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Frenchman takes lead

NZPA-Reuter L’Alpe d’Huez, France Laurent Fignon threw a spanner into the works to recapture the race leader’s yellow jersey from American rival Greg LeMond in the Tour de France cycle race yesterday. Fignon’s surprise attack 4km from the end of the toughest mountain stage of the race virtually ensured that, for once, the tour would be decided on the final ride into Paris on Monday. It was the second time in the tour that the Frenchman took the lead from LeMond and the third in his career that he won the yellow jersey in I’Alpe d’Huez. “We always say that the rider who wears the yellow jersey at I’Alpe d’Huez wins the tour,” he said. "I hope it’s true this time but the race is not over yet.” The 161.5 km seventeenth stage from Briancon over some of the most awesome mountain passes in the Alps was a personal triumph for the Dutch rider, Gert-Jan Theunisse, who rode alone ahead to win in five hours lOmin 395.

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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19890721.2.147.5

Bibliographic details

Press, 21 July 1989, Page 26

Word Count
170

Frenchman takes lead Press, 21 July 1989, Page 26

Frenchman takes lead Press, 21 July 1989, Page 26