Tour de France : Spectator Dies; Overall Leader Tests Positive for Drug

The death of a 6-year-old spectator in an accident and a positive drug test for the leader, Pedro Delgado, overshadowed the Tour de France’s 18th stage, which was won Wednesday by Italy’s Gianni Bugno.

Police said Guillaume Jacot died of injuries received when the boy was struck near the village of St. Mathieu by one of the Tour de France’s caravan cars. A tour helicopter rushed the boy to a hospital, where he died, tour organizers said.

Spain’s Delgado still has the overall lead, but his yellow jersey was in doubt. His team, Reynolds, has requested a second analysis of the specimen taken after last Friday’s time trial in Villard-de-Lans, which Delgado won.

If Delgado’s second test again shows the unspecified drug, he would be fined and penalized at least 10 minutes, dropping him from the lead. Steve Rooks of the Netherlands, more than four minutes behind Delgado in second place, would become the leader.

Fabio Parra of Colombia is third, about two minutes behind Rooks, followed by Canada’s Steve Bauer in fourth place.

Bugno won the 18th leg, 58 miles from Ruelle to Limoges in southwestern France, in 2 hours 12 minutes 45 seconds. Belgium’s Jan Nevens was one second behind.

The tour, which ends Sunday, continues today with a 117-mile route from Limoges to Le Puy de Dome, the last major climb.

Jeannie Longo of France continued to dominate the women’s Tour de France, winning a stage for the fifth time.

Longo, the defending champion, won the ninth leg in 2 hours 33 minutes 5 seconds and took a 1-minute 35-second overall lead over Maria Canins of Italy. The women followed the same route from Ruelle to Limoges used by the men, although the women started and finished before the men’s race got under way.