Riis in yellow, Indurain concedes race

If you tuned into Tuesday's Stage 16 of the Tour de France before the last five minutes of the race, you started watching too soon. It was like waiting for action in an aquarium.

In those last five minutes, Laurent Roux (TVM), after struggling for the lead of the race for more than 160 kilometers, fell back and was absorbed like a minnow caught by a school of fish. Shortly after, just inside the eight-kilometer mark, the school parted and made room for another, bigger fish. Bjarne Riis emerged, his trademark shark's gape chomping at the thin air near the top of the climb.

For the first 191 kilometers of the 199-kilometer stage from Agen to Lourdes-Hautacam, the race was what the Italians call tranquillo. An early break of three riders--Pascal Hervé (Festina), Andrea Tafi (Mapei-GB), and Fabio Roscioli (Refin)--didn't last long before it was reabsorbed by the peloton. That break, however, was followed by another including Roux, Mariano Piccoli (Brescialat), and Pascal Richard (MG-Technogym), and this group maintained its lead for the majority of the race. Roux, Piccoli, and Richard didn't look back until they'd put more than 100 kilometers behind them.

The peloton rolled steadily behind, though, and by the time the Pyrenees loomed into view at the 135-kilometer mark, the stout-hearted trio began to fade. Richard dropped back, then Piccoli. Roux fought on until the final climb, and within the last 10 kilometers Alex Zülle broke out of the front of the peloton and finally passed the struggling Roux, who was then absorbed by the peloton shortly before Zülle was swallowed up again. This is when Riis made his move and put two minutes and 28 seconds between himself and five-time Tour winner Miguel Indurain.

LEADERS' JERSEYS (after Stage 16)

Stage winner:
Bjarne Riis (Telekom)

Yellow jersey:
Bjarne Riis (Telekom)

Green jersey:
Erik Zabel (Telekom)

Climber's jersey:
Richard Virenque
(Festina)

First-place team
(this stage):
Festina

First-place team
(overall):
Mapei-GB

Fabio Casartelli Award (this stage):
Leonardo Piepoli (Refin)

Fabio Casartelli Award (overall):
Jan Ullrich (Telekom)

Denmark's Bjarne Riis is the man in yellow and Miguel Indurain had a black birthday.

In Tuesday's 16th stage, Riis confirmed his place atop the lead in a dramatic stage in the Pyrenees while five-time defending champion Indurain conceded this year's Tour.

"I gave it all I had today,'' said Indurain, who turned 32 Tuesday. "I still hope to be on the podium in Paris, but first place will certainly go to Riis."

Those must have been bittersweet words for Indurain, who hoped to become the first man to win six Tours. He fell short Tuesday when he couldn't stay with Riis, who's riding like a man possessed. Indurain finished in 12th at 2:28 and slipped to 10th overall at 7:16 back.

The overall leader at the start of the day, Riis quickly dropped the field in the final kilometers to win the 199-kilometer (123-mile) race that was flat until the final 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), when the course climbed 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) to a ski resort high in the Pyrenees. It's the same course that Indurain won in his fourth tour in 1994. Today, it was the course where Riis locked the lead to win his first.

Barring disaster in tomorrow's tough stage through the Pyrenees into Spain, Riis will likely hold his lead in Saturday's time trial and ride into Paris with the yellow jersey that he took in the weather-shortened stage July 8 at Sestrieres, Italy.

"Today Miguel Indurain lost the Tour and today Bjarne Riis won it," said French racer Laurent Dufaux, who finished third Tuesday behind France's Richard Virenque.

Today Riis simply blew apart the peloton on a course lined with hundreds of thousands of cheering fans. After reeling in a three-man break that pulled out early in the day, the overall leaders pulled to the front of the peloton and went mano a mano up the climb.

Fireworks started right away, with Indurain, Riis, second-place Abraham Olano, third-place Tony Rominger, and Russian Eugeni Berzin all riding shoulder to shoulder with the peloton's best climbers: Italy's Mariano Piepoli, Colombia's Federico Munoz, Switzerland's Pascal Richard, and France's Virenque and Luc Leblanc.

Riis made his definitive attack with eight kilometers to go. He put the hammer down and no one, not even the seemingly invincible Indurain, could answer. He dropped Indurain, Berzin, and Olano right away. Virenque, LeBlanc, Piepoli, and Dufaux tried in vain to hang on.

Riis stood out of his saddle and put everyone else in strict damage-control mode.

"I think Hautacam is the key to winning the Tour," said Riis, who finished third behind Indurain last year. "I'm happy I went out hard today, but I think it will be more difficult tomorrow because it's a dangerous stage."

Indeed, it could be dangerous, but Riis and his Telekom squad have the look of champions. The German team has dominated the Tour since Riis took the yellow jersey, and throughout France's Massif Central, whenever a leader sneezed, a blond Telekom rider was there to offer a tissue.

"I know Indurain is a close adversary, but I feel good and I have a good shot at winning now," Riis said. "I think it will be difficult tomorrow because we'll be in [Indurain's] part of the world."

No one's crying yet, but a growing horde of Danish journalists aren't afraid to show which side is theirs. All of them cheered when Riis crossed the finish line.

With Riis wiping off his sweat safely across the line, all eyes were on the peloton: How far back was Indurain?

First across was Virenque, the mountain jersey holder, then Dufaux, 49 seconds back. Then LeBlanc, Piepoli, and Rominger, powering with a strong second wind to move up to third overall at 2:54 back.

Rominger is recovering from a knee and leg injury and is looking to finish on the podium for the first time since 1993 when he was second to Indurain.

"Tony's feeling strong, but he's still dealing with problems stemming from the fall," said Gabrielle Rosas, Mapei-GB team spokesman. "It's very important for us to defend the position that we have now as a team."

World road race champion Olano finished strong at 1:46 behind Riis to stay in second overall at 2:42, but where was Indurain? The soft-spoken champion didn't cross the line until 2:28 behind Riis, a virtual lifetime in a Tour de France.

Only three other men have won five Tours--French riders Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, and Belgium rider Eddy Merckx. At the start of the Tour, Indurain was the hands-down favorite. But rolling into Pamplona tomorrow, just six miles from his hometown, Indurain will be a rider aiming for second or third, not first.

Tomorrow's stage will likely show what's left of Indurain's mettle. Now with Riis firmly in the driver's seat, the race is on for second and third.

Stage 16 results

Andrew Hood, Jim Schnebly, and Andy Dahlstrom are on the road, providing up-to-the-minute updates from the Tour de France