Tour de France : Barteau Is First in 13th Stage

MARSEILLE, France —  While France celebrated its Bicentennial, the winner of the 13th stage of the Tour de France thought of an American, Greg LeMond, as he stood on the victory stand Friday.

“I want to dedicate this victory to my friend, Greg LeMond; because of him I am still riding,” Vincent Barteau said after winning the 110-mile leg from Montpellier to Marseille.

Another Frenchman, Laurent Fignon, and LeMond clung to the top two spots in the overall standings.

LeMond remains seven seconds behind Fignon as the pack rested before encountering the mountains today.

Barteau won by 45 seconds over another Frenchman, Jean-Claude Colotti, with Martial Gayant, also of France, third.

Barteau was timed in 4 hours 17 minutes 31 seconds for the distance. Colotti was 45 seconds back.

LeMond, the 1986 winner, and Barteau are good friends, and LeMond encouraged and supported Barteau during some bleak periods.

“A lot of people thought I was finished,” Barteau said. “But with a lot of encouragement I came back.”

Barteau once held the leader’s yellow jersey for almost two weeks in 1984 before falling apart in the Alps. He has gone from team to team since.

The next stage of the 2,020-mile race, which ends in Paris July 23, goes from Marseille to Gap with four climbs.

Two-time champion Jeannie Longo of France took the overall lead in the women’s Tour de France as American Bunki Bankaitis-Davis won the third stage, along a 36-mile route from Martigues to Marseille.

Olympic champion Monique Knol of the Netherlands, the previous leader, plunged in the standings and is 19th, 1 minute 28 seconds behind.

Bankaitis-Davis was timed in 1 hour 20 minutes 7 seconds. She finished five seconds ahead of Longo, who went into the overall lead by 13 seconds.