CYCLING / TOUR DE FRANCE : Colotti Wins the 17th Stage; Indurain Keeps Overall Lead

Jean-Claude Colotti of France took a big lead early in the 17th stage of the Tour de France Wednesday and held it to the end for his first victory in the race.

Defending champion Miguel Indurain of Spain maintained his overall lead with four stages remaining.

Colotti, 31, took the stage in 4 hours 34 minutes 55 seconds, crossing the finish line 3:31 ahead of Frans Maassen of the Netherlands and Marc Sergeant of Belgium.

“I missed winning so many times that I wanted to get ahead and stay ahead,” Colotti said. “I kept my feet pumping the pedals all the way until five kilometers (three miles) from the finish.

“It still hasn’t sunk in. It’s my greatest finish.”

The Frenchman dedicated his victory to American Greg LeMond, his Z teammate and three-time Tour de France champion who dropped out of the race Sunday because of exhaustion.

Philippe Louviot of France was fourth and Guy Nulens of Belgium fifth, more than eight minutes behind on the 118-mile stretch from La Bourboule to Montlucon in central France.

Indurain finished 16 minutes behind Colotti but maintained a lead of 1:42 over Claudio Chiapucci of Italy. Andy Hampsten of Boulder, Colo., remained in third place overall, 8:07 behind.

“This morning everyone started quickly,” Indurain said. “The road was bad. As soon as (Australian Neil) Stephens took off. I followed him. It was the best way to avoid any problems on the gravel.

“Aside from that, it was pretty calm and we had things under control. I’m looking forward to the time trial Friday.”

The top three finishers Wednesday broke away from the pack about 87 miles from Montlucon. Colotti left the other two behind about 21 miles from the finish.