was again victorious and he extended his advantage over Induráin to 3:39 minutes. On stage 15, Berzin attempted to follow an attack by Marco Pantani, but was dropped. Induráin then left Berzin behind as well, joining up with eventual stage winner Pantani. Berzin would lose four minutes to Pantani and thirty seconds to Induráin, but retained the race lead by 1:18 over the former. He then won the last time trial of the race on stage 18, ahead of Induráin. Over the two final mountain stages in the Alps, Berzin stayed with Pantani and Induráin, helped significantly by Argentin to cover the relentlessness of Pantani's attacks. He became the first Russian and first rider from a former Eastern bloc country to win a Grand Tour. His final winning margin over Pantani was 2:51 minutes. However, the tensions within the team increased during the Giro. Berzin still demanded higher pay and came into conflict with his teammates, who accused him of not showing enough respect. Embroiled in his contract dispute, he raced only two more times over the rest of 1994, finishing 21st at the inaugural world time trial championship. Having been offered a lucrative contract by , Berzin tried to force his way out of riding for by means of a lawsuit, but on 1 December 1994, the court ruled against him. He would stay with the team for the remainder of his contract. 1995–1996: Ups and Downs In 1995, Berzin returned to the Giro d'Italia, with Rominger also on the start line. Berzin would eventually finish second overall, but a strained relationship between himself and teammate Ugrumov, third overall, prevented them from seriously challenging Rominger. During stage 14, Ugrumov even actively rode with Rominger to distance Berzin, who managed to get back with some difficulty. Berzin's best moment of the race came on the penultimate day, when he won the stage to Salita di Montegrino Valtravaglia, coming in 25 seconds ahead of Rominger and Ugrumov, thereby securing second place. Just a few days after the Giro ended, Berzin took victory at the Euskal Bizikleta. He was also part of the team that won the team time trial at the 1995 Tour de France on stage 3. He eventually retired from the race on stage 10, having lost 15 minutes to Induráin the day before and, according to Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, being "physically demolished and mentally broken". By 1996,