CYCLING / TOUR DE FRANCE : Van Poppel Wins Sprint to Finish as Leaders Stay Same

The Tour de France’s sprinters--the cyclists who strive for stage victories, not overall titles--made their first real showing Tuesday when Jean-Paul Van Poppel of the Netherlands won the 135-mile 10th stage in a mass finish at Strasbourg, France.

As a result, Pascal Lino of France retained the overall lead for the eighth day in a row, and defending champion Miguel Indurain of Spain stayed in second, 1 minute 27 seconds behind. The other contenders also maintained their positions. Stephen Roche of Ireland is fourth, 4:15 behind, Greg LeMond of Wayzata, Minn., is fifth, 4:27 behind, Gianni Bugno of Italy is sixth, 4:39 behind and Claudio Chiappucci of Italy is eighth, 4:54 behind.

The favorites were content to let the sprinters have their day on the stage from Luxembourg to Strasbourg because they are conserving energy for this weekend’s mountain stages through the Alps.

Some, perhaps, also will mount attacks in today’s 155-mile stage from Strasbourg to Mulhouse, LeMond said. The stage includes five second- and third-category climbs in the Vosges mountains, which is as many ascents as any on the Tour.

The only attack came near the end of the stage when Bugno, the 1991 world champion, and Roche, the 1987 Tour champion, broke away.

“After the time trial (Monday), everybody realized that it’s not only in the mountains that Indurain’s going to win, so we’ll try to trap his team on the flat sections,” Roche said.

With the strategy failing, it was left to the sprinters to carry the main group home. Van Poppel, who won four Tour stages in 1987, and the green jersey given to the rider with the most sprint points, edged Djamolidine Abdoujaparov of Uzbekistan, second, and Laurent Jalabert of France, third, in a dramatic finish. He won the stage in 5 hours 2 minutes 45 seconds.

Steve Bauer of Canada, second over the weekend, was trapped behind a 20-rider crash 50 miles into the stage, and virtually dropped out of contention. Bauer, who rides for the American-based Motorola team, lost more than 14 minutes to the favorites and is 60th, 21:53 behind.

Standings

AFTER 10 OF 21 STAGES

1. Pascal Lino (France), 42:01:48

2. Miguel Indurain (Spain), 1:27 behind

3. Jesper Skibby (Denmark), 3:47

4. Stephen Roche (Ireland), 4:15.

5. Greg LeMond (United States), 4:27

6. Gianni Bugno (Italy), 4:39

7. Jens Heppner (Germany), 4:52

8. Claudio Chiappucci (Italy), 4:54

9. Yvon Ledanois (France), 5:52.

10. Alberto Leanizbarrutia (Spain), 6:15