Cycling: Indurain off the pace in time trial

MIGUEL INDURAIN, the world No 1, yesterday received an early setback in the Giro d'Italia when the Frenchman Armand de las Cuevas won the opening day time trial in Bologna.

De las Cuevas, 25, took the pink jersey by winning the seven-kilometre ride, forcing Evgeni Berzin, of Russia, into second by two seconds while Indurain, aiming for his third consecutive win, lost five. Two of his leading challengers, the Italians Gianni Bugno and Claudio Chiappucci, conceded 14sec and 28sec respectively. Indurain has based his major tour victories on time-trial wins and was expected to win.

The morning stage, an 86km circuit of Bologna, was won by Endrio Leoni, who outsprinted fellow Italians Giovanni Lombardi and Adriano Baffi, but was marred near the finish by a pile-up which injured a German rider and some spectators.

With two kilometers to go, several cyclists tumbled on a bend and collided with spectators. The German rider Steffen Wesemann broke his right collar-bone and was treated and released from the town's Maggiore hospital. Hospital officials said he departed for Germany. A 24-year-old Italian student suffered a head injury, a Bologna man lost two teeth and a policewoman and another person suffered bruises.

Details, Sporting Digest, page 31