1993 Tour de France

July 2 - July 24

Results, Map, Photos and Narrative History

1993 Tour de France map

1993 Tour de France Quick Facts

The 1993 Tour had 20 stages plus a prologue that totaled 3714.3 kilometers.

It was ridden at an average speed of 38.709 km/hr.

180 riders started and there were 136 classified finishers.

This was Miguel Indurain's third consecutive Tour victory. 1993 marked Indurain's second Giro-Tour double win. Coppi, Anquetil, Merckx and Hinault had done the Giro/Tour win in the same year twice as well, but only Indurain had done it in consecutive years.

In 1993 Indurain's main challenge came from Tony Rominger. Rominger lost time early in the race during the team time trial. After the race was over Rominger felt that without that catastrophic time loss (which included a 1-minute penalty because the CLAS riders were giving each other pushes) Indurain would not have had the luxury of riding conservatively and therefore would have been beatable. We'll never know.

1993 Tour de France final General Classification:

1. Miguel Indurain (Banesto) 103hr 38min 38sec

2. Tony Rominger (CLAS) @ 4min 59sec

3. Zenon Jaskula (GBM) @ 5min 48sec

4. Alvaro Mejia (Motorola) @ 7min 29sec

5. Bjarne Riis (Ariostea) @ 16min 26sec

6. Claudio Chiappucci (Carrera) @ 17min 18sec

7. Johan Bruyneel (ONCE) @ 18min 4sec

8. Andy Hampsten (Motorola) @ 20min 14sec

9. Pedro Delgado (Banesto) @ 23min 57sec

10. Vladimir Poulnikov (Carrera) @ 25min 29sec

11. Gianni Faresin (ZG Mobili) @ 29min 5sec

12. Antonio Martin Velasco (Amaya) @ 29min 51sec

13. Stephen Roche (Carrera) @ 29min 53sec

14. Roberto Conti (Ariostea) @ 30min 5sec

15. Jean-Philippe Dojwa (Festina) @ 30min 24sec

16. Oliviero Rincon (Amaya) @ 33min 19sec

17. Alberto Elli (Ariostea) @ 33min 29sec

18. Jon Unzanga (CLAS) @ 38min 9sec

19. Richard Virenque (Festina) @ 38min 12sec

20. Gianni Bugno (Gatorade) @ 40min 8sec

Climbers Competition:

1. Tony Rominger: 449 points

2. Claudio Chiappucci: 301

3. Oliviero Rincon: 286

Points Competition:

1. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov: 322 points

2. Johan Museeuw: 157

3. Maximilian Sciandri: 153

Best team GC: Carrera

Best Young Rider: Antonio Martin

1993 Tour de France stages and results

Prologue: Saturday, July 3, Puy du Fou 6.8 km Individual Time Trial. Stage and GC places and times are the same.

1. Miguel Indurain: 8min 12sec

2. Alex Zulle @ 8sec

3. Gianni Bugno @ 11sec

4. Thierry Marie @ 13sec

5. Tony Rominger @ 14sec

6. Rolf Sorensen @ 18sec

7. Raul Alcala s.t.

8. Claudio Chiappucci @ 20sec

9. Laurent Jalabert @ 23sec

10. Stephen Roche @ 24sec

Stage 1: Sunday, July 4, Lucon - Les Sables d'Olonne, 215 km

1. Mario Cipollini: 4hr 52min 29sec

2. Wilfried Nelissen s.t.

3. Laurent Jalabert s.t.

4. Olaf Ludwig s.t.

5. Johan Capiot s.t.

6. Jan Kirsipuu s.t.

7. Jean-Paul Van Poppel s.t.

8. Jan Svorada s.t.

9. Andrea Ferrigato s.t.

10. Maxilimilian Sciandri s.t.

GC after Stage 1:

1. Miguel Indurain: 5hr 33sec

2. Alex Zulle @ 12sec

3. Gianni Bugno @ 15sec

4. Laurent Jalabert @ 17sec

5. Thierry Marie s.t.

6. Tony Rominger @ 18sec

7. Wilfried Nelissen @ 21sec

8. Rolf Sorensen @ 22sec

9. Raul Alcala s.t.

10. Mario Cipollini s.t.

Stage 2: Monday, July 5, Les Sables d'Olonne - Vannes, 227.5 km

1. Wilfried Nelissen: 5hr 41min 9sec

2. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov s.t.

3. Mario Cipollini s.t.

4. Olaf Ludwig s.t.

5. Raul Alcala s.t.

6. Gianni Bugno s.t.

7. Lance Armstrong s.t.

8. Mario Kummer @ 3sec

9. Jan Kirsipuu @ 6sec

10. Jan Nevens s.t.

GC after stage 2:

1. Wilfried Nelissen: 10hr 41min 35sec

2. Miguel Indurain @ 17sec

3. Mario Cipollini @ 21sec

4. Gianni Bugno @ 26sec

5. Thierry Marie @ 28sec

6. Alex Zulle @ 29sec

7. Laurent Jalabert @ 32sec

8. Raul Alcala @ 33sec

9. Tony Rominger @ 35sec

10. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 36sec

Stage 3: Tuesday, July 6, Vannes - Dinard, 189.5 km

1. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov: 4hr 41min 53sec

2. Wilfried Nelissen s.t.

3. Mario Cipollini s.t.

4. Johan Capiot s.t.

5. Laurent Jalabert s.t.

6. Olaf Ludwig s.t.

7. Stefano Colage s.t.

8. Johan Museeuw s.t.

9. Christophe Capelle s.t.

10. Andrea Ferrigato s.t.

GC after Stage 3:

1. Wilfried Nelissen: 15hr 23min 16sec

2. Mario Cipollini @ 25sec

3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 28sec

4. Miguel Indurain @ 29sec

5. Gianni Bugno @ 38sec

6. Thierry Marie @ 40sec

7. Alex Zulle @ 41sec

8. Laurent Jalabert @ 42sec

9. Raul Alcala @ 45sec

10. Tony Rominger @ 47sec

Stage 4: Wednesday, July 7, Dinard - Avranches 81 km Team Time Trial

1. GB-MG: 1hr 34min 10sec

2. ONCE @ 5sec

3. Motorola @ 26sec

4. Novemail @ 31sec

5. Carrera @ 37sec

6. Telekom @ 1min 21sec

7. Banesto @ 1min 22sec

8. Gatorade @ 1min 34sec

9. Ariostea @ 1min 36sec

10. Lampre @ 1min 49sec

14. Clas @ 3min 6sec. (Rominger's team)

GC after Stage 4:

1. Mario Cipollini: 16hr 57min 51sec

2. Wilfried Nelissen @ 6sec

3. Alex Zulle @ 21sec

4. Laurent Jalabert @ 22sec

5. Zenon Jaskula @ 29sec

6. Johan Bruyneel @ 39sec

7. Erik Breukink s.t.

8. Philippe Louviot @ 52sec

9. Franco Ballerini @ 1min 5sec

Stage 5: Thursday, July 8, Avranches - Evreux, 225.5 km

1. Jesper Skibby: 5hr 11min 57sec

2. Wilfried Nelissen @ 1sec

3. Andrea Ferrigato s.t.

4. Maximilian Sciandri s.t.

5. Stefano Colage s.t.

6. Olaf Ludwig s.t.

7. Mario Cipollini s.t.

8. Davide Cassani s.t.

9. Tony Rominger s.t.

10. Laurent Jalabert s.t.

GC after stage 5:

1. Wilfried Nelissen: 22hr 9min 37sec

2. Mario Cipollini @ 2sec

3. Laurent Jalabert @ 32sec

4. Alex Zulle @ 33sec

5. Zenon Jaskula @ 41sec

6. Johan Bruyneel @ 51sec

7. Erik Breukink s.t.

8. Philippe Louviot @ 1min 4sec

9. Johan Museeuw @ 1min 10sec

10. Franco Ballerini @ 1min 17sec

Stage 6: Friday, July 9, Evreux - Amiens, 158 km

1. Johan Bruyneel: 3hr 11min 50sec

2. Mario Cipollini @ 13sec

3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov s.t.

4. Capiot Capiot s.t.

5. Christophe Capelle s.t.

6. Frederic Moncassin s.t.

7. Giovanni Fidanza s.t.

8. Laurent Jalabert s.t.

9. Andrea Ferrigato s.t.

10. François Simon s.t.

GC after Stage 6:

1. Mario Cipollini: 25hr 21min 28sec

2. Wilfried Nelissen @ 12sec

3. Johan Bruyneel @ 30sec

4. Laurent Jalabert @ 44sec

5. Alex Zulle @ 45sec

6. Zenon Jaskula @ 53sec

7. Erik Breukink @ 1min 3sec

8. Philippe Louviot @ 1min 16sec

9. Steve Bauer @ 1min 21sec

10. Johan Museeuw @ 1min 22sec

Stage 7: Saturday, July 10, Péronne - Chalons sur Marne, 199 km

1. Bjarne Riis: 4hr 28min 11sec

2. Maximilian Sciandri s.t.

3. Johan Museeuw s.t.

4. Alvaro Mejia @ 2sec

5. Leonardo Sierra @ 3sec

6. Phil Anderson @ 23sec

7. Bruno Cenghialta @ 23sec (given Sierra's time because he was hit by a car at the finish)

8. Rolf Aldag @ 2min 26sec

9. Jean-Pierre Bourgeot s.t.

10. Mario Cipollini @ 2min 29sec

GC after Stage 7:

1. Johan Museeuw: 29hr 50min 41sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 39sec

3. Bjarne Riis @ 1min 11sec

4. Mario Cipollini @ 1min 21sec

5. Bruno Cenghialta @ 1min 32sec

6. Wilfried Nelissen @ 1min 39sec

7. Maximilian Sciandri @ 1min 49sec

8. Johan Bruyneel @ 1min 57sec

9. Laurent Jalabert @ 2min 11sec

10. Alex Zulle @ 2min 12sec

Stage 8: Sunday, July 11, Chalons sur Marne - Verdun, 184.5 km

1. Lance Armstrong: 4hr 22min 23sec

2. Raul Alcala s.t.

3. Ronan Pensec s.t.

4. Dominique Arnould s.t.

5. Giancarlo Perini s.t.

6. Stephen Roche @ 1sec

7. Mario Cipollini @ 14sec

8. Frederic Moncassin s.t.

9. Christophe Capelle s.t.

10. Steve Bauer s.t.

GC after stage 8:

1. Johan Museeuw: 34hr 13min 18sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 39sec

3. Mario Cipollini @ 1min 7sec

4. Bjarne Riis @ 1min 11sec

5. Bruno Cenghialta @ 1 min 32sec

6. Wilfried Nelissen @ 1min 35sec

7. Maximilian Sciandri @ 1min 49sec

8. Johan Bruyneel @ 1min 57sec

9. Laurent Jalabert @ 2min 11sec

Stage 9: Monday, July 12, Lac de Madine 59 km Individual Time Trial

1. Miguel Indurain: 1hr 12min 50sec

2. Gianni Bugno @ 2min 11sec

3. Erik Breukink @ 2min 22sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 2min 42sec

5. Alex Zulle @ 3min 18sec

6. Johan Bruyneel @ 3min 50sec

7. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min

8. Raul Alcala @ 4min 5sec

9. Philippe Louviot @ 4min 28sec

10. Stephen Roche @ 4min 30sec

GC after Stage 9:

1. Miguel Indurain: 35hr 29min 25sec

2. Erik Breukink @ 1min 35sec

3. Johan Bruyneel @ 2min 30sec

4. Gianni Bugno @ 2min 32sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 2min 34sec

6. Johan Museeuw @ 3min 2sec

7. Zenon Jaskula @ 3min 3sec

8. Alvaro Mejia @ 3min 8sec

9. Philippe Louviot @ 3min 54sec

10. Stephen Roche @ 4min 10sec

11. Alex Zulle @ 4min 12sec

12. Raul Alcala @ 4min 32sec

Stage 10: Wednesday, July 14, Villard de Lans - Serre Chevalier, 203 km

Major Ascents: Glandon, Télégraphe, Galibier

1. Tony Rominger: 5hr 28min 52sec

2. Alvaro Mejia s.t.

3. Miguel Indurain s.t.

4. Andy Hampsten @ 1min 13sec

5. Zenon Jaskula s.t.

6. Erik Breukink @ 3min 32sec

7. Oliviero Rincon s.t.

8. Richard Virenque @ 4min 35sec

9. Roberto Conti s.t.

10. Javier Mauleon s.t.

GC after Stage 10:

1. Miguel Indurain: 40hr 58min 17sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 3min 8sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 16sec

4. Erik Breukink @ 5min 7sec

5. Tony Rominger @ 5min 44sec

6. Andy Hampsten @ 8min 6sec

7. Charly Mottet @ 9min 44sec

8. Bjarne Riis @ 9min 55sec

9. Gianni Bugno @ 10min 14sec

10. Alex Zulle @ 11min 9sec

11. Pedro Delgado @ 11min 13sec

12. Stephen Roche @ 12min 59sec

Stage 11: Thursday, July 15, Serre Chevalier - Isola 2000, 179 km

Major Ascents: Izoard, Vars, La Bonette-Restefonds, Isola 2000

1. Tony Rominger: 5hr 41min 3sec

2. Miguel Indurain s.t.

3. Claudio Chiappucci @ 13sec

4. Zenon Jaskula @ 15sec

5. Alvaro Mejia s.t.

6. Bjarne Riis @ 31sec

7. Robert Millar @ 1min

8. Oliviero Rincon @ 2min 56sec

9. Andy Hempsten @ 3min 6sec

10. Roberto Conti @ 3min 22sec

GC after Stage 11:

1. Miguel Indurain: 46hr 39min 20sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 3min 23sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 31sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 5min 44sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 10min 26sec

6. Andy Hampsten @ 11min 12sec

7. Claudio Chiappucci @ 14min 9sec

8. Erik Breukink @ 14min 54sec

9. Pedro Delgado @ 15min 32sec

10. Oliviero Rincon @ 21min 17sec

Stage 12: Friday, July 16, Isola 2000 - Marseille, 285.5 km

1. Fabio Roscioli: 7hr 29min 44sec

2. Massimo Ghirotto @ 7min 14sec

3. Vladimir Poulnikov s.t.

4. Valerio Tebaldi @ 7min 17sec

5. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 7min 34sec

6. Laurent Jalabert s.t.

7. Franco Ballerini @ 7min 36sec

8. Olaf Ludwig @ 8min 25sec

9. Andrea Tafi s.t.

10. Richard Virenque @ 16min 58sec

GC after stage 12:

1. Miguel Indurain: 54hr 29min 39sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 3min 23sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 31sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 5min 44sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 10min 26sec

6. Andy Hampsten @ 11min 12sec

7. Claudio Chiappucci @ 14min 9sec

8. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 14min 21sec

9. Erik Breukink @ 14min 54sec

10. Pedro Delgado @ 15min 32sec

Stage 13: Saturday, July 17, Marseille - Montpellier, 181.5 km

1. Olaf Ludwig: 4hr 13min 10sec

2. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov s.t.

3. Johan Museeuw s.t.

4. Giovanni Fidanza s.t.

5. Frederic Moncassin s.t.

6. Laurent Jalabert s.t.

7. François Simon s.t.

8. Christophe Capelle s.t.

9. Uwe Raab s.t.

10. Jelle Nijdam s.t.

GC after Stage 13:

1. Miguel Indurain: 58hr 42min 49sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 3min 23sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 45sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 5min 44sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 10min 26sec

6. Andy Hampsten @ 11min 12sec

7. Claudio Chiappucci @ 14min 9sec

8. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 14min 35sec

9. Erik Breukink @ 15min 8sec

10. Pedro Delgado @ 15min 46sec

Stage 14: Sunday, July 18, Montpellier - Perpagnan, 223 km

1. Pascal Lino: 5hr 28min 51sec

2. Giancarlo Perini s.t.

3. Johan Bruyneel @ 13sec

4. Mario Chiesa s.t.

5. Gianni Faresin s.t.

6. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov @ 16min 19sec

7. Laurent Jalabert s.t.

8. Christophe Capelle s.t.

9. François Simon s.t.

10. Giovanni Fidanza s.t.

GC after stage 14:

1. Miguel Indurain: 64hr 27min 59sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 3min 23sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 45sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 5min 44sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 10min 26sec

6. Andy Hampsten @ 11min 12sec

7. Claudio Chiappucci @ 14min 9sec

8. Johan Bruyneel @ 14min 30sec

9. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 14min 35sec

10. Erik Breukink @ 15min 8sec

Stage 15: Monday, July 19, Perpignan - Andorra, 231.5 km

Major Ascents: Jau, Garabel, Côte de Puyvalador, Puymorens, Port d'Envalira, Col d'Ordino, Andorra-Pal.

1. Oliviero Rincon: 7hr 20min 19sec

2. Tony Rominger @ 1min 50sec

3. Bjarne Riis s.t.

4. Zenon Jaskula s.t.

5. Miguel Indurain s.t.

6. Alvaro Mejia s.t.

7. Jean-Philippe Dojwa @ 1min 52sec

8. Claudio Chiappucci s.t.

9. Antonio Martin @ 2min 2sec

10. Jon Unzaga @ 2min 9sec

GC after stage 15:

1. Miguel Indurain: 71hr 50min 8sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 3min 23sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 45sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 5min 44sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 10min 26sec

6. Andy Hampsten @ 13min 30sec

7. Claudio Chiappucci @ 14min 11sec

8. Johan Bruyneel @ 14min 54sec

9. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 15min 8sec

10. Pedro Delgado @ 16min 9sec

Stage 16: Wednesday, July 21, Andorra - St. Lary du Soulan, 230 km

Major Ascents: Collado del Canto, Puerto de la Bonaigua, Portillon, Peyresourde, Pla d'Adet

1. Zenon Jaskula: 7hr 21min 1sec

2. Tony Rominger s.t.

3. Miguel Indurain @ 3sec

4. Stephen Roche @ 25sec

5. Robert Millar @ 1min 6sec

6. Andy Hampsten @ 1min 8sec

7. Alvaro Mejia s.t.

8. Richard Virenque @ 1min 35sec

9. Jon Unzaga s.t.

10. Claudio Chiappucci s.t.

GC after Stage 16:

1. Miguel Indurain: 79hr 11min 12sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 4min 28sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 42sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 5min 41sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 12min 15sec

6. Andy Hampsten @ 14min 35sec

7. Claudio Chiappucci @ 15min 43sec

8. Johan Bruyneel @ 16min 30sec

9. Pedro Delgado @ 19min 21sec

10. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 20min 40sec

Stage 17: Thursday, July 22, Tarbes - Pau, 190 km

Major Ascents: Tourmalet, Aubisque

1. Claudio Chiappucci: 5hr 5min 33sec

2. Massimo Ghirotto s.t.

3. Jon Unzaga s.t.

4. Bjarne Riis @ 1min 17sec

5. Viatcheslav Ekimov @ 1min 21sec

6. Jean-Philippe Dojwa s.t.

7. Jesper Skibby @ 1min 24sec

8. Johan Museeuw s.t.

9. Maximilian Sciandri s.t.

10. Stefano Colage s.t.

GC after stage 17:

1. Miguel Indurain: 84hr 18min 9sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 4min 28sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 42sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 5min 41sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 12min 8sec

6. Claudio Chiappucci @ 14min 19sec

7. Andy Hampsten @ 14min 35sec

8. Johan Bruyneel @ 16min 30sec

9. Pedro Delgado @ 19min 21sec

10. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 20min 40sec

Stage 18: Friday, July 23, Orthez - Bordeaux, 199.5 km

1. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov: 5hr 9min 4sec

2. Frankie Andreu s.t.

3. Rolf Sorensen s.t.

4. Frans Maassen s.t.

5. Dag-Otto Lauritzen s.t.

6. Stefano Colage s.t.

7. François Simon s.t.

8. Rolf Aldag s.t.

9. Jacky Durand s.t.

10. Brian Holm s.t.

GC after Stage 18:

1. Miguel Indurain: 89hr 32min 5sec

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 4min 28sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4min 42sec

4. Tony Rominger @ 5min 41sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 12min 8sec

6. Claudio Chiappucci @ 14min 19sec

7. Andy Hampsten @ 14min 35sec

8. Johan Bruyneel @ 16min 30sec

9. Pedro Delgado @ 19min 21sec

10. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 20min 40sec

Stage 19: Saturday, July 24, Bretigny sur Orge - Monthléry 48 km Individual Time Trial

1. Tony Rominger: 57min 2sec

2. Miguel Indurain @ 42sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 1min 48sec

4. Johan Bruyneel @ 2min 16sec

5. Gianni Bugno @ 3min

6. Jean-François Bernard @ 3min 5sec

7. Viatcheslav Ekimov @ 3min 9sec

8. Philippe Louviot @ 3min 30sec

9. Claudio Chiappucci @ 3min 41sec

10. Alvaro Mejia @ 3min 43sec

GC after Stage 19:

1. Miguel Indurain: 90hr 29min 49sec

2. Tony Rominger @ 4min 59sec

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 5min 48sec

4. Alvaro Mejia @ 7min 29sec

5. Bjarne Riis @ 16min 26sec

6. Claudio Chiappucci @ 17min 18sec

7. Johan Bruyneel @ 18min 4sec

8. Andy Hampsten @ 20min 18sec

9. Pedro Delgado @ 23min 57sec

10. Vladimir Poulnikov @ 25min 29sec

20th and Final Stage: Sunday, July 25, Viry Chatillon - Paris/Champs Elysées, 196.5 km

1. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov: 5hr 27min 20sec

2. Frederic Moncassin s.t.

3. Stefano Colage s.t.

4. Uwe Raab s.t.

5. Maximilian Sciandri s.t.

6. Phil Anderson s.t.

7. Johan Museeuw s.t.

8. Giovanni Fidanza s.t.

9. Christophe Capelle s.t.

10. Marc Sergeant s.t.

Final 1993 Tour de France General Classification

The Story of the 1993 Tour de France:

This excerpt is from "The Story of the Tour de France", Volume 2. If you enjoy it we hope you will consider purchasing the book, either print or electronic. The Amazon link here will make either purchase easy.

The start of the 1993 Tour was much like the start of the 1992 edition. Again Indurain had won the Giro and done it the same way as before. He won the 2 major time trials and let no one who was a danger run away from him in the mountains.

Claudio Chiappucci, one of the expected challengers to the mighty Spaniard's hegemony, was third in the Giro. His ability to beat Indurain was certainly questionable since he was so vulnerable in the time trials. As in the 1992 Tour de France, he finished more than 4 minutes behind Indurain in the Italian tour.

The 1993 Tour was run clockwise, starting near the western coast and working its way across the north of France. At 3,714 kilometers it was about 200 kilometers shorter than the year before, but right in the range of current Tours.

The Tour's prologue certainly had a familiar sound with Indurain winning and Alex Zülle second to him, this time at 8 seconds. Bugno was third at 11 seconds.

Stage 1 saw Mario Cipollini victorious in the first of what would eventually be 12 Tour stage victories. In his 8 Tour starts Cipollini would never finish a single Tour de France.

The second stage was won by Wilfried Nelissen who started a 6-stage sprinter's grab fest as the jersey was shunted from sprinter to sprinter. There was one notable new face in that stage 2 sprint: 22-year-old Lance Armstrong, riding for Motorola, was seventh.

Stage 4, an 81-kilometer team time trial, was the first day that really affected the Tour. Cipollini's GB-MG team won it with the Spanish ONCE squad only 5 seconds behind. This was the start of ONCE's cultivation of the team time trial. They worked to perfect their ability in this event until in later years they almost came to own it with a dominance that was nearly as complete as the TI-Raleigh team of the 1970s. Motorola had also taken team time trials very seriously and had clearly been working on this discipline. They came in third, much better than the previous year's sixth. Indurain's Banesto squad was seventh, 1 minute, 22 seconds behind the GB team.

This stage later turned out to have an important effect upon the Tour. The CLAS team was rather slow, being about 2 minutes behind GB-MG. Because the riders had given each other pushes along the way and because of a too-long tow from the team car while CLAS team leader Tony Rominger had a loose water bottle cage fixed, the entire team was penalized another minute. That meant that Rominger and the CLAS team lost a total of 3 minutes, 6 seconds in this early stage.

Stage 6 was the fastest Tour road stage to date at 49.417 kilometers per hour. Winner Johan Bruyneel went on, of course, to greater fame as the director sportif of US Postal and Discovery. Other names promising future fame won the next 2 stages. Bjarne Riis won stage 7. In 3 years he would win the Tour outright.

Stage 8 was Lance Armstrong's first Tour de France stage victory. He worked with Raul Alcala and Ronan Pensec to bridge the gap up to 3 riders (including Stephen Roche) off the front. Armstrong let the others lead it out and won the 6-up sprint. Alex Zülle crashed when trash got caught in his wheel and lost over 2 minutes. As we'll see in future Tours, bad luck hung on Zülle like a cheap suit his entire career.


Lance Armstrong wins stage 8. That's Raul Alcala on the far right edge of the picture.

Indurain was forced to wait until stage 9 for the first individual time trial. Again he showed that when it came to riding against the clock, he had no peer. The stage results for the 59-kilometer stage:

1. Miguel Indurain: 1 hour 12 minutes 50 seconds

2. Gianni Bugno @ 2 minutes 11 seconds

3. Erik Breukink @ 2 minutes 22 seconds

4. Tony Rominger @ 2 minutes 42 seconds

5. Alex Zülle @ 3 minutes 18 seconds

The resulting top 5 in the general Classification:

1. Miguel Indurain

2. Erik Breukink @ 1 minute 35 seconds

3. Johan Bruyneel @ 2 minutes 30 seconds

4. Gianni Bugno @ 2 minutes 32 seconds

5. Bjarne Riis @ 2 minutes 34 seconds

In the stages leading up to the time trial Indurain had stayed completely out of trouble and had carefully avoided any serious time loss. With just 59 kilometers of time trialing he was in command and able to ride his defensive style for the remainder of the race.

Following the time trial came a rest day and then the first day in the Alps, going over the Glandon, the Télégraphe and finishing on the Galibier. Rominger set out to push the pace and win the stage. Yet, for all of his efforts, he could not dislodge Indurain. After 5½ hours of hard work he and Indurain finished together along with Motorola rider Alvaro Mejia. Hampsten was fourth at a little over a minute behind. Chiappucci clearly had suffered a bad day, finishing twenty-ninth, 8 minutes, 49 seconds behind. This time could never be made up on a rider of Indurain's class.

The next day was another Alpine stage with Louison Bobet's favorite climb, the Izoard, followed by the Vars, both first category climbs. The stage finished with 2 hors category climbs, La Bonnette and the finish at Isola 2000.

Again Rominger won the stage with Indurain right with him. Indurain was perfectly content to let Rominger take the stage win, being interested only in the Overall. Chiappucci, a bit resuscitated, was third at only 13 seconds back. Alvaro Mejia was again in the mix, finishing only 2 seconds behind Chiappucci. Hampsten was ninth, over 3 minutes slower than Rominger.


	Stage 11: Rominger (left) and Indurain finish together.

The Alpine stages seem rather uneventful with the colorless Indurain marking the aggressive Rominger. Yet the 2 days had left carnage in their wake. Before the 2 Alpine stages started there were 171 riders in the Tour. 151 riders remained after the Alps. Indurain may have ridden in a conservative manner, not expending any unnecessary energy, but the rest of the peloton was getting thrashed as Rominger tried to drop the unflappable Spaniard.

The General Classification after the Alps:

1. Miguel Indurain

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 3 minutes 23 seconds

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4 minutes 31 seconds

4. Tony Rominger @ 5 minutes 44 seconds

5. Bjarne Riis @ 10 minutes 26 seconds

6. Andy Hampsten @ 11 minutes 12 seconds

7. Claudio Chiappucci @ 14 minutes 9 seconds

The stages in southern France leading to the Pyrenees didn't change the General Classification.

The first Pyrenean stage, number 15, was huge with 7 major rated climbs. Colombian Oliviero Rincon set off for personal glory, getting away early with several other riders. Eventually he dumped them and soloed to victory. Back in the peloton, Rominger was still at it, refusing to accept Indurain as the given winner. And again Indurain finished right with Rominger along with Mejia, Riis and Jaskula.


Stage 15 in Andorra: Rincon wins alone. Rominger is almost 2 minutes behind.

Stage 16 was more of the same with the Peyresourde and the climb to Pla d'Adet. At the end of the day's racing the General Classification remained static. Jaskula won the day with Rominger right with him and Indurain 3 seconds behind them. There was 1 more stage in the Pyrenees, but it changed nothing. There was only 1 stage left that could affect the outcome, the 48-kilometer time trial of stage 19.

Going into the time trial, here was the General Classification:

1. Miguel Indurain

2. Alvaro Mejia @ 4 minutes 28 seconds

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 4 minutes 42 seconds

4. Tony Rominger @ 5 minutes 41seconds

It looked as if Motorola had finally made the podium with Mejia sitting in second place.

The time trial results:

1. Tony Rominger: 57 minutes 2 seconds

2. Miguel Indurain @ 42 seconds

3. Zenon Jaskula @ 1 minute 48 seconds

4. Johan Bruyneel @ 2 minutes 16 seconds

5. Gianni Bugno @ 3 minutes

9. Claudio Chiappucci @ 3 minutes 41 seconds

10. Alvaro Mejia @ 3 minutes 43 seconds

Rominger and Jaskula blasted Mejia right off the podium with only 1 more stage to go. Again Motorola had a pure climber on the podium who couldn't mash the big gears in the time trials. As with Andy Hampsten the previous year, the inevitable result was the loss of the podium place.

For Rominger, his victory in the time trial meant that Indurain had tired and was vulnerable. Rominger felt that if he had worked on a General Classification victory from the very first stage, avoiding the big time loss that hobbled him, he could have worn Indurain down and won the Tour. It's hard to know because Indurain, like Anquetil, never expended more energy than necessary. James Staart notes that Indurain was so exhausted from the 1993 Tour that he skipped many of the lucrative post-Tour criteriums. Indurain had pulled off a consecutive Giro-Tour double, the first racer to have ever done so. But it was clearly at a real cost to his reserves. This made 3 Tours in a row for Indurain.

Indicative of the state of French stage racing, the highest placed Frenchman was Jean-Philippe Dojwa, fifteenth and more than a half-hour behind Indurain. Pascal Lino's stage 14 win was the only stage win in the 1993 Tour by a French racer.

The final 1993 Tour de France General Classification:

1. Miguel Indurain (Banesto): 95 hours 57 minutes 9 seconds

2. Tony Rominger (CLAS) @ 4 minutes 59 seconds

3. Zenon Jaskula (GB-MG) @ 5 minutes 48 seconds

4. Alvaro Mejia (Motorola) @ 7 minutes 29 seconds

5. Bjarne Riis (Ariostea) @ 16 minutes 26 seconds

6. Claudio Chiappucci (Carrera) @ 17 minutes 18 seconds

7. Johan Bruyneel (ONCE) @ 18 minutes 4 seconds

8. Andrew Hampsten (Motorola) @ 20 minutes 14 seconds

Climbers' Competition:

1. Tony Rominger: 449 pts

2. Claudio Chiappucci: 301 pts

3. Oliviero Rincon: 286 pts

Points Competition:

1. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov: 298 pts

2. Johan Museeuw: 157 pts

3. Maximilian Sciandri: 153 pts