gain another minute on him. Third was Mottet, ahead of LeMond, who lost 2:34 minutes to Hinault. While Hinault regained the race lead, LeMond was now his closest challenger, 2:32 minutes behind on the general classification, with Anderson and Roche already almost four minutes behind. Dietrich Thurau () was given a one-minute time penalty for drafting behind Mottet. Angry at the decision, Thurau physically attacked the judge who had handed out the penalty, grabbing him by the throat, and was subsequently ejected from the race on stage 10. The next stage to Épinal was won by Maarten Ducrot, 38 seconds ahead of René Bittinger (). Jeronimo Ibañez Escribano () was taken to the hospital, following a crash from the finish. On stage 10, Jørgen V. Pedersen won the day for in a sprint finish, beating Johan Lammerts (). Hinault finished 15th and retained his lead in the overall standings. Paul Sherwen () was involved in a crash just into the stage and suffered throughout, reaching the finish more than an hour behind Pedersen. Since he arrived so late, he had to traverse in between spectators who thought no more riders would come across the route. He was well outside the time limit, but the race jury, against the advice of the race director, decided to allow him to start the next stage, naming his "courage" after his early fall as the reason for their decision. Alps The race entered the high mountains on stage 11 with the first leg in the Alps to Avoriaz. The route crossed the summits of the Pas de Morgins and Le Corbier before arriving in Morzine for the final ascent. Hinault strengthened his claim on the overall victory by escaping early with Luis Herrera, who by now was too far down in the general classification to be a threat. Instead, Herrera collected the points for the mountains classification, a lead which he would hold until the end of the race. Herrera also won the stage, seven seconds ahead of Hinault. LeMond lost 1:41, coming in fifth in a group with Delgado and Fabio Parra (). Hinault's lead therefore increased to exactly four minutes on second-placed LeMond in the overall standings. Even though stage 12 featured seven categorised climbs, it saw no changes on the top of the general classification, as Parra and Herrera fought out the victory between teammates. This time, it was Parra who