Riis Maintains Lead In Tour De France

Denmark’s Bjarne Riis held on to his lead in the Tour de France Tuesday and Germany’s Erik Zabel won the race’s 10th stage.

Meanwhile, the change in scenery brought a change in weather. After nine days of rain, snow and wind in the Alps, it was summer again for the cyclists.

The better weather came too late, though, for Laurent Jalabert of France, who pulled out of the race. He had been troubled by a cold since Saturday.

Zabel, winner of the Tour’s third stage, edged Djamolidin Abdoujaparov of Uzbekistan and Italy’s Andrea Ferrigato in the 129-mile leg.

Zabel was timed in 5 hours, 8 minutes, 10 seconds.

Yevgeny Berzin of Russia is second overall, 40 seconds behind Riis.

Five-time defending champion Miguel Indurain of Spain is well behind the leaders as the race neared its halfway point. Indurain was eighth, 4:38 behind.

Today, the racers take their only rest day of the 21-stage Tour that ends July 21 in Paris.