Cycling: LeMond out of Tour de France

(First Edition)

GREG LeMOND, the three-times winner of the Tour de France, yesterday withdrew from the race, which begins on Saturday, suffering from an allergy that has weakened him too much to ride in the gruelling three-week event.

Roger Legeay, the head of LeMond's GAN team, said yesterday that he was not putting the American on the starting list for the race. Instead, he will name an all-French team. 'Greg suffers from a weakness, an allergy from the Tour of Italy that weakened his immune system, which explains his great fatigue,' Legeay said. LeMond won the Tour de France in 1986, 1989 and 1990.

LeMond has been riding poorly all season in preparation for this year's race. He has dropped out of several races and finished down the field in ones he completed. He suffered stomach aches and dysentery shortly before dropping out of the Tour of Italy, following a dismal performance.

Malcolm Elliott, riding for Chevrolet-LA Sheriff, yesterday won his first British professional road race championship on the Isle of Man, outsprinting the 1991 champion, Brian Smith, from the Banana team. Shane Sutton, the Australian who also rides for Banana, took the bronze medal, seven seconds behind Elliott.