Riis Is Right On

Denmark’s Bjarne Riis, the overall leader in this year’s Tour de France, pulled further away by winning today’s 124-mile stage of the cycling classic.

Riis left the field behind with a powerful climb in the final 6 miles up a winding, steep road in the Pyrenees Mountains.

Riis finished 49 seconds ahead of runnerup Richard Virenque of France and Switzerland’s Laurent Dufaux, who was third.

Five-time defending champion Miguel Indurain of Spain fell further behind in his bid to win for an unprecedented sixth year in a row. He lost another 2 minutes, 28 seconds to Riis, and fell to 10th place.

On the steep course lined with hundreds of thousands of fans, Indurain couldn’t stay with Riis, who pumped his way up the slopes to widen his overall lead to two minutes, 42 seconds over runnerup Abraham Olano of Spain.