Miguel Indurain finds himself in an unusual position in the Tour de France, well behind the leaders as the race nears its halfway point.
Indurain, who won the Tour for the last five years, is in eighth place and 4 minutes, 38 seconds behind Bjarne Riis of Denmark.Riis won the shortened ninth leg and went into the overall lead Monday after summer snow forced race organizers to eliminate two mountain climbs.
Indurain, who turns 32 on July 16, is trying to become the first man to win six Tours. Only three others have managed to win five - Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault. And if Indurain wants to eclipse them, the Spaniard has his work cut out for him.
Indurain now must become the attacker in the race, where usually he is the one being attacked by challengers trying to chip away at the lead Indurain usually held by this stage.
Now Indurain must try those tactics, as he did Monday.
Riis went on a solo breakaway, while Indurain led a small pack away from the main group that included previous leader Yevgeny Berzin of Russia, who took the lead over the weekend.
The Spaniard ended up fifth, 28 seconds behind Riis. Berzin wound up 14th for the day, 1:23 behind Riis. Overall Berzin is second, 40 seconds behind.
After a 10th stage from Turin, Italy to Gap today, there is a lone rest day on July 10.
The course then heads across France's Massif Central for a string of moderate to long stages featuring several short but steep climbs.
The Tour heads into the Pyrenees and then into Spain for a stage July 17 that ends near Indurain's hometown. The second time trial July 20 will likely crown the overall winner before the final ceremonial spin through Paris on July 21.
The ninth leg of the race was originally to start from Val d'Isere and finish in Sestriere in Italy. After bypassing two snowy mountain passes, the leg went about 28 miles compared to the original 117.5 miles
"It was cold out there, but I'm happy. I'm always strong when it's warm, but I am happy the way things turned out in the cold weather," Riis said.
"It's a shame for the climbers. But we have to do this for the safety of the riders," said Jean-Marie Leblanc, the Tour director.
Initially, the organizers were to skip the 9,141-foot Col de l'Iseran, the highest point on this year's Tour. Then high winds and snow of about 4 inches made the organizers cancel a second climb on the Col de Galibier, 8,731 feet.
"The decision was a good one. We don't want to race in conditions like this. It's dangerous," said Swiss Tony Rominger.