to catch back up. When LeMond saw that Hinault was not among them, he began to suspect that the gap he had been told was not correct. Delgado attacked from the main group and won the stage. LeMond eventually finished fifth, 2:52 minutes behind, and gained little over a minute on Hinault. At the finish, LeMond was visibly angry when interviewed by American television, saying that he felt betrayed by his team of a chance to win the Tour. In the general classification, Hinault remained in front, with LeMond 2:25 minutes behind. Views on the stage differ. LeMond describes how he was ready to quit the Tour that night, being severely disappointed by his team's refusal to let him work with Roche in order to win the Tour. Hinault meanwhile maintains that there were no bad feelings inside during the 1985 Tour and that it was a clear case of not attacking a teammate who has the race lead. Later the same day, team owner Tapie and Hinault convinced LeMond to continue riding by assuring him that the year after, Hinault would work for LeMond. LeMond emerged from the meeting with a different public statement, telling the press that he got carried away after the finish and that he would continue to work for Hinault. Stage 18a, which was held in the morning, had a summit finish on the Col d'Aubisque. Roche attacked on the final ascent and won the stage, taking one-and-a-half minutes out of Hinault's lead. According to LeMond, Hinault was suffering so badly this time that LeMond had to push his teammate in order to conserve the race lead. Stage 18b in the afternoon was won by Roche's teammate Régis Simon, who beat Álvaro Pino () in a two-man sprint to the finish line. After the two split stages, Hinault's lead over LeMond stood at 2:13 minutes, with Roche in third, 3:30 minutes behind. Final stages With only one time trial to come, victory appeared all but secure for Hinault. Speaking to journalist Samuel Abt of The New York Times, five-time Tour winner Anquetil declared that he and Merckx would "accept him in our club with pleasure". Stage 19 to Bordeaux remained uneventful until about to the finish, when several riders tried, but failed, to escape. The race then settled for a bunch sprint, won by Vanderaerden ahead of Kelly by a very small margin. It was