The 1990 Tour de France was the 77th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 30 June and 22 July 1990. The race consisted of 21 stages and a prologue. American Greg LeMond () repeated his 1989 victory in the general classification, ahead of Claudio Chiappucci () and Erik Breukink () in second and third place respectively.
The Tour started with a prologue time trial at the Futuroscope theme park, won by Thierry Marie (). On the first stage, a four-rider group escaped and gained more than ten minutes on the rest of the field. Steve Bauer () became the new leader of the race, but faltered in the Alps as Ronan Pensec (), also from the escape group, took over the race lead. Two days later, during a mountain time trial to Villard-de-Lans, the lead passed to Claudio Chiappucci, who had been in the same group as well. Chiappucci fought to hang on to his advantage over defending champion LeMond, but was overtaken in the final time trial on the penultimate stage. It was LeMond's third Tour victory, a feat he achieved without winning an individual stage.
The points classification was won by Olaf Ludwig (), while the mountains classification was won by Thierry Claveyrolat (). Gilles Delion () was the best young rider, while Eduardo Chozas () was awarded the super-combativity prize. , the team of race winner LeMond, won the team classification.
The 1990 race was the first edition in which riders from Eastern Bloc nations participated. Ludwig became the first rider from East Germany and Dimitri Konyshev () was the first Soviet rider to win a stage at the Tour.
Teams
thumb|The lakeside arena at the [[Futuroscope theme park hosted the team presentation ceremony.]]
The 1990 Tour had a starting field of 22 teams of 9 cyclists. Of those 22, 16 teams qualified based on the FICP team rankings, while six teams were given wildcards. Notable teams who failed to qualify and were not invited were BH–Amaya Seguros and Café de Colombia with Luis Herrera, a double former winner of the mountains classification.
The largest numbers of riders from a nation came from France (35), with the next largest coming from Belgium (27), Spain (25), Italy (22), Netherlands (19), Colombia (14) and Switzerland (13). The average age of riders in the race was 27.77 years, ranging from the 21-year-old Antonio Miguel Díaz () to the 35-year-old Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (). The cyclists had the youngest average age while the riders on had the oldest. The presentation of the teams – where the members of each team's roster are introduced in front of the media and local dignitaries – took place at the lakeside arena at Futuroscope theme park, north of the city of Poitiers, west-central France, which later hosted the prologue stage.
The teams entering the race were:
The leading favourite was two-time Tour winner LeMond, who returned to defend his title. After winning the Tour in 1989 and the World Championship road race, LeMond had not taken another victory. He had finished Paris–Nice more than eight minutes behind the winner and struggled at the Giro d'Italia, where he placed 105th. He was considered overweight due to lack of training and had been suffering from mononucleosis. Encouraging signs came during the Tour de Suisse, just weeks before the start of the Tour de France, where he finished tenth. LeMond did not consider himself a favourite for victory going into the race, but declared that he would be disappointed should he not finish on the podium. For the first time at a Tour, LeMond had the support of his whole team, including Robert Millar, who had won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and placed second at the Tour de Suisse just prior to the start of the Tour.
The sport newspaper L'Équipe was expecting a close battle between LeMond and Fignon, who had finished in second place in 1989, only eight seconds behind LeMond. Fignon had previously won the Tour in 1983 and 1984. A crash on stage 5 of the Giro had forced Fignon to abandon the race he had won in 1989. He returned to racing at the Route du Sud and later competed in the Tour de Luxembourg as preparation for the Tour de France and had apparently overcome his injuries. Writing in his autobiography, Fignon later admitted that his crashes and poor results earlier in the season had left him "a tired man, physically and mentally" and that he entered the Tour with "few illusions about what was coming". Fignon's squad was not seen as the strongest, but they were dedicated to him and managed by Cyrille Guimard, who had led multiple riders to Tour victories. He was part of the strong team, with Miguel Induráin to help him in the mountains. His best result of the season had been a second place behind Induráin at Paris–Nice.
Erik Breukink was among several other riders named as favourites. and Gianni Bugno (), who had won the Giro earlier that year, as potential winners. Mundo Deportivo also named Charly Mottet () among the favourites. His best result that season had been a second place behind Bugno at the Giro. Also on the start line was Marco Giovannetti, winner of the Vuelta and third at the Giro. According to cycling journalist Geoffrey Nicholson, his ability to perform in another three-week Grand Tour was doubted from the start, and it was agreed that he only participated to ensure a wildcard entry for his team, Seur.
Gert-Jan Theunisse (), fourth the previous year and winner of the mountains classification, did not start due to two positive doping tests earlier in the season.
Route and stages
thumb|The [[Col du Tourmalet mountain pass was the highest point of elevation in the race, at .]]
The 1990 Tour de France started on 30 June, and had two rest days. The race had its Grand Départ (opening stages) in and around the Futuroscope theme park, whose owners paid around $1 million for the right to host the beginning of the race. After two stages, both held on the same day, also at Futuroscope, the Tour took a clockwise route around France. The race traveled north towards the English Channel and then east to Rouen. A plane transfer on the first rest day brought the field to Sarrebourg on the border to Germany before the race turned south towards the Alps. On the second rest day, the Tour remained in Villard-de-Lans. The race then turned south-west to the Pyrenees before turning north again towards Paris, ending with the ceremonial Champs-Élysées stage.
Stage 5 from Avranches to Rouen was the longest at . , this is the last time that a Tour de France stage exceeded . The shortest road stage was the tenth, from Geneva to Saint-Gervais, at . The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet mountain pass on stage 16. It was among five hors catégorie (beyond category) rated climbs in the race.
|-
! scope="col" | Stage
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Course
! scope="col" | Distance
! scope="col" colspan="2" | Type
! scope="col" | Winner
|-
! scope="row" | P
| style="text-align:center;" |30 June || Futuroscope|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" |1 July || Futuroscope|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| style="text-align:center;" |1 July || Futuroscope|| style="text-align:center;" | || alt=|link=Team time trial|20px || Team time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| style="text-align:center;" |2 July || Poitiers to Nantes|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| style="text-align:center;" |3 July || Nantes to Mont Saint-Michel|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| style="text-align:center;" |4 July || Avranches to Rouen|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" |
| style="text-align:center;" | 5 July
| colspan="2" | Rouen
|
| colspan="2" | Rest day
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| style="text-align:center;" |6 July || Sarrebourg to Vittel|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| style="text-align:center;" |7 July || Vittel to Épinal|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| style="text-align:center;" |8 July || Épinal to Besançon|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| style="text-align:center;" |9 July || Besançon to Geneva (Switzerland)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| style="text-align:center;" |10 July || Geneva (Switzerland) to Saint-Gervais|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| style="text-align:center;" |11 July || Saint-Gervais to Alpe d'Huez|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| style="text-align:center;" |12 July || Fontaine to Villard-de-Lans|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link=
| Mountain time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" |
| style="text-align:center;" | 13 July
| colspan="2" | Villard-de-Lans
|
| colspan="2" | Rest day
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| style="text-align:center;" |14 July || Villard-de-Lans to Saint-Étienne|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 14
| style="text-align:center;" |15 July || Le Puy-en-Velay to Millau|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| style="text-align:center;" |16 July || Millau to Revel|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| style="text-align:center;" |17 July || Blagnac to Luz Ardiden|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| style="text-align:center;" |18 July || Lourdes to Pau|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 18
| style="text-align:center;" |19 July || Pau to Bordeaux|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| style="text-align:center;" |20 July || Castillon-la-Bataille to Limoges|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 20
| style="text-align:center;" |21 July || Lac de Vassivière to Lac de Vassivière|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 21
| style="text-align:center;" |22 July || Brétigny-sur-Orge to Paris (Champs-Élysées)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Total
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center"|
|}
Race overview
Grand Départ at Futuroscope
thumb|upright|[[Thierry Marie (pictured in 1993) won the prologue time trial.]]
The prologue at Futuroscope was won by Thierry Marie (), a specialist in the discipline, who had also taken the first yellow jersey in 1986. He recorded a time of 7:49 minutes, four seconds faster than LeMond and Raúl Alcalá () in second and third respectively. Fignon finished in 15th place, 19 seconds slower than Marie, with Delgado in 26th place losing a further five seconds.
The first and the second stage were run on the same day, the second stage in the team time trial format. After just of the first stage, Claudio Chiappucci () broke away from the field. He had won the mountain classifications at both Paris–Nice and the Giro d'Italia that year and aimed at getting the jersey early on in the Tour as well. He was joined in his breakaway by Steve Bauer (), Ronan Pensec (), and Frans Maassen (). With the team time trial looming in the afternoon, the field allowed the break to draw out an advantage. Additionally, a blockade by sheep farmers delayed the peloton, the main field, and caused several crashes, including one involving Delgado. Chiappucci took the points at the mountain sprints, ensuring that he would wear the polka-dot jersey for the next stage. from the finish, the lead was still at 13 minutes. As Maassen took the stage victory ahead of Pensec, the four-man group still retained an advantage of 10:35 minutes over the rest of the field. Bauer took the lead in the general classification, having posted the fastest time in the prologue. Later in the day the team time trial was won by the team. Seven seconds slower, finished in second place. Fignon's Castorama squad finished fifth, 33 seconds slower than Panasonic, but 20 seconds faster than LeMond's Z team, who were seventh. In between them were 7-Eleven with yellow-jersey wearer Bauer, who retained his overall lead.
North-west
Stage 3 began with an early attack by Stephen Roche, who was followed by LeMond. This prompted the teams of Bauer and Delgado to give chase, and the field was back together after . At , Fignon punctured a tyre, but he was able to rejoin shortly after. After the race was interrupted by another protest from sheep farmers, who had four fallen trees ready to block the road. The organisers received news of the blockade early and used a local youth on a motorcycle to lead the field through backstreets around the protest. The stage distance therefore increased by , with a total of of the race neutralised. With of the stage remaining, Roque de la Cruz () became the first rider to abandon the Tour, following a crash which also brought down Fignon, who again had to chase in order to regain contact with the main group. At this point, Moreno Argentin () had already attacked and was building an advantage on the rest of the field. He also crashed, but was able to remount and continued to win the stage by 2:29 minutes. In the peloton, Christophe Lavainne () won the sprint and raised in arms in celebration, unaware that Argentin had already finished. Through obtaining bonuses at intermediate sprints, Olaf Ludwig () took the lead in the points classification.
Stage 4 saw Gilles Delion () attack while Gérard Rué () was greeting his family in his home town. Delion was caught by Edwig Van Hooydonck (), but both were quickly brought back by the Panasonic team, who were working for Ludwig to win the stage. Next, Søren Lilholt () attacked and was later joined by Kurt Steinmann () and William Pulido (). The escapees enjoyed a maximum advantage of 45 seconds, but were caught with to go. later, the peloton passed through the narrow streets of Villechèrel, causing a crash and the field to split. Bugno, Delgado, and Fignon were caught out behind the incident. While Delgado and Bugno lost 21 seconds in the end, Fignon lost 44 seconds to his rivals in the general classification. At the finish, which for the first time was at Mont Saint-Michel, Ludwig opened his sprint too early, allowing Johan Museeuw (), who won the stage, and Guido Bontempi () to pass him. Robert Millar was caught up in a crash, losing nine minutes, effectively ruling him out from competing in the general classification.
Stage 5, by far the longest at , was run in wet weather. As the peloton sped up to catch an early breakaway, Fignon drifted backwards and ultimately abandoned the Tour at the first feeding station. After the breakaway was caught, Gerrit Solleveld () attacked and stayed away, winning the stage 4:27 minutes ahead of Museeuw, who won the sprint of the field. Argentin, still bruised from his fall on stage 3 and another on stage 5, abandoned after the rest day.
North-east and Jura
During stage 6, Chiappucci sustained two punctured tyres, both times at the start of the two ascents of the day. This meant that he was unable to defend his lead in the mountain classification, and the polka-dot jersey went to Dimitri Konyshev (), who became the first Soviet rider to wear a leader's jersey at the Tour de France. Bugno attacked shortly behind the feed zone, leading to a number of reactions from the field, but after , the peloton was back together. A small group, containing Museeuw and Viatcheslav Ekimov (), among others, leapt away from the finish. Jelle Nijdam () accelerated from this group with to go and won the stage, ahead of Jesper Skibby () and Museeuw.
thumb|upright|[[Raúl Alcalá (pictured at the 1993 Tour de France) won the time trial on stage 7.]]
Stage 7's individual time trial was run in changing conditions. While the early starters competed in the dry, the later riders rode on wet roads. Miguel Induráin set an early fast time and held the lead for most of the day. Greg LeMond started fast, but faded later on to eventually finish fifth. Alcalá, also a late starter, was the fastest rider, 1:24 ahead of Induráin's time. Bugno was third, ahead of Delgado. Of the riders from the stage-1 breakaway, Pensec was fastest, in seventh place. He remained second overall however, 17 seconds behind Bauer, who finished the time trial in 14th place, one place ahead of Chiappucci. Stephen Roche lost 3 minutes in the last alone, suffering from hyperglycemia. Likewise, Charly Mottet lost significant time, finishing 3½ minutes behind Alcalá. Alcalá moved into fifth place overall, still more than seven minutes behind Bauer.
Early during stage 8, a four-man breakaway went ahead, but was quickly caught. The speed of the peloton saw Álvaro Pino (), winner of the 1986 Vuelta a España, abandon the race. Michel Vermote () then attacked after on a section of cobbled road. His maximum lead was over 11 minutes, but after about on his own, he was brought back by the main field. In the final , a group of 13 riders escaped, including Ludwig and Museeuw. Ludwig judged his sprint well this time and beat Museeuw for the win. It was the first stage victory by a rider from East Germany and from the Eastern Bloc in the Tour de France.
Stage 9 headed into Switzerland and was the last day that featured rain, before temperatures began to rise significantly. An escape group went clear after , which included Frans Maassen, who was still in fourth place overall. This prompted Bauer's team to chase, bringing the group back after . At the Côte des Rousses, the first second-category climb of the Tour, Massimo Ghirotto () and Eduardo Chozas () were out in front alone. On the same climb, Jean-François Bernard (), third in the 1987 Tour, fell behind and out of contention. The two escapees held on to their advantage into the finish town of Geneva, where Ghirotto edged out Chozas in the sprint.
Alps
thumb|left|[[Ronan Pensec took over the race lead after stage 10.]]
Stage 10 was the first real test in the mountains, with a summit finish at the Saint Gervais-les-Baines ski resort on Mont Blanc. On the first climb of the day, the Col de la Colombière, Omar Hernández () attacked, followed by Thierry Claveyrolat (). As Hernández slowed, Claveyrolat overtook him and continued on alone, riding the rest of the stage on his own to take victory. He also took the lead in the mountains classification, which he would retain for the rest of the Tour. Behind him, Delgado attacked on the final climb with remaining, putting Bauer into difficulty. Pensec, who celebrated his 27th birthday, stayed with the other favourites and took over the yellow jersey. He led Chiappucci by 50 seconds, while Bauer fell back to third, 1:21 minutes adrift. Among the pre-race favourites, LeMond lost 19 seconds to Delgado, but finished with Bugno, Induráin, Alcalá, and Breukink. Bugno received a 20-second penalty for accepting food late in the stage, when it was no longer allowed.
On stage 11, the course ended with the final ascent to Alpe d'Huez, considered one of the most iconic climbs in cycling. Two mountains had to be crossed beforehand: the Col de la Madeleine and the Col du Glandon. Claveyrolat attacked again, early on during the ascent of the Madeleine, and gathered the mountain points at the summit. Mottet started to drop behind the group of favourites on the Madeleine, while Bernard retired. On the descent, Induráin got away but was overtaken by Claveyrolat on the climb of the Glandon. In between the climbs, at the feed zone, LeMond was involved in a crash, but able to carry on. On the Glandon, Delgado accelerated and only LeMond and Bugno were able to follow. Together they caught Induráin, who set the pace in the group through the ensuing valley and ensured that they reached Claveyrolat by the foot of the final climb. Shortly after the group began the ascent, Delgado attacked, with LeMond and Bugno following. As the pace slowed, Claveyrolat, Parra, and Breukink managed to catch back up. from the finish, Delgado lost contact with Bugno, who accelerated and took LeMond, Breukink, Claveyrolat, and Parra with him. It were Bugno and LeMond who were fastest along the finishing straight, with Bugno coming out on top to win the stage. Breukink finished third, one second behind LeMond in second place. Meanwhile, Millar paced Pensec up the climb, who finished 48 seconds behind Bugno and retained the race lead. Delgado lost forty seconds, while Induráin, exhausted by his work on the flat, lost 12 minutes on Alpe d'Huez, falling from contention. Chiappucci finished 1:48 minutes behind Bugno. This left Pensec first overall, 1:28 minutes ahead of Chiappucci, with LeMond up to third, but still 9:04 minutes behind his teammate. Alcalá had lost 5:41 minutes on Bugno, and therefore dropped to eighth place overall.
Pensec lost the yellow jersey the following day, at stage 12's mountain time trial to Villard-de-Lans. He finished almost three minutes slower than Chiappucci, who took the overall lead, now 1:17 minutes ahead of Pensec. The winner of the stage was Breukink, with Delgado in second place, thirty seconds slower. Delgado performed well despite problems with his rear wheel which forced him to change bikes within the last kilometre. Induráin produced another good performance, finishing third at 43 seconds. LeMond suffered during the second half of the climb and finished fifth, dropping to fourth in the general classification behind Breukink. Breukink was 6:55 minutes behind new leader Chiappucci, with LeMond a further 32 seconds adrift. In fifth place followed Delgado, now 9:02 minutes in arrears.
Massif Central transition
Stage 13 to Saint-Étienne took place on Bastille Day, the French national holiday. Phil Anderson () led down the descent from Villard-de-Lans, followed by Mottet, which prompted a reaction by the main field and both riders were brought back after . Several attempts to form lasting breakaways followed, but it took until the climb of the Côte d'Ardoix at for a 30-rider group to get away, including Pensec and Claveyrolat. Chiappucci, without the help of strong teammates, had to lead the chase himself, bringing back the breakaway from the finish. Just as the contact was made, a group of ten riders attacked, among them LeMond, Breukink, Induráin, and Andrew Hampsten (). At the foot of the last climb of the day, the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret, Delgado led a counter-attack with Bugno and Marino Lejarreta (). Although Induráin dropped back to aid Delgado's chase, the LeMond group maintained an advantage of thirty seconds until the finish. Here, Chozas won the sprint from Breukink and Hampsten. A group containing Alcalá, Roche, and Parra lost 3:09 minutes. Chiappucci came in with the peloton, losing 4:53 minutes. Pensec dropped from second to fourth in the general classification, arriving 7:47 minutes after Chozas. Chiappucci now led the race by 2:02 minutes over Breukink, with LeMond third at 2:34.
thumb|[[Marino Lejarreta (pictured in 1987) won stage 14, making it two victories in a row for the team.]]
During the early part of stage 14, Jean-Claude Colotti () was highly active. He joined an attack by teammate Claveyrolet at , before setting off on his own after a further unsuccessful attempt to form a breakaway. After , 17 more riders caught up to him. Jean-Claude Bagot () then attacked from the lead group with left to ride, but he was caught by the peloton on the final ascent to Causse Noir near Millau. Lejarreta accelerated from the group of favourites with to go, and was followed by Induráin and Bugno. At the finish, Lejarreta took victory, but did not raise his arms in celebration, thinking someone had finished ahead of him. 24 seconds later followed Induráin and Bugno. LeMond and Breukink finished together, another ten seconds behind. Chiappucci could only finish 13th, losing 13 seconds to LeMond and Breukink, whom he now led by 1:49 minutes in the general classification. Lejarreta moved up to seventh place overall.
Stage 15 was a transition stage, the last before the Pyrenees, and featured only smaller climbs. Adri van der Poel () launched an attack that resulted in an eleven-rider strong breakaway. This group was almost caught after of racing, but while three riders dropped back into the peloton, eight remained in front and were later joined by several others, who bridged across, including Roche, Mottet, Claveyrolet, and Chozas. The now 19-rider strong group increased their advantage to up to eight minutes, which would have moved Chozas up to fourth place overall. Therefore, the main field began to cut into their advantage, led by , , and . Eventually, Mottet attacked from the lead group and held on to the finish, winning the stage by 2:02 minutes ahead of Giuseppe Calcaterra (). When the peloton reached the finish, a split occurred in the field, which gained Chiappucci three seconds on his rivals in the general classification.
Pyrenees
thumb|upright|left|[[Claudio Chiappucci (pictured at the 1993 Tour de France) became an unexpected contender for the overall victory.]]
In very hot weather, stage 16 saw the last mountain-top finish of the Tour. In the second half of the stage, the summits of the Col d'Aspin, the Col du Tourmalet, and the final ascent to Luz Ardiden had to be climbed. On the early slopes of the Aspin, Chiappucci followed an attack by Jörg Müller () and found himself in a lead group, building an advantage on his rivals. At the summit, he led the group across 45 seconds ahead of the main field. As began to chase for LeMond on the approach to the Tourmalet, the gap began to decrease. In the front group, Miguel Ángel Martínez Torres () attacked and got away on his own. Behind, in the group of favourites, Breukink experienced a jour sans, a day without energy, and began to fall behind. At the top of the Tourmalet, Chiappucci's lead over LeMond and Delgado was still 1:07 minutes, but in the valley before the final climb, he was caught with to go.
On the ascent to Luz Ardiden, Chiappucci defiantly set the pace at the front of the group. However, with left to race, an attack by Parra was too much and while LeMond, Induráin, and Lejarreta followed, Chiappucci fell behind. LeMond moved to the front and set a high pace as Parra was quickly dropped. They then caught the lone leader Martínez Torres with to go. Lejarreta was dropped shortly thereafter. For the duration of the climb LeMond worked at the front setting the pace to increase his time gains essentially winning the Tour on this attack. Induráin overtook him as they approached the summit and coming around the final turn he quickly turned his head around to verify LeMond was not going to challenge him for the stage win and began clapping his hands in celebration as he claimed the victory six seconds ahead of LeMond. Chiappucci eventually lost 2:19 minutes, which reduced his advantage over LeMond, who was now second overall, to just five seconds. Breukink lost 4:16 minutes, dropping to fourth behind Delgado, who finished 1:32 behind teammate Induráin.
The next day's route from Lourdes to Pau was considered easier than the day before, with the two major climbs, the hors categorie Col d'Aubisque and the first-category Col de Marie-Blanque both coming during the first half of the stage. Early on, a 19-man breakaway formed, including riders such as Bauer, Konyshev, Acácio da Silva (), Johan Bruyneel (), as well as LeMond's teammates Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle and Atle Kvålsvoll. On the Aubisque, Óscar Vargas () attacked and reached the summit ahead of the lead group. On the Marie-Blanque, the situation had changed and Delgado's teammate Dominique Arnaud led solo over the top, 10:20 minutes ahead of the peloton. LeMond, already suffering with a saddle sore and swollen feet, got into even more trouble: isolated from his teammates, he punctured a tyre about from the summit. With the group of favourites, including yellow jersey Chiappucci, leaving him behind, LeMond had to wait 1:20 minutes for his team car to arrive. The new wheel given to him was rubbing on the frame, which meant that LeMond had to dismount again and change bikes. By now, he crossed the top of the Marie-Blanque 1:27 minutes behind Chiappucci. Teammates Éric Boyer and Jérôme Simon joined him, but had problems keeping up with LeMond during the descent, which he took flat out and without braking in order to catch back up. Duclos-Lassalle and Kvålsvoll were ordered by the team to stop and drop back from the lead group to aid LeMond in reaching Chiappucci after of chasing.
Up ahead, Bruyneel attacked from the lead group and was followed by Konyshev, who got the better of the Belgian in the two-man sprint for the stage victory. It was the first time that a Soviet or Russian rider had won a stage of the Tour de France. LeMond accused Chiappucci of violating the unwritten rules of the sport, where traditionally a leader is not attacked if they have a crash or mechanical difficulties. Indeed, the team had even called back da Silva from the breakaway to assist Chiappucci in extending his advantage.
Final stages
thumb|alt=Cyclist wearing a yellow jersey|[[Greg LeMond on the final stage, wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification]]
Stage 18 led the Tour to Bordeaux, a finishing town traditionally favouring the sprinters. The field started the day slowly and a real attack did not materialise until Anderson broke away after . He was soon joined by six other riders, but the break was caught later. With to go, a more serious move formed, with 19 riders, which included LeMond, Chiappucci, Breukink, Bugno, and Alcalá. At remaining, Breukink, Bugno, and the latter's teammate, Roberto Gusmeroli, attacked from the leading group. The other 16 riders fell behind and were soon caught by the main field. At the finish, Gusmeroli led out Bugno, who easily beat Breukink to become the first rider to win two stages at that year's Tour. Breukink meanwhile gained 18 seconds on Delgado and therefore moved into third place overall.
The next day, the peloton equally made a slow start to the stage, with the first real attack coming more than halfway into the race, after . Fifteen riders broke away from the field, including van der Poel, Pensec, Tony Rominger (), and Bontempi. After , the group had swollen to 24 riders. Bontempi, formerly a very good sprinter, but now considered past his prime, attacked from the breakaway and went solo to the finish, where he won the stage, 1:28 minutes ahead of Dag Otto Lauritzen (). During the stage, the Tour circumvented another blockade by sheep farmers, which only managed to hold up the press caravan, but did not influence the race.
The individual time trial on the penultimate day, stage 20, became decisive for the race's outcome. LeMond easily made up the five seconds needed to overcome Chiappucci at the top of the standings. He finished fifth on the day, 2:21 minutes ahead of Chiappucci, who was 17th. Erik Breukink claimed the stage victory, 28 seconds ahead of his teammate Alcalá, with Lejarreta in third, ahead of Induráin. Delgado was eighth fastest, 2:21 behind Breukink, which put him in fourth place overall and left him just short of making the final podium for the fourth year in a row. Through their strong performances, Alcalá and Induráin returned to the top-ten riders in the general classification.