263 points
3. Olaf Ludwig: 175 points
Miguel Indurain raced with the economical style of Jacques Anquetil. He did nothing more than necessary in the mountains. Only if an obvious or extraordinary opportunity presented itself did he attack. He was content to let his time trialing and watchful riding do the rest. It makes for a less exciting job for this chronicler of the Tour, especially after the tumultuous years of Hinault, Fignon, Delgado and LeMond. A look at the final General Classification shows a real generational shift. Delgado, LeMond and Fignon, who had been so dominant, were now well down in time while younger riders surfaced.
A sad coda to this and the previous Tour should be mentioned. In 2004, in an interview in the French newspaper Le Monde, Greg LeMond said, "In 1990 I won the Tour and my team [Z] won the top-team classification. One year later, not one of us could follow the pace in the pack. There had been a radical change." He went on to note that when he was winning, his VO2 Max—maximum oxygen consumption, the basic measurement of an athlete's aerobic capacity—was tops among professional racers. Today, LeMond said, he would be in the fifty-first percentile. In other words, the Greg LeMond of 1990 who won the Tour de France would be sent back for water bottles today.
Commenting on this interview in an open letter, Andy Hampsten wrote "Like Greg, I, too, saw what I believe were the effects of EPO when it entered pro cycling in the early '90s. In the first years it grew from a few individuals reaping obscene wins from exploiting its 'benefits', to entire teams relying on it, essentially forcing all but the most gifted racers to either use EPO to keep their place in cycling, quit, or become just another obscure rider in the group."
These athletes spoke out honestly with a real concern for the direction of the sport. They received almost nothing but opprobrium for their trouble. Their words are the results of experience and have wisdom in them.
Video of the final stage where Djamolidine Abdoujaparov crashed horribly.