tour 1990 indurain

1990 Tour de France

77th edition: june 30 to july 22, 1990, results, stages with running gc, map, photos and history.

1989 Tour | 1991 Tour | Tour de France database | 1990 Tour Quick Facts | Race summary | Team GC | Points | Climber (Mountains Grand Prix or KOM) | Most Aggressive Rider | Best Young Rider | Stages with running GC | 1990 Tour complete GC | The Story of the 1990 Tour de France

Map of the 1990 Tour de France

Les Woodland's book Cycling's World Championships: The Inside Story is available as an audiobook here .

1990 Tour Quick Facts

198 starters, 156 finishers.

3,403.8 km raced at an average speed of 37.52 km/hr

Greg LeMond won his third Tour in 1990. It was his first time to race the Tour with a powerful team unified behind him.

In the first stage a powerful break that included LeMond's teammate Ronan Pensac arrived at the finish over 9 minutes ahead of the pack.

In that break was Claudio Chiappucci, who proved to be a tenacious holder of the Yellow Jersey.

LeMond ate away at the time gap stage after stage until he captured the lead in the stage 20 individual time trial.

1990 Tour de France Final Individual Classification

Results Summary

Final Team Classification

Points (Green Jersey or Sprinter)

Mountains Grand Prix (Climber or KOM)

Most Aggressive

Best Young Rider (under 25)

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Stages with running GC

Prologue: Saturday, June 30, Futuroscope 6.3 km Individual Time Trial. Stage and GC times and places are the same.

• Thierry Marie: 7min 49sec
• Greg LeMond @ 4sec
• Raul Alcala s.t.
• Francis Moreau @ 10sec
• Eric Vanderaerden @ 12sec
• Viatcheslav Ekimov @ 13sec
• Pello Ruiz-Cabestany @ 17sec
• Miguel Indurain s.t.
• Jelle Nijdam @ 18sec
• Stephen Roche s.t.

Stage 1: Monday, July 2, Furturoscope - Futuroscope, 138.5 km

• Frans Maassen: 3hr 19min 1sec
• Ronan Pensec s.t.
• Claudio Chiappucci s.t.
• Steve Bauer s.t.
• John Carlsen @ 8min 36sec
• Guido Winterberg @ 9min 24sec
• Olaf Ludwig @ 10min 35sec
• Jean-Paul Van Poppel s.t.
• Giovanni Fidanza s.t.
• Djamolidine Abdoujaparov s.t.

GC after Stage 1:

• Steve Bauer: 3hr 27min 1sec
• Frans Maassen @ 2sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 9sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 21sec
• John Carlsen @ 9min 3sec
• Guido Winterberg @ 9min 44sec
• Thierry marie @ 10min 24sec
• Greg LeMond @ 10min 28sec
• Francis Moreau @ 10min 34sec

Stage 2: Monday, July 2, Futuroscope 44.5 km Team Time Trial. Rules limited a rider's time loss to 5 minutes.

• Panasonic: 53min 24sec
• ONCE @ 22sec
• Histor-Sigma s.t.
• Castorama @ 33sec
• 7-Eleven @ 48sec
• Buckler @ 56sec
• Helvetia @ 1min 15sec
• Weinmann @ 1min 18sec

GC after stage 2:

• Steve Bauer: 4hr 21min 13sec
• Frans Maassen @ 10sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 26sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 50sec
• Raul Alcala @ 9min 47sec
• Viatcheslav Ekimov @ 9min 49sec
• Steven Rooks @ 10min 1sec
• Sean Kelly s.t.
• Eric Van Lancker @ 10min 3sec
• Alan Peiper s.t.

Stage 3: Tuesday, July 3, Poitiers - Nantes, 233 km

• Moreno Argentin: 5hr 46min 13sec
• Christophe Lavainne @ 2min 29sec
• Uwe Raab s.t.
• Olaf Ludwig s.t.
• Johan Capiot s.t.
• Jelle Nijdam s.t.
• Soren Lilholt s.t.
• Asiate Saitov s.t.
• Marc Sergeant s.t.

GC after Stage 3:

• Steve Bauer: 10hr 9min 55sec
• Frans Maassen @ 8sec
• Moreno Argentin @ 8min 23sec

Stage 4: Wednesday, July 4, Nantes - Mont St. Michel, 203 km

• Johan Museeuw: 5hr 23min 33sec
• Guido Bontempi s.t.
• Davis Phinney s.t.
• Adriano Baffi s.t.
• Etienne De Wilde s.t.
• Martin Schalkers s.t.

GC after stage 4:

• Steve Bauer: 15hr 33min 24sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 30sec
• Frans Maassen @ 33sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 1min 1sec
• Moreno Argentin @ 8min 27sec
• Raul Alcala @ 9min 58sec
• Steven Rooks @ 10min 5sec
• Eric Van Lancker @ 10min 4sec

Stage 5: Thursday, July 5, Avranches - Rouen, 301 km

• Gerrit Solleveld: 7hr 43min 7sec
• Johan Museeuw @ 4min 27sec
• Olaf Ludwig @ 4min 30sec
• Eric Vanderaerden s.t.
• Adri Van Der Poel s.t.

GC after stage 5:

• Steve Bauer: 23hr 20min 57sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 34sec
• Frans Maassen @ 37sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 1min 5sec
• Gerrit Solleveld @ 7min 26sec
• Raul Alcala @ 10min 2sec
• Sean Kelly @ 10min 3sec
• Steven Rooks @ 10min 9sec
• Alan Peiper @ 10min 16sec
• Guy Nulens @ 10min 18sec

Stage 6: Friday, July 6, Sarrebourg - Vittel, 202.5 km

• Jelle Nijdam: 5hr 23min 56sec
• Jesper Skibby s.t.
• Johan Museeuw s.t.
• Viatcheslav Ekimov s.t.
• Guy Nulens @ 3sec
• Adriano Baffi @ 8sec

GC after Stage 6:

• Steve Bauer: 28hr 45min 1sec
• Raul Alacala @ 10min 2sec
• Guy Nulens @ 10min 11sec

Stage 7: Saturday, July 7, Vittel - Epinal 61.5 km Individual Time Trial

• Raul Alcala: 1hr 17min 5sec
• Miguel Indurain @ 1min 24sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 1min 47sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 2min 5sec
• Greg LeMond @ 2min 11sec
• Jean-François Bernard @ 2min 26sec
• Uwe Ampler @ 2min 30sec
• Tony Rominger @ 2min 32sec
• Gerrit Solleveld @ 2min 40sec

GC after Stage 7:

• Steve Bauer: 30hr 4min 49sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 17sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 1min 11sec
• Frans Maassen @ 1min 16sec
• Raul Alcala @ 7min 19sec
• Gerrit Solleveld @ 7min 23sec
• Greg LeMond @ 10min 9sec
• Uwe Ampler @ 10min 14sec
• Sean Kelly @ 10min 15sec
• Viatcheslav Ekimov @ 10min 26sec

Stage 8 , Sunday, July 8: Epinal - Besançon, 181.5 km.

• Olaf Ludwig: 4hr 26min 53sec
• Ron Kiefel s.t.
• Jean-Claude Colotti s.t.
• Andréas Kappes s.t.
• Christophe Lavainne s.t.
• Guido Winterberg s.t.
• Massimo Ghirotto s.t.
• Pascal Lance s.t.
• Patrick Jacobs s.t.

GC after Stage 8:

• Steve Bauer: 34hr 32min 3sec
• Ronen Pensec @ 17sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 1min 7sec
• Frans Massen @ 1min 16sec
• Guido Winterberg @ 10min 26sec

Stage 9 , Monday, July 9: Besançon - Geneva, 196 km

• Massimo Ghirotto: 4hr 46min 7sec
• Eduardo Chozas s.t.
• Christophe Lavainne @ 16sec
• Brian Holm @ 19sec
• Philippe Louviot s.t.
• Jörg Muller s.t.
• Gilles Delion @ 25sec
• Giuseppe Calcaterra @ 27sec
• Bjarne Riis s.t.

GC after Stage 9:

• Steve Bauer: 39hr 18min 47sec
• Frans Maassen @ 1min 6sec

Stage 10 , Tuesday, July 10: Geneva - St. Gervaix (Mont Blanc). 118.5 km

• Thierry Claveyrolat: 3hr 24min 31sec
• Uwe Ampler @ 1min 54sec
• Charly Mottet s.t.
• Reynel Montoya @ 2min 10sec
• Marino Lejaretta s.t.
• Eric Boyer s.t.
• Pedro Delgado s.t.
• Guido Winterberg @ 2min 11sec
• Roberto Conti @ 2min 24sec
• Greg LeMond @ 2min 29sec

GC after Stage 10:

• Ronan Pensec: 42hr 46min 4sec
• Steve Bauer @ 1min 21sec
• Frans Maassen @ 2min 27sec
• Raul Alcala @ 7min 2sec
• Uwe Ampler @ 9min 22sec
• Guido Winterberg @ 9min 51sec
• Greg LeMond @ 9min 52sec
• Sean Kelly @ 9min 58sec
• Erik Breukink @ 10min 15sec

Stage 11 , Wednesday, July 11, St. Gervais - L'Alpe d'Huez . 182.5 km

• Gianni Bugno: 5hr 37min 51sec
• Greg LeMond s.t.
• Erik Breukink @ 1sec
• Thierry Claveyrolat @ 4sec
• Fabio Parra @ 6sec
• Abelardo Rondon @ 40sec
• Andy Hampsten s.t.
• Claude Criquielion @ 47sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 48sec

GC after Stage 11:

• Ronan Pensec: 48hr 24min 43sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 1min 28sec
• Greg LeMond @ 9min 4sec
• Erik Breukink @ 9min 28sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 10min 39sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 11min 5sec
• Claude Criquielion @ 11min 29sec
• Raul Alcala @ 11min 55sec
• Andy Hampsten @ 13min 45sec
• Fabrice Philipot @ 13min 49sec

Stage 12 , Thursday, July 12: Fontaine to Villard de Lans. 33.5 km individual time trial

37.46 average speed for winner Breukink

Claudio Chiappucci took the yellow jersey from Ronan Pensec, freeing teammate Greg LeMond to ride his own race. Chiappucci was the first Italian to wear yellow since Moser, 15 years before.

• Erik Breukink: 56min 52sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 30sec
• Miguel Indurain @ 43sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 54sec
• Greg LeMond @ 56sec
• Fabio Parra @ 58sec
• William Palacio @ 59sec
• Johan Bruyneel @ 1min 17sec
• Reynel Montoya s.t.

GC after Stage 12:

• Claudio Chiappucci: 49hr 24min 8sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 1min 17sec
• Erik Breukink @ 6min 55sec
• Greg LeMond @ 7min 27sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 9min 2sec
• Raul Alcala @ 10min 44sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 10min 48sec
• Claude Criquielion @ 11min 23sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 12min 46sec
• Andy Hampsten @ 13min 58sec

Stage 13 , Saturday, July 14: Villard-de-Lans - St. Etienne. 149 km.

LeMond sent teammate Ronan Pensac ahead. Chiappucci and the Carrera team chased. LeMond and Breukink counterattacked fiercely when Pensac was caught and left Chiappucci behind, who lost almost 5 minutes.

• Eduardo Chozas: 3hr 20min 12sec
• Erik Breukink s.t.
• Roberto Conti s.t.
• Marino Lejaretta @ 30sec
• Gianni Bugno s.t.
• Miguel Indurain @ 36sec
• Dimitri Konyshev @ 3min 8sec

35. Claudio Chiappucci @ 4min 35sec

GC after Stage 13:

• Claudio Chiappucci: 52hr 49min 13sec
• Erik Breukink @ 2min 2sec
• Greg LeMond @ 2min 34sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 4min 11sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 4min 39sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 6min 25sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 8min 23sec
• Raul Alcala @ 9min
• Andy Hampsten @ 9min 5sec
• Claude Criquielion @ 9min 39sec

Stage 14 , Sunday, July 15: Le Puy en Velay- Milau (Causse Noir). 205 km.

Marino Lejaretta broke clear 2 km from the top of the final hill-top finish at Millau.

• Marino Lejaretta: 5hr 12min 3sec
• Miguel Indurain @ 24sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 25sec
• Raul Alcala @ 33sec
• Greg LeMond @ 34sec
• Claude Criquielion s.t.
• William Palacio s.t.
• Gilles Delion s.t.
• Fabio Parra s.t.
• Roberto Conti @ 42sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 47sec

GC after Stage 14:

• Claudio Chiappucci: 58hr 2min 3sec
• Erik Breukink @ 1min 49sec
• Greg LeMond @ 2min 21sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 4min 26sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 4min 55sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 6min 3sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 7min 36sec
• Raul Alcala @ 8min 46sec
• Claude Criquielion @ 9min 26sec
• Andy Hampsten @ 9min 43sec

Stage 15 : Monday, July 16, Milau - Revel, 170 km

Charly Mottet rode the final 31 km alone.

• Charly Mottet: 4hr 13min 56sec
• Giuseppe Calcaterra @ 2min 2sec
• Viatscheslav Ekimov s.t.
• Edwig Van Hooydonck s.t.
• Thierry Claveyrolat s.t.
• Davide Cassani s.t.
• Atle Kvalsvoll s.t.
• Luc Leblanc s.t.
• Oscar de Jésus Vargas s.t.
• Bruno Cornillet s.t.

GC after Stage 15:

• Claudio Chiappucci: 62hr 20min 47sec
• Erik Breukink @ 1min 52sec
• Greg LeMond @ 2min 24sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 4min 29sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 4min 58sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 6min 6sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 7min 39sec
• Eduardo Chozas @ 8min 14sec
• Raul Alcala @ 8min 49sec
• Claude Criquielion @ 9min 29sec

Stage 16 : Tuesday, July 17, Blagnac- Luz-Ardiden. 215 km

• Miguel Indurain: 7hr 4min 38sec
• Greg LeMond @ 6sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 15sec
• Juan Martinez-Torres @ 59sec
• Fabio Parra @ 1min 18sec
• Roberto Conti @ 1min 24sec
• Claude Criquielion @ 1min 36sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 1min 38sec
• Gilles Delion @ 2min

GC after Stage 16:

• Claudio Chiappucci: 69hr 27min 50sec
• Greg LeMond @ 5sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 3min 42sec
• Erik Breukink @ 3min 49sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 5min 29sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 7min 48sec
• Eduardo Chozas @ 7min 49sec
• Claude Criquielion @ 8min 40sec
• Andy Hampsten @ 9min 34sec
• Ronan Pensec @ 11min 21sec

Stage 17 : Wednesday, July 18, Lourdes - Pau. 150 km.

• Dimitri Konyshev: 4hr 8min 25sec
• Johan Bruyneel @ 1sec
• Steve Bauer @ 11sec
• Jean-Claude Colotti @ 32sec
• Pascal Simon @ 34sec
• Dominique Arnaud @ 53sec
• Laurent Biondi @ 2min 59sec
• Peter Declercq @ 3min 38sec

GC after Stage 17:

• Claudio Chiappucci: 73hr 41min 46sec
• Fabio Parra @ 11min 30sec

Stage 18 : Thursday, July 19, Pau - Bordeaux. 202 km

• Gianni Bugno: 5hr 41min 33sec
• Roberto Gusmeroli @ 3sec
• Giovanni Fidanza @ 19sec

GC after Stage 18:

• Claudio Chiappucci: 79hr 23min 38sec
• Erik Breukink @ 3min 31sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 7min 29sec

Stage 19 : Friday, July 20, Castillon La Bataille - Limoges. 182.5 km

• Guido Bontempi: 5hr 16min 4sec
• Dag-Otto Lauritzen @ 1min 28sec
• Peter Roes s.t.
• Robert Gusmeroli @ 1min 32sec
• Jelle Nijdam @ 2min 6sec
• Maarten Ducrot @ 2min 15sec
• Edwig Van Hooyndonck @ 2min 44sec

GC after stage 19:

• Claudio Chiappucci: 84hr 45min 46sec

Stage 20 : Saturday, July 21, Lac de Vassivère 45.5 km individual time trial.

• Erik Breukink: 1hr 2min 40sec
• Raul Alcala @ 28sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 38sec
• Miguel Indurain @ 40sec
• Greg LeMond @ 57sec
• Pello Ruiz-Cabestany @ 1min 28sec
• Dag-Otto Lauritzen @ 2min 1sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 2min 21sec
• Philippe Louviot @ 2min 26sec
• Luc Leblanc @ 2min 27sec

GC after Stage 20:

• Greg LeMond: 85hr 49min 28sec
• Claudio Chiappucci @ 2min 16sec
• Erik Breukink @ 2min 29sec
• Pedro Delgado @ 5min 1sec
• Marino Lejaretta @ 5min 5sec
• Eduardo Chozas @ 9min 14sec
• Gianni Bugno @ 9min 39sec
• Raul Alcala @ 11min 14sec
• Claude Criquielion @ 12min 4sec
• Miguel Indurain @ 12min 47sec

Stage 21 : Sunday, July 21, Bretigny sur Orge - Paris, 182.5 km

• Johan Museeuw: 4hr 53min 52sec
• Phil Anderson s.t.

1990 Tour de France complete final General Classification

The Story of the 1990 Tour de France

This excerpt is from "The Story of the Tour de France", Volume 2. If you enjoy them we hope you will consider purchasing the book, either print, eBook or audiobook. The Amazon link here will make the purchase easy.

LeMond had always made it clear that he did not think that the European professional cycling culture of year-round asceticism was right for him. He felt that a life was to be lived. In the off season this could manifest itself in a visible loss of form. At the start of the 1990 season LeMond was noticeably overweight. The situation was not improved when he had a bout of mononucleosis (Brits call it glandular fever).

On the plus side, for the first time in his career, LeMond had a strong team that was dedicated to him. There were no split loyalties of the sort both he and Stephen Roche had been forced to deal with in earlier years. And unlike his 1989 ADR team, his new team, sponsored by a children's clothing company "Z", had riders who could assist him during the entire Tour. His "Z" helpers included climber Robert Millar, and all-around strongmen Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (a future 2-time Paris–Roubaix winner) and Ronan Pensec. These were good men to have on one's side.

While there may have been justifiable worries about LeMond's fitness to contest the Tour de France, these fears were almost immediately put to rest with the Prologue time trial. Thierry Marie, who made a habit of winning these mini-time trials, won this one. LeMond was second at only 4 seconds. Raul Alcala scored third with just about the same time. Fignon was fifteenth at 19 seconds.

The first stage was one of those dopey stages in which a break of good riders, generally thought to be General Classification non-threats, was allowed to get away. The pack must have had a day of non compos mentis because this was a group of good racers

Claudio Chiappucci, who never had any regard for conservative tactics, took off when the first stage was only 6 kilometers old. Steve Bauer, Ronan Pensec and Frans Maassen quickly joined him. For the first 30 kilometers the quartet was only able to squeeze out a 30-second lead. Then, as is often the case, the peloton relented in its chase, perhaps slowed by a crash that took Pedro Delgado down. The lead increased and by the end of the stage the pack was 10 minutes, 35 seconds behind the 4 speedy adventurers. All of these riders except Chiappucci were well known quantities. Bauer was fourth in the 1988 Tour. Pensec had a sixth and a seventh in his past Tours. They were tough riders who would probably surrender their time in the high mountains only after a tough fight. But Chiappucci?

So far, Chiappucci had shown himself to be a competent but unspectacular racer. The previous year he was forty-sixth in the Giro and eighty-first in the Tour. He did manage to win the Giro del Piemonte and score a second in the hilly Giro del Trentino. This year he had improved, with a seventh in Paris–Nice and a commendable twelfth in the Giro. This did not seem to be the stuff of a Tour contender on the level of Fignon or Delgado. But wait, Chiappucci was King of the Mountains in this year's Giro. Hmmm…

Bauer was in Yellow yet again. The General Classification now stood thus:

As the Tour went clockwise across northern France and then headed south for the Alps, the general situation remained unchanged, with the stage 1 breakaway quartet sitting on top of the leader board and Bauer in Yellow. A crash in stage 4 cost Robert Millar over 9 minutes and effectively eliminated this winner of the 1990 Dauphiné from contention.

Raul Alcala blistered the stage 7 time trial with Miguel Indurain second to him at a distant 1 minute, 24 seconds. LeMond picked up some time on the 4 breakaways, he was now 10 minutes, 9 seconds behind Bauer. Fignon, again unable to ride well, abandoned. The important news of the time trial was that the 4 stage-1 breakaways had ridden credible time trials. The closest rider to the top 4 was Raul Alcala and he was still over 7 minutes behind Bauer.

Stage 10, with its finish at the Le Bettex ski station, saw the first casualty of the Gang of Four. Bauer finished fiftieth, 4 minutes, 7 seconds behind stage winner Thierry Claveyrolat who had taken off early in search of Hot Spot sprint points and then stayed away to the finish. Behind, on the final climb, an aggressive Delgado blew up the chasing group but wasn't able to gain more than 19 seconds on the other contenders. More importantly for the moment, Bauer had come in behind Pensec and Chiappucci. The pair finished in the LeMond group which included Rooks, Alcala, Gianni Bugno, Miguel Indurain and Andy Hampsten. The Yellow Jersey was now the property of LeMond's teammate Ronan Pensec.

LeMond continued to chew away at the deficit in little bites. Stage 11 crossed the Glandon, the Madeleine and finished atop L'Alpe d'Huez. Gianni Bugno and LeMond finished with the same time, with Erik Breukink just off their wheels. Pensec lost 48 seconds and Chiappucci lost 1 minute, 48 seconds. Pensec was still in Yellow with an increased lead over Chiappucci.

The standings after the major Alpine climbing was finished:

Stage 12 is where it starts to get really interesting. The 33.5-kilometer individual time trial included a second category climb and ended Ronan Pensec's hopes of taking the Yellow Jersey to Paris. Erik Breukink continued to display his fine form by winning the stage with Delgado only 30 seconds back. LeMond was fifth at 56 seconds. Chiappucci showed he was made of stern stuff with an eighth place, 1 minute, 5 seconds behind Breukink and only 9 seconds slower then LeMond. Pensec was forty-ninth at 3 minutes, 50 seconds. That at least ended any split ambitions in the team. Pensec was now riding for LeMond.

The General Classification at this point:

Chiappucci had the Yellow Jersey and the Tour had a day of rest. Keeping the Yellow Jersey would be a real challenge as Breukink, Delgado, LeMond, Hampsten and the others with high General Classification ambitions continued their bellicosity when the race resumed. The very next day into the Massif Central, stage 13, Chiappucci missed the crucial break that included LeMond, Breukink, and Delgado, and lost almost 5 minutes. Doing a lot of the chasing himself, Chiappucci had at one point closed to within 33 seconds. But getting almost no help from the other teams, making contact with the talented riders ahead of him was an almost impossible task. Well, he was the Yellow Jersey and it wasn't the job of the other teams to defend it for him.

Breukink, who was having the Tour of his life, had pulled within 2 minutes, 2 seconds of Chiappucci, and LeMond was just a tad further back at 2 minutes, 34 seconds. If LeMond wanted the win, he had to get by both Chiappucci and a beautifully riding Erik Breukink.

In stage 14 Breukink and LeMond took a small bite out of Chiappucci, about 10 seconds. If they could keep up the pressure, the small Italian would just bleed little dabs of time all over France. Would Chiappucci run out of Tour before he ran out of time?

Stage 16 to Luz Ardiden with the Aspin and the Tourmalet in the middle decided the Tour and showed that both LeMond and Chiappucci were athletes worthy of admiration.

Chiappucci decided on a gigantic roll of the dice. He couldn't let LeMond and Breukink continue to ride their race, forcing him to give up time each stage. He attacked as soon as the race hit the first major climb, the Aspin, taking 6 others with him. Again Chiappucci was stuck, being forced to do all the work. He took off and was first over the summit, 34 seconds ahead of the first group. Chiappucci pressed on and by the time he was halfway up the Tourmalet he had extended his lead to 3 minutes, 20 seconds. LeMond grew alarmed. If Chiappucci held this much lead by the end of the day he would probably be able to withstand any assault LeMond could mount with only 1 mountain stage and 1 time trial left.

LeMond dropped all but Delgado and Indurain as he attacked to get back on terms with the small, tough Italian. By distancing himself from Breukink at this point, he potentially eliminated his only other real threat.

LeMond did a kamikaze descent, making up a whole minute, and closed the gap to Chiappucci. There was now a small group in the lead that included Indurain, Fabio Parra and Marino Lejarreta. On the final climb to Luz Ardiden, after riding hard at the front as long as he could, Chiappucci had to surrender when Fabio Parra attacked. LeMond and Indurain were among the small group who went with Parra. Near the finish Indurain attacked and LeMond had to let him go.

Indurain won the stage with LeMond only 6 seconds back. Chiappucci came in fourteenth, 2 minutes, 25 seconds behind Indurain. That left Chiappucci with only a 5-second lead, a very slim hold on the Yellow Jersey with a time trial coming up.

The last stage in the mountains with the Aubisque and the Marie-Blanque changed nothing at the top of the standings. Breukink, LeMond and Chiappucci finished with the same time. LeMond had a scare, however. On the Marie-Blanque Chiappucci and Delgado attacked. Seconds later LeMond flatted. He got a slow wheel change and then had to change his bike. With the 2 challengers up the road, LeMond chased with a surprising fury. His descent down the mountain was frighteningly fast. LeMond was a truly skilled descender and this time he put those abilities to use. The race marshal on the motor bike said that he had never seen a descent like LeMond's that day. Up ahead Chiappucci had 4 Carrera teammates helping him while further back the 4 "Z" riders who were with LeMond could mostly just hang on while the World Champion blasted down the road. Eventually contact was made and LeMond made known his displeasure with the others that their forcing an attack while he was getting a repair was not sportsmanlike. Later LeMond said that he truly feared at that moment that the race was lost.

With some good fortune and some smart riding, LeMond had things where he wanted them. He was to face a man with a 5-second lead who never shown any special flair for riding against the clock.

The stage 20 45.5-kilometer individual time trial played out exactly as LeMond had hoped and Chiappucci had dreaded.

LeMond had won his third Tour, this time without ever winning a stage.

The final 1990 Tour de France General Classification:

Climbers' Competition:

Points Competition:

There was an interesting addition to this Tour. A team of Soviet riders sponsored by Alfa-Lum came and did very well. Dmitri Konyshev won stage 17. Two other riders on this team would make a serious impression on the European pro circuit over time: Piotr Ugrumov and Djamolodine Abdoujaparov. East German Olaf Ludwig, riding for Panasonic, won the Green Jersey. Alcala's stage 7 time trial victory was the first Tour stage win by a Mexican. Times were changing.

More than one writer at the time speculated that if Miguel Indurain had ridden for himself instead of for Delgado, he probably would have won the Tour. Who knows?

© McGann Publishing

1990 Tour de France: results and classification

General classification of the 1990 tour de france, jerseys of the 1990 tour de france, stages of the 1990 tour de france.

Prologue (Futuroscope - Futuroscope, 6.3 km in Individual Time Trial)

Stage 1 (Futuroscope - Futuroscope, 138.5 km)

Stage 2 (Futuroscope - Futuroscope, 44.5 km in Team Time Trial)

Stage 3 (Poitiers - Nantes, 233 km)

Stage 4 (Nantes - Mont St Michel, 203 km)

Stage 5 (Avranches - Rouen, 301 km)

Stage 6 (Sarrebourg - Vittel, 202.5 km)

Stage 7 (Vittel - Epinal, 61.5 km in Individual Time Trial)

Stage 8 (Epinal - Besançon, 181.5 km)

Stage 9 (Besançon - Genève, 196 km)

Stage 10 (Genève - St Gervais/Mont Blanc, 118.5 km)

Stage 11 (St Gervais - Alpe d'Huez, 182.5 km)

Stage 12 (Fontaine - Villard de Lans, 33.5 km in Individual Time Trial)

Stage 13 (Villard de Lans - St Etienne, 149 km)

Stage 14 (Le Puy en Velay - Millau/Causse noir, 205 km)

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How could it come to this? Miguel Indurain's fall from grace

Extract from Alasdair Fotheringham's new book, 'Indurain'

The following is an extract from 'Indurain' by Alasdair Fotheringham (Ebury Press, £14.99)

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inCycle: Spanish cycling icon Miguel Indurain - Video

Back in the day, there used to be an urban legend amongst cycling fans that whoever led the Vuelta a España at the summit of the Lagos de Covadonga climb, deep in the mountains of Asturias, would be declared the outright winner when the race ended in Madrid. But on 20 September 1996, even before stage thirteen of the Vuelta had begun to climb the nineteen-kilometre ascent to Covadonga, it felt as if cycling had lost one of its most crucial battles.

The event that cast an enormous pall over what was in theory the Queen stage of the 1996 Vuelta – and in fact was to cast a shadow over the entire race – unfolded on the difficult ascent of the Fito, the first major climb of the day. A single attack by Tony Rominger, one of the 1990s' most talented Grand Tour racers, began to split the peloton into pieces.

In what was essentially a skirmish before the big battle on the slopes of Covadonga itself, the flurry of controlling moves and accelerations that Rominger's attack produced had a single, devastating consequence: Miguel Indurain, five times winner of the Tour de France and arguably Spain's greatest ever athlete, was dropped.

He was not sweating unduly or swaying over the road as the single line of riders in the peloton drew away from him further up the climb. Indurain had simply run out of energy and rather than go so deep to try to keep up that he then cracked afterwards, he was taking the coldly logical path: eking out whatever scant strength he had left to minimise the damage and limit the gaps.

This, then, was no death-or-glory defeat. Utterly characteristic of his dislike of any kind of histrionic behaviour on or off the bike, Indurain was quietly laying down his arms. Racing in such an economical style was a simple recognition of a simple fact: despite not being ill or injured, his physical condition was such he had lost all chance of winning the Vuelta, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

As the other top favourites put minutes into Indurain in a matter of a few kilometres, it was a curiously dignified last act of the drama and controversy surrounding Indurain's long-awaited participation, after so much Tour success, in the Vuelta a España.

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Yet there was no getting away from the fact that Indurain, one of cycling's most brilliantly calculating racers, had become the victim of a gross misinterpretation of his strength. Someone, be it the rider or the team, had made a serious error. In sporting terms, in this race, there was no possible solution.

Indurain's getting dropped from the front group of roughly forty riders occurred exactly as the television coverage of the Vuelta briefly switched channels from the minority TVE2 over to a couple of minutes of live coverage and updates in Spain's prime time early afternoon news on TVE. It was as if fate had decided these crucial moments of Indurain's career should not be confined to viewing by Spain's diehard cycling fans: this was something everybody should witness.

Indurain, who received messages of encouragement from ONCE's directeur sportif Manolo Saiz as he drove past, then had a word with his own Banesto team car as it pulled alongside. The contents of the discussion quickly became clear when he gestured to Marino Alonso – the only Banesto rider to have supported him in all five of his Tour victories and now hovering just ahead of him, waiting for instructions – that he should make his own way to the finish, rather than support his team leader.

As Indurain rode over the top of the climb around five minutes down on Rominger and the rest of the main GC contenders, riders who had earlier been dropped began passing him again on the twisting, wooded descent. Spain's Herminio Díaz Zabala, an ONCE domestique and former Reynolds team-mate, was one of the last to do so, clapping a hand on Indurain's shoulder in sympathy before moving on. It was another recognition that the Indurain–ONCE battle in the Vuelta, it seemed, was over.

This was no rapid surrender, though. Indurain's lengthy solo ride, lasting nearly half an hour before he finally pulled up, became an extended opportunity for fans and the cycling community to contemplate the Tour de France's greatest star going through a sorry, drawn-out and public exit from his country's biggest bike race. If Indurain was physically in good enough shape to stay with the favourites for most of the first two weeks of the race, how on earth had he found himself in this predicament and where was he going from here? How, to put it bluntly, had it all come to this?

For a few moments, the TV cameras lost sight of Indurain when he was caught by the 'grupetto' – the sixty or so non-contenders and sprinters who, with no option of fighting for the win, had dropped off the pace completely by the foot of the Fito. Two months earlier he had been battling for a sixth Tour de France; two days earlier, he had been the strongest opponent of the all-conquering ONCE in the Vuelta. Now, though, he was just making up the numbers.

And suddenly, as Indurain stopped on the roadside, waited for a gap in the race traffic, then pedalled across a hotel forecourt and out of the race itself, he was not even doing that any more.

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Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews , he has also written for The Independent ,  The Guardian ,  ProCycling , The Express and Reuters .

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Miguel Induráin

Biographical information.

Miguel Induráin was the fourth man, after Jacques Anquetil , Eddy Merckx , and Bernard Hinault, to win the Tour de France five times, but Induráin went further with five consecutive wins from 1991-95, although this was broken by Lance Armstrong who won seven consecutive from 1999-2005, although those were voided after Armstrong’s well-publicized doping admissions. Indurain also won the Giro d’Italia in 1992-93, winning the Tour-Giro double both years, a feat that had been accomplished at the time by Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Fausto Coppi, and Stephen Roche (since accomplished by Marco Pantini in 1998). Induráin’s strength was as a time trialist, and most of his stage race wins were built by his dominance in the time trial, and he won only two Tour races in non-time trial stages. But he was also an excellent climber, who was rarely dropped in the Alps or Pyrenees. He was one of the larger riders in the professional peloton at 188 cm (6-2), which brought him the nickname “Big Mig” or “Miguelón”.

Induráin first came to prominence when he won the Tour de l’Avenir in 1986. In 1989 he won Paris-Nice and the Criterium Internationale, repeating his Paris-Nice victory in 1990 as well as winning the Clásica de San Sebastián that year. Indurain also set the World Hour Record in 1994, riding 53.040 km. He later won Dauphiné-Libéré in 1995-96 and Midi-Libre in 1995, also winning the World Championship that year in the individual time trial. At the 1996 Olympic Games, Induráin added a gold medal in the individual time trial, in the first year that Olympic cycling was open to professionals. He retired after the 1996 season.

Special Notes

• Listed in Olympic Cycling and World Professional Road Champions (Olympic Gold – 1996 Road Time Trial; 1995 World Professional Road Time Trial Champion.)
• Listed in Olympic Cycling Medalists and Tour de France Champions (1996 Olympic Individual Time Trial (Gold); 1991-1995 Tour de France Champion.)
• Listed in Olympic Order Recipients (1995 (Silver))

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Miguel INDURAIN

Miguel Induráin was the fourth man, after Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, and Bernard Hinault, to win the Tour de France five times, but Induráin went further with five consecutive wins from 1991-95, although this was broken by Lance Armstrong who won seven consecutive from 1999-2005, although those were voided after Armstrong's well-publicized doping admissions. Indurain also won the Giro d'Italia in 1992-93, winning the Tour-Giro double both years, a feat that had been accomplished at the time by Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Fausto Coppi, and Stephen Roche (since accomplished by Marco Pantini in 1998). Induráin's strength was as a time trialist, and most of his stage race wins were built by his dominance in the time trial, and he won only two Tour races in non-time trial stages. But he was also an excellent climber, who was rarely dropped in the Alps or Pyrenees. He was one of the larger riders in the professional peloton at 188 cm (6-2), which brought him the nickname "Big Mig" or "Miguelón".

Induráin first came to prominence when he won the Tour de l'Avenir in 1986. In 1989 he won Paris-Nice and the Criterium Internationale, repeating his Paris-Nice victory in 1990 as well as winning the Clásica de San Sebastián that year. Indurain also set the World Hour Record in 1994, riding 53.040 km. He later won Dauphiné-Libéré in 1995-96 and Midi-Libre in 1995, also winning the World Championship that year in the individual time trial. At the 1996 Olympic Games, Induráin added a gold medal in the individual time trial, in the first year that Olympic cycling was open to professionals. He retired after the 1996 season.

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1989 Tour de France stage nine: Indurain's mountain win

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INDURAIN WINS UNDER ORDERS FROM DELGADO

Monday July 10, 1989 Pau-Cauterets, 147km

At last the mist-enshrouded Pyrenees reared up their jagged peaks about the Tour and dared any brave soul to take them on in this first day in the mountains.

It was Spain’s Miguel Indurain, under orders from his Reynolds captain Pedro Delgado, who attacked and took his place in the Tour history books with a lone victory after a 100-kilometre break over five peaks.

Indurain, winner of this year’s Paris-Nice and the Criterium International, broke away on the first-category Col de Marie Blanque after chasing and catching early leader Robert Forest (Fagor) on this 10-kilometre long climb.

They plummeted to the valley and headed for the big one, the 1,700-metre high Col d’Aubisque, a hors-category climb 18 kilometres long.

The main field re-grouped behind them and on the Aubisque Indurain dropped Forest to cross the summit 2-13 ahead. All the heads of the race were in the next big group, including the yellow jersey Greg LeMond (ADR) trailing Indurain by 2-40. But mountains leader Thierry Claveyrolat (RMO) nursing a broken wrist, retired, unable to hold the handlebars.

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Indurain gained more time on the gravel-strewn descent along a rocky shelf that served as a road, wedged in a sheer mountain wall, no fence separating anyone from the 600-metre drop.

Several riders took off in pursuit, with Anselmo Fuerte (BH) succeeding in staying clear to take second place at 27 seconds to the top of Cauterets Le Cambasque, the 10-kilometre long first category mountain top finish. Others in his wake were not so lucky. Fuerte’s team-mate Javier Murguialday, and Indurain’s team-mate William Palacio, fought hard but failed to stay out of the clutches of the main field.

For there was a reaction at last from the exclusive group lying over five minutes behind, and it led to their disintegration. Charly Mottet (RMO) attacked before a right-hander and pulled away, followed by Gert-Jan Theunisse (PDM).

Immediately, Delgado soared after them, caught them and took command, then dropped them. Riding like a train, Delgado rode straight by Palacio and Murguialday and pressed on in pursuit of Fuerte and his team-mate Indurain.

But both held out, Indurain for a hero’s welcome, to win 27 seconds ahead of Fuerte and 1-29 up on Delgado, third.

With a superbly worked move PDM’s Steven Rooks and Theunisse ensured Sean Kelly led in a seven-man group for fourth place and tighten his hold on the green jersey, Fignon, LeMond and Luc Roosen (Histor) finishing two seconds behind.

This shot Kelly from 17th to fifth overall and gave him the combine jersey to go with the green points jersey. But Stephen Roche (Fagor) finished 85th at 14-34. Dropped on the Col du Marie Blanque, he regained the field only to be left again on the Aubisque.

LeMond retained his yellow jersey with Fignon still second at five seconds.

Stage winner Indurain moved from 38th to eighth overall.

STAGE RESULT 1. Miguel Indurain (Spa) Reynolds 4-32-36

2. Anselmo Fuerte (Spa) BH at 27secs

3. Pedro Delgado (Spa) Reynolds at 1-29

4. Sean Kelly (Ire) PDM at 1-56

5. Steven Rooks  (Ned) PDM st

OVERALL 1. Greg LeMond (USA) ADR 41-45-49

2. Laurent Fignon (Fra) Super-U at 5secs

3. Pascal Simon (Fra) Super-U at 3-56

4. Charly Mottet (Fra) RMO at 4-9

5. Sean Kelly (Ire) PDM at 4-52

MOUNTAINS 1. Miguel Indurain (Spa) Reynolds 94pts

2 Gert-Jan Theunisse (Ned) PDM 75pts

3. Luis Herrera (Col) Café de Colombia 53pts

POINTS 1. Sean Kelly (Ire) PDM 143pts

2. Etienne De Wilde (Bel) Histor-Sigma 114pts

3. Soren Lilholt (Den) Histor-Sigma 107pts

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Keith Bingham joined the Cycling Weekly team in the summer of 1971, and retired in 2011. During his time, he covered numerous Tours de France, Milk Races and everything in-between. He was well known for his long-running 'Bikewatch' column, and played a pivotal role in fighting for the future of once at-threat cycling venues such as Hog Hill and Herne Hill Velodrome. 

The Dutchman sprinted to victory on stage nine to take the 33rd professional win of his career

By Joseph Lycett Published 12 May 24

The Dutchman takes his first Giro d’Italia stage victory in his debut Grand Tour

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The Story of Indurain and Riis at the 1996 Tour de France

Coming into the 1996 Tour, Miguel “Big Mig” Indurain was the favourite. He’d won his fifth Tour the year before and wanted to be the first person ever to win this Grand Tour six times. Bjarne Riis was one of the few daring challengers. His performance in stage nine and stage 16 showed how exciting racing can be.

In stage 16, Riis did what we’ve never seen before or since, and dethroned the great champion.

Riis first raced in the Tour de France in 1989 but his breakout year didn’t come until 1993 when he took a stage win and fifth in the general classification. He got a stage win again in 1994 and managed to wear the yellow jersey for a day in 1995, finishing third overall. He was leading Team Telekom in the 1996 Tour de France.

The 1996 Tour started with a time-trial prologue where Riis and Indurain almost tied, being 11 and 12 seconds slower than the winner Alex Zülle, respectively. The following five stages were the playground for the sprinters such as Mario Cipollini and Erik Zabel. Before the climbing started at stage seven, Riis and Indurain were right next to each other in the general classification in seventh and eighth place, losing four minutes 16 seconds and four minutes 17 seconds, respectively.

Indurain looked good on the first two major climbs of the Tour at stage seven, signalling to the others that they were competing for second place. But then with about three kilometres to go to the finish, the unbelievable happened. Indurain was in trouble! He was dropped by the group that included most of the general classification contenders, including Riis. He ran out of food and was bonking.

Indurain got so desperate that he was signalling to other riders that he needed food. They took pity on him and gave him some. It was a shock to all that such an elementary error was made by such an experienced rider. Indurain finished over four minutes behind the stage winner and had given up a lot of time to his main competitors. Riis was in fourth place after this stage, only eight seconds behind the yellow jersey while Indurain was 14 th ,with a gap of three minutes and 32 seconds. After five years of one-man domination, it finally felt like the Tour was truly open for anyone to win.

The next stage was an uphill individual time trial to Val d’Isère. Indurain, a time trialist who could usually climb very well, moved up to 11 th place but lost almost another minute to Riis.

In stage nine, Riis began attacking almost from the start. His first three attacks were answered, but the fourth was too much for the others. He was 20 seconds ahead of the chase group at the top of the first climb and he extended his lead on the final climb. He captured the yellow jersey with his amazing performance that day. Miguel Indurain’s deficit increased to four minutes 38 seconds, but over half of the Tour was still to play out.

During the next couple of stages Team Telekom controlled the race for Riis, letting breaks of non-contenders get away but diligently repelling the real threats. This meant that the final battle would be fought in the Pyrenees, starting with stage 16, which became one of the most astonishing stages in racing history.

Stage 16 was 199 kilometres long and culminated in a long and hard climb to Hautacam. The best riders were still together at the start of the climb. As soon as the climb began, Alex Zülle took off. Richard Virenque dragged the elite climbers up to him. With nine kilometres to go it was Riis who tested the others with a probing attack and Indurain was able to stay with him. Riis turned the power down a bit. He went again and this time only four riders could stay with him. After that he did something completely unexpected.

He slowed down a bit, pretending he was in trouble and rode next to the others, looking carefully at each of his competitors. When he was sure that they were all at their limit, he rocketed up the hill, leaving them in the dust. He finished alone, two minutes and 28 seconds ahead of Indurain. This was an exceptionally risky manoeuvre. Riis gave up position and momentum on a steep mountain surrounded by the finest climbers in the world. What a display of confidence in his abilities!

Stage 17 was the last mountain stage and the last stage where Indurain and other competitors could realistically make enough time on Riis. There were seven climbs in total and five of those were category two or higher. On the first hard climb, Riis kept the pace high, which thinned the pack to only 11 riders. Richard Virenque and Laurent Dufaux kept pushing the tempo and Indurain was unable to answer. The stage came down to a sprint finish between Riis and Dufaux, which Riis narrowly lost.

Stage 20 was a 63.5-kilometer individual time-trial, where Riis was unlikely to lose his lead. He looked tired after three hard weeks of racing but did enough to maintain the yellow jersey. The real surprise was Jan Ullrich, who beat his team leader Riis by two minutes and 18 seconds and even the previous champion Indurain by 56 seconds. While the rivalry between the two teammates Ullrich and Riis would play a significant role in 1997, the 1996 Tour was decided. Miguel Indurain ended up in 11 th place 14 minutes and 14 seconds behind the new champion Bjarne Riis. It took Riis 11 years as a professional cyclist to get to this achievement. Unfortunately, he would not be able to repeat a performance like that in the rest of his career.

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Kom sprint | côte de senningerberg, race information.

• Date: 13 July 1992
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• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 65 km
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Prince Harry and Meghan visit Nigeria, where the duchess hints at her heritage with students: "I see myself in all of you"

By Charlie D'Agata

Updated on: May 10, 2024 / 10:40 AM EDT / CBS News

Their first trip to Nigeria together might have been called a mini royal tour, but for the fact that Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, haven't been "working royals" for a few years.

The couple — now California residents — received a warm welcome to the massive African nation on Friday. They were gifted traditional Nigerian necklaces of wooden beads and then treated to a dance routine by students at their first stop, the Lightway Academy in the sprawling capital city of Abuja.

There, Harry addressed one of his biggest causes: mental health.

"If you take anything away from today, just know that mental health affects every single person," he told the students. "The more you talk about it, the more you can kick stigma away."

Their visit to the West African country takes on added meaning for Meghan, who not long ago said on her Archetypes podcast that a genealogy test had revealed she's "43% Nigerian." The couple have both referenced her Nigerian descent since that revelation, and Meghan voiced her hope to "dig deeper" into her roots.

"My daughter Lili looked at me and said she could see her reflection in my eyes, and said, 'Mama, I see me in you and you in me,'" she told the students in Abuja on Friday.

"As I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well," she added, drawing a round of applause from the crowd.

Harry and Meghan are in Nigeria at the invitation of the country's military, visiting to discuss the future work of the prince's Invictus Games Foundation. The charity helps wounded servicemembers and veterans through sport. Nigeria has a similar program and collaborates with Invictus.

The visit to Africa comes just days after Prince Harry was in London — on his own — to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The stop in his old hometown prompted a flurry of speculation about a possible reconciliation with the rest of his royal family in Britain.

But it wasn't to be . He neither met with his brother, Prince William , nor his father, King Charles III.

At one point, the father and son were a mere two miles from each other, attending separate events. According to a statement from the Duke of Sussex, a meeting was unfortunately not possible due to "his Majesty's full program" on the day. It added that Harry hoped to see his father again soon.

King Charles is currently undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, but he has resumed some of his public duties , saying this week that he'd, "been allowed out of his cage."

Harry and Meghan were to wrap up their Nigerian tour on Sunday, following a cultural reception and charity polo match for wounded war veterans.

• Prince Harry Duke of Sussex
• Meghan Duchess of Sussex

Charlie D'Agata is a CBS News senior foreign correspondent and has been based in London since 2000. He's spent more than two decades covering international news for CBS.

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