Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 25, 1994 TAG: 9407250084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PARIS LENGTH: Medium
``I'm not going downhill yet,'' said the 30-year-old Spanish cyclist. ``After my third place [earlier this year] in the Tour of Italy, everyone started questioning things. I answered on the road, in the Tour.''
Indurain did it in convincing fashion, winning the world's premier cycling event by the largest margin in six years.
That no one has beaten Indurain after nearly 10,000 miles of racing in the past four Tours led to an obvious question:
What about next year?
``It's too early to talk about the future - not even a day has passed since winning this fourth Tour,'' Indurain said. ``There's still a year to go before the fifth one and we have to train with hope and drive.
``Whether it's possible or not, only the road can say for sure.''
If the answer is yes, Indurain would become the only rider to win the race five years in a row. Jacques Anquetil of France and Eddy Merckx of Belgium are the others to win four in a row, both finishing first five times overall.
France's Bernard Hinault also won the race five times.
Indurain proved he had the stamina and strength needed to win the grueling three-week race.
He seemed to get stronger as the 21-stage Tour rolled along. Meanwhile, his biggest challengers of the past - Tony Rominger, Claudio Chiapucci and Gianni Bugno - were gone by the end of the second week, victims of illness or exhaustion.
``Rominger, Chiapucci and the others were sick,'' Indurain said. ``I think a lot of riders enter the Tour tired after a lot of early-season races. The Tour doesn't pardon anyone. You have to begin with reserves.''
And though this edition was harder than recent Tours because of hot weather, Indurain won by the biggest margin since 1988, crossing the line after the final 109-mile stage with an overall time 5 minutes, 39 seconds better than Piotr Ugrumov of Latvia. Marco Pantani of Italy was third, 7:19 back.
Among the crowds cheering Indurain on the Champs-Elysees were eight busloads of people from Villava, his Pyrenees hometown of 7,500. Back home, cycling fans rang church bells, shot off fireworks and uncorked champagne.
Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez sent a telegram praising Indurain's ``capacity for sacrifice, class and healthy spirit of competition.''
Indurain rode near the head of the pack most of the day on the final stage from Euro Disney to the Champs-Elysees.
The stage was won by France's Eddy Seigneur, who overtook Frankie Andreu of the United States in the last 200 yards. Andreu tried to break away in the final 1.2 miles, but failed.
Indurain finished in the pack with the other leaders Sunday, 29 seconds behind Seigneur. The Spaniard said he did not expect to win the final stage.
``It was difficult to win today because the Champs Elysees is reserved for the sprinters,'' he said. ``Besides, everyone is just a little tired.''
There was no wild celebration on the podium, and that was not surprising considering Indurain's low-key personality.
``My first victory was probably the best, but each additional one ... is a good reward,'' he said.
He planned to celebrate with his teammates and probably attend the traditional party at the Spanish Embassy. But he didn't plan to stay up late.
``At about 10:30 or 11 o'clock, your body starts to get tired because of all these days of getting up early,'' he said.
This year's race started in Lille on July 2, and covered 2,479 miles in a counterclockwise course around the country, with a crossing of the English Channel thrown in for good measure.
Ugrumov, second to Indurain in last year's Tour of Italy, made his move in the standings during the stages in the Alps, moving from ninth to second after winning two stages and finishing second in another.
The Latvian beat Indurain by more than three minutes Friday in the last individual time trial, but Indurain had the Tour won by then. Only disaster could have stopped him.
Indurain's overall margin of victory was the largest since 1988, when his former teammate, Pedro Delgado, prevailed by more than seven minutes.
Americans fared poorly. Three-time champion Greg LeMond - the last rider before Indurain to win the Tour - dropped out less than a week after the event started. It may be his last Tour - the GAN team said it will not re-sign him next year.
American Lance Armstrong, who succeeded Bugno as world champion, barely made it into the third week before stopping to avoid being burned out for next month's world championships in Sicily.
by CNB