Tour de France : Dutch Riders Win 2 Stages

BORDEAUX, France — Jean-Paul van Poppel and Adri Van der Poel of the Netherlands won individual stages in the Tour de France cycling race Tuesday, but Pedro Delgado of Spain held onto the overall lead.

Van Poppel, winner of the third and 10th stages, took the 17th leg in a final sprint. He finished the 130-mile course from Pau to Bordeaux in 4 hours 58 minutes 3 seconds.

In the morning, Van der Poel won the 24-mile 16th stage from Tarbes to Pau, the shortest post-war tour leg.

Delgado has a 4:06 lead over Steven Rooks of the Netherlands in the race that will end Sunday in Paris.

After gaining time on his rivals in the mountain stages over the past three days, Delgado recuperated Tuesday, riding with the pack without conceding time to his top

challengers.

Delgado’s day, however, was clouded with rumors that he had tested positive during a standard drug test for the Tour’s top riders.

Valerie Simonet of France took the eighth stage of the women’s Tour de France, but compatriot Jeannie Longo slightly increased her overall lead.

Simonet won in a final sprint over Linda Brenneman of Laguna Hills, finishing in 1:48:18 for the 47-mile leg from Pau to Mont-de-Marsan.

Longo, however, holds a 1:30 lead over Maria Canins of Italy in the overall standings.