Cycling / Tour de France: Father's day for Chioccioli: Contenders take back seat as Italian fulfils his mission

AFTER slogging over 400 kilometres of Alpine passes the Tour de France riders were yesterday tripped by a hill on the road to St Etienne, where Franco Chioccioli was to celebrate the birth of his second son with Italy's third stage win of the race.

The wooded hill of Georgat was a mere blip on the course profile, but its final kilometre was an 11 per cent gradient, and that is where the Tour came to a full stop. The leading group of 20 disintegrated on that slope, and some walked to the summit rather than struggle to get the wheels turning again.

Then the main field arrived and, as the front men struggled, so a chain reaction spread through the group of 100 or so with several in the rear wobbling to a stop, and falling.

It was embarrassing rather than injurious, and it certainly did nothing to the impervious Miguel Indurain and his overall lead of 1min 42sec over Claudio Chiappucci.

It was a day off for the contenders after the stresses of Alpine altitude, and offered a pay-day for lesser mortals in the pack.

Chioccioli is not that much lesser. As the winner of the Tour of Italy last year, and third this year, he commanded respect, particularly from Indurain, and certainly his escape on the final climb brought frantic reactions.

Chiappucci and his lieutenant, Stephen Roche, tried to scare Indurain by setting the pace at the front, but a rain shower brought a different scare as the descent into the industrial town of St Etienne became greasy.

Ronan Pensec, a yellow-jersey wearer for a day in the 1990 Tour, took up the pursuit of Chioccioli, and ended on his behind in a lengthy undignified slide into the gutter.

Thereafter it was to be father's day as Chioccioli raced home 42 seconds ahead of Dimitri Konyshev, and seven seconds later Indurain and his rivals arrived in a group that included another new father, the Norwegian Atle Kvalsvoll.

Franco and Claudia will name their son, Alessio, but dad is uneasy with his own nickname, Coppino (Little Coppi), so-called because of his resemblance to Italy's revered racer, Fausto Coppi.

'We may compare physically but Coppi's record is incomparable. He was great,' the Tuscan said of the man who had his second Tour de France triumph 40 years ago.

'This is my first Tour, and I am not looking for the yellow jersey. I recovered from the mountains well because I didn't make too much of an effort on l'Alpe d'Huez.

'I am just discovering the Tour de France at the age of 32 and it was my ambition to win a stage. Mission accomplished. I won my Tour with this stage win, and maybe I will try for the jersey another year.'

In the final week of the Tour of Italy, Indurain's victory chances were constantly under fire from Chioccioli. 'He impressed me, and he was dangerous on the climbs. He was the one to watch closely,' the Spaniard said. Chioccioli is no threat this week as he is more than 24 minutes in arrears.

In Alpe d'Huez earlier yesterday there were more family affairs as Greg LeMond departed for home with his mother, father, wife Kathy and their boys, Geoffrey and Scott.

After his retirement through fatigue, the American has shelved plans for an attack on the world hour record next month in Mexico. He claims that the next time he turns pedals in anger will be in the Kellogg's five-day Tour of Britain which starts in Dundee next month.

The last climb of note on this year's Tour will be today's 1400- metre Croix Morand among the extinct volcanoes in the Puy-de- Dome region. From then on the Tour is on a plate for Indurain.

TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 15 (198km, Bourg d'Oisans to St Etienne): 1 F Chioccioli (GB- MG, It) 4hr 43min 59sec; 2 D Konyshev (TVM, Russ) +42sec; 3 G Perini (Carrera, It) +43; 4 L Jalabert (ONCE, Fr) +49; 5 C Chiappucci (Carrera, It); 6 P Lino (RMO, Fr); 7 M Ghirotto (Carrera, It); 8 J Unzaga (CLAS, Sp); 9 R Alcala (PDM, Mex); 10 S Rooks (Buckler, Neth); 11 A Kvalsvoll (Z, Nor); 12 G Bugno (Gatorade, It); 13 J Simon (Z, Fr); 14 S Roche (Carrera, Irl); 15 M Indurain (Banesto, Sp) all same time. Selected: 42 S Kelly (Festina, Irl) +3min 18sec; 46 R Millar (TVM, GB) s/t; 65 M Earley (PDM, Irl) +12:20; 93 S Yates (Motorola, GB) +15:13.

Overall: 1 Indurain 74hr 04min 55sec; 2 Chiappucci +1min 42sec; 3 A Hampsten (Motorola, US) +8:01; 4 P Lino (RMO, Fr) +9:16; 5 Bugno +10:09; 6 P Delgado (Banesto, Sp) +11:38; 7 E Breukink (PDM, Neth) +15:48; 8 Perini (Carrera, It) +15:50; 9 Roche +18:03; 10 J Heppner (Telekom, Ger) +18:22; 11 F Vona (GB-MG, It) +19:10; 12 G-J Theunisse (TVM, Neth) +20:26; 13 E Boyer (Z, Fr) +20:28; 14 G Rue (Castorama, Fr) +20:55; 15 E Bouwmans (Panasonic, Neth) +22:38. Selected: 16 Millar +23:37; 40 Kelly +1hr 10min 27sec; 75 Earley +2:02:48; 79 Yates +2:05:03.

(Maps omitted)