Tour De France -- Riis Leads; Indurain Cracks

LOURDES-HAUTACAM, France - Denmark's Bjarne Riis, the overall leader in the Tour de France, pulled farther away by winning today's 124-mile stage of the cycling classic.

Riis left the field behind with a powerful climb in the final 6 miles on a winding, steep road in the Pyrenees Mountains.

Riis finished 49 seconds ahead of Richard Virenque of France.

Five-time defending champion Miguel Indurain of Spain, riding on his 32nd birthday, cracked in the mountains and lost 2 minutes, 28 seconds to Riis, and fell to 10th place. Indurain was 7 minutes, 16 seconds behind Riis, which virtually eliminated him from contention.

Earlier today, police detonated a small bomb believed to have been planted by Basque separatists near the Tour route on the outskirts of Pamplona.

ETA, which seeks independence for northern Spain's Basque region, has threatened to attack the Tour unless unspecified changes are made to its stages. The race goes to northern Spain tomorrow and Thursday.

In yesterday's 110-mile 15th stage, Massimo Podenzana won his first Tour stage when he pulled ahead of a six-man break three miles to go.

"Well, I'm not that old . . . but it's a great thing for me today," said Podenzana, 34, who won the Italian national championship in 1993 and 1994.

American George Hincapie of the Motorola team didn't start yesterday after suffering a serious fall Sunday when he blew out a tire on a steep descent midway through the stage.

Frankie Andreu is the only American remaining in the Tour.