When the 71st edition of the Tour de Suisse starts in Olten on June 16, the eight riders of the Team Volksbank will be part of a world premiere. Right in time before the start of the ProTour-event, the Italian helmet manufacturer Limar delivers its newest development: the world's lightest helmet. Only 180 grams is the weight of the state of the art. For this reason, the Limar PRO104, that's the name of Glomser & Co's new head protection, is the first helmet to be lighter than 200 grams. "The helmet will be in stores from the middle of July", team captain and material scout Harald Morscher knows. "The first 20 pieces have been exclusively and solely manufactured for the Team Volksbank."

Thanks to the extremely solid InMould-construction, the flyweight meets the highest safety standards. 22 big air vents assure an optimal ventilation, micrometric size regulation excellent comfort.

It's no surprise that the world's lightest helmet is a Limar helmet. The Italians have been in business for 30 years now and class among the pioneers concerning cycle helmets. What started in the 80ies MTB-boom soon became a vision for road racing. Not least because of the UCI's recommendation in 1992, the way was paved for cycle helmets in professional cycling. The Italian legend Gianni Bugno made the helmet popular among the professional riders, who relied on helmets in 1993 - and who for sure was wearing Limar. Together with Gianni Bugno, the prototype of the modern helmet was developed at Limar. It had a weight of 230 grams and beared Bugno's name, the "Limar GBWinner". Despite the progressive development of this helmet, it didn't meet the high requirements of Bugno and Co. At the Tour of Flanders 1994, the Italian was wearing an improved, 210 grams light and better ventilated helmet, the Limar F104. In a thrilling photo-finish, Bugno beat classics legend Johan Museeuw. The rest is history.

Most of the knowledge of those days become useless since the standards for helmets got higher and higher. Because of new processes, that were introduced in order to meet all requirements, the weight of helmets rised to 290 grams again.
Finally the company Limar became one of the pioneers of the new InMould-technique, where the shell and the polystyrene are just one single piece. So the helmets not only became more shapely, they also had a better structure and a weight of 250 grams. After this leap, Limar started to perform new test for InMould-processing. Standards met with InMould could have never been met with any of the old techniques. So the new, ultra leightweight Limar PRO104, the world's lightest helmet.

The PRO104 now has its debut at the Tour de Suisse, naturally in a neat, blue-white teamline design. Exclusively built for the Team Volksbank - and from the middle of July available for everybody for an also minimalist price of 99 Euros.

On Saturday Fabian Cancellara (CSC) demonstrated exactly why he is the ruling World Time Trial Champion in the rainbow colored jersey, when he completely annihilated his rivals in the 3.8-kilometer prologue in Tour de Suisse.

Cancellara won with an incredible eight seconds ahead of Lampre's Daniele Bennatti, who in turn only had one and a half seconds down to Stuart O'Grady in fifth place.

"Fabian was amazing. Already yesterday, when we were checking out the route a couple of times, I was sure he'd win, because it was tailor made for him. That one small mountain was perfect for him and at the same time Fabian and Stuart are probably the strongest riders out there in the turns. So we realized quite early on that he'd win this one. It was a good thing that we'd done the route by car as well so we were prepared, because otherwise we wouldn't have been able to keep up with him," laughed CSC Sport Director Kim Andersen, who was also pleased with good results by the other Team CSC riders.

"Both Stuart, Lars Bak, Carlos Sastre and Fränk Schleck were fast as well, so it was a great day for us," concluded Andersen.

Results

Prologue

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC                                 4.20.90 (52.615 km/h)
2 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                            0.07.96
3 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne              0.08.13
4 William Bonnet (Fra) Credit Agricole                             0.09.36
5 Stuart O'grady (Aus) Team CSC                                    0.09.67
6 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team          0.09.70
7 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r Prevoyance                             0.10.82
8 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française Des Jeux                       0.11.12
9 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner                             0.11.30
10 Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor-Lotto                                0.11.69

Erik Zabel has won the second stage of the Tour de Suisse. In the bunch sprint after 157.2 kilometers the Milram-pro relegated Daniele Bennati to rank two. Fabian Cancellara (CSC) finished third.

It was Zabel’s third win this season. After his team-mates had worked a lot especially in the finale, catching up with the last escapees, Alberto Ongarato prepared the sprint for his 36 year-old captain. 200 meters to the finish Zabel started the sprint first and finished with a narrrow gap to Daniele Bennati. „With two mountain classifications on the last kilometers the stage was pretty demanding. There was a slight rise on the home stretch as well, so it wasn’t easy,“ Erik Zabel said. He didn’t notice a crash behind him. However, he nearly crashed himself. „I also slid there.“

Daniele Bennati said: "I had good feelings in the sprint for what concerns my legs." Bennati continued by saying: "The problem is that my left shoulder, hurted in a crash on Thursday during training, didn't permit me to move in a pefect way".
In the overall standing, Lampre-Fondital's rider is 2nd, 7" behind Cancellara.

After the two sprinters, the winner of the prologue, Fabian Cancellara, was third and is going to start the third stage on Monday from Brunnen to Nauders over 228 kilometers as the overall leader again.

Results

Stage 2

1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram                                      4.04.56 (38.508 km/h)
2 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                   
3 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC                                        
4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC                                           
5 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) Liquigas                                   
6 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor-Lotto                                     
7 William Bonnet (Fra) Credit Agricole                                    
8 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                    
9 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram                                      
10 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas   

General Classification after stage 2

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC                                  4.09.10
2 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                0.07
3 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                  0.15
4 William Bonnet (Fra) Credit Agricole                                 0.16
5 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC                                           
6 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team                 
7 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r Prevoyance                                 0.17
8 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française Des Jeux                           0.18
9 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                    
10 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram                                     

Alessandro Proni (Quick Step) won Monday's third stage of the Tour de Suisse after successfully bringing home a 200km escape. T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen led the chase in the finale to take third on the 228,7 km stage from Brunnen to Nauders and moved up to third overall.

The Luxembourg national road champion Kirchen blew the field apart with an attack 500 metres from the top of the final climb, the Cote de Norbertshohe (1,406m), causing a select group to form – with team mates Michael Rogers, Linus Gerdemann und Patrik Sinkewitz all making the cut.

The chasing group tried to close the gap to Proni on the final climb, but the 24-year-old Italian, who was part of three-man break that escaped after 30km, held on to record his first ever pro win and Quickstep's first Pro Tour win this season.

Spain's Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom) led home the chasers for second place, with Kirchen third.

"The team were very impressive today and then now look in great shape for the stages to come," said T-Mobile Sports Director Valerio Piva with satisfaction. Despite a crash on the descent of the Col de la Fluela (2,383m) earlier in the stage, Kirchen gave it all in the final kilometres to chase Proni and take time out of rivals.

"It was a hairy moment for us, but thankfully Kim wasn't badly injured in the fall, and after a wheel change he was able to plough on," said Piva.

Proni was part of a three man breakaway group with Luis Pasamontes (Unibet) and Daniel Navarrao (Astana) – the trio built up a maximum lead of eleven minutes on the CSC controlled peloton.

Proni then attacked on the day's final climb - the Cote de Norbertshohe (1,406m) – to try his luck alone.

While Lampre set the pace in the main field on the final climb, Kirchen’s devastating attack 500 metres from the summit splintered the pack. Kirchen was second over the summit 18 seconds off the pace, but despite Kirchen’s best efforts Proni stayed clear on the descent and run-in to win by seven seconds.

Somewhat surprisingly Fabian Cancellara (CSC) managed to hang on to the yellow leader's jersey. Cancellara came home in the first group, with riders like Kirchen, Cunego (Lampre-Fondital), Klöden (Astana) and Kessler (Astana).

"The team did a tremendous job in trying to reel in that break today, and it was brilliant that Fabian was able to keep the lead. We hadn't seen that coming, but he'd said that he was going to try. Afterwards he said that he was at his absolute maximum on that last climb," said CSC Sports Director Kim Andersen.

Lampre - Fondital Sports Director Maurizio Piovani said: "No team, except for us and CSC, had the intention of chasing the breakaway: my riders worked in Fleula and then Tiralongo and Marzano led the group on the final climb, the Norbertshöhe, but without cooperation the chase is always difficult. Moreover, we had to save energies for support Cunego in the next stages."

Results

Stage 3

1 Alessandro Proni (Ita) Quick Step - Innergetic             6.02.17 (37,876 km/h)
2 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                 0.07
3 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                  
4 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone           
5 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                     
6 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Astana                                    
7 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                  
8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                      
9 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                             
10 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                             

General Classification after stage 3

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC                              10.11.34 (38,227 km/h)
2 Alessandro Proni (Ita) Quick Step - Innergetic                    0.02
3 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                   0.14
4 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                     0.15
5 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r Prevoyance                              0.17
6 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step - Innergetic           0.18
7 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com                              0.19
8 Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick Step - Innergetic                       0.20
9 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                           0.21
10 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux                         0.23

Fränk Schleck won yesterdays fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse. The rider from Luxembourg also took over the overall lead. However it did not change teams as Fränk Schleck (CSC) took over the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara (CSC), when he left everyone behind during the final 12-kilometer climb towards Steg/Malbun.

After the day’s first climb, the Col de l'Arlberg (1793m), the peloton was still pretty much together although Kevin De Weert (Cofidis) and Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Saunier Duval) attacked early in the stage but the breakaway duo was caught before the final climb. Luxembourg’s Schleck made his move on the day’s final climb, the 9,2 km ascent to Malbun (1600 m), setting a blistering pace that saw him move clear of all chasers.

Schleck won with a 32-second lead to Caisse d'Epargne's Vladimir Efimkin and a further 10 seconds behind came Saunier Duval's José Angel Gomes.

"I had good legs today, so I asked my teammates to go for it on the second last climb towards Arlberg. They were all brilliant and especially Cancellara worked really hard – actually they all did. Seven kilometers before the finish I took a chance and went for it. I thought nothing ventured nothing gained and in the end it worked out for me," said a very happy stage winner after his efforts.

"We deliberately tried to make the stage tough early on, and the fact that Fränk went on the attack as early as he did was according to the master plan as well. If he had been sitting there with the rest of them until the final kilometers his rivals would've had a chance to counter attack, so that's why the wisest move was to keep it fast-paced from the beginning," explained CSC sports director Kim Andersen.

T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen came in fifth and defended his third spot in the overall. Kirchen said: “I am pleased with how things went here today. Considering the effects of yesterday’s crash gave me difficulty sleeping last night, I went fairly well today."

Results

Stage 4

1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                   4.20.37 (38,493 km/h)
2 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                           0.32
3 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir           0.42
4 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                   0.48
5 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                      
6 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir                      1.05
7 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                           1.11
8 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                              1.25
9 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                     1.37
10 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team          1.40                      

General Classification after stage 4

1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                  14.32.24 (38,294 km/h)
2 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                           0.49
3 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                      
4 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir           0.58
5 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                   1.05
6 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                           1.19
7 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                     1.39
8 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                              1.46
9 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team           2.03
10 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir                     2.06

Volksbank satisfied with first four days of  Tour de Suisse

The Team Volksbank can be satisfied with its performance at the first four days of the 71st edition of the Tour de Suisse: On Saturday, it was Swiss rider Florian Stalder who opened the ProTour-race at the prologue. The Volksbank-riders didn't lose much time in the opening time trial, but the true action started on Sunday: Pascal Hungerbühler was the first rider to breakaway. His solo lasted for about 60 kilometers, where he had gained a maximum advantage of 4:35 minutes. 20 kilometers before the finish line he was caught by the chasing bunch, but fellow-countryman Florian Stalder managed to get away again and to win the second intermediate sprint. Having the equal number of points for the white sprinter's jersey as Pascal Hungerbühler, who had won the first sprint, Stalder was awarded the white jersey for the best sprinter.

The second stage leaded from Brunnen to Nauders in Tyrol, Austria. The first mountain stage of the Tour de Suisse with one HC-category climb, the Flüelapass. While young Italian Alessandro Proni took the victory after an outstanding 200 km-breakaway, Volksban-captain Gerrit Glomser finished 13th in the bunch of the best riders. Florian Stalder lost his sprinter's jersey, although he had tried to catch up to the breakaway group in order to claim some points at the intermediate sprints.

Stage 3 was today's stage, that started in Nauders and finished in Malbun, Liechtenstein, on 1.600 meters on the top of a mountain. It was the first stage where the captains of the teams had to show their real strenght. It was an extremely fast stage with an average of 45 km/h during the first hour. However, nearly the whole bunch managed to stay together until the final climb. At Vaduz Florian Stalder again won the sprint intermediare and got back the white sprinter's jersey for tomorrow's stage to Giubasco. Gerrit Glomser finished 16th and is now 17th in the overall classification, 2:58 minutes behind the new leader Frank Schleck (Lux/CSC).

Gerrit Glomser is satiesfied with the team's performance. "The whole team rides strong here and there is a real boost of motivation. Today, I didn't feel that good. Yesterday it was better, but I'm just a small step away from where I'd like to be."

Source Team Volksbank www.team-volksbank.com

The second bunch sprint of this years edition of the Tour of Switzerland was won by Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) perfectly piloted by the Predictor-Lotto team, with Fred Rodriguez as last "puller". On the fifth stage McEwen outsprinted Daniele Bennati (second, Lampre-Fondital) and Milram's Erik Zabel, who won the first bunch sprint (stage 2).

"I was at Bennati's wheel, but I was not strong enough to pass him," said Zabel. "We had wind from behind, so it was difficult to pass both," the winner of the second stage continued.

The breakaway of the day was formed by Laurens Ten Dam (Unibet.com) and Rubens Bertogliati (Saunier Duval-Prodir) - the duo attacked before the ascent of the category three ascent Hotel des Alpes [58.5 km] and going on to build up a lead of nearly ten minutes on the peloton. Ten Dam dropped his Italian companion on the steep slopes of the first category Lukmanierpass, with 78 km to go, and pushed on alone.

Defending the yellow jersey did not present any problems for Fränk Schleck (CSC) during the 194-kilometer fifth stage of Tour de Suisse. As expected the stage, with a route from Vaduz to Giubiasco, ended in a bunch sprint with all the favorites crossing the finish line in the peloton.

"It was a perfect day for us. We didn't have to work very hard thanks to the sprinter teams seeing this as their last chance to get a victory. This suited us fine after our hard work yesterday and we'll probably have a tough day tomorrow as well," said Team CSC's sports director Kim Andersen after the stage.

Thursday's sixth stage from Giubiasco to Crans Montana also sees a big peak in the middle of the stage, but with the Hors Categorie Nufenenpass ( 2.479m) coming 108.4 kilometres from the finish, a sizeable regrouping is expected before the final ramp up towards the line.

However, the concluding category two climb to Route du Golf could see some gaps open out if the big guns go full gas on the 10km haul to the top.

Results

Stage 5

1 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Predictor-Lotto                            4.55.39 (39,127 km/h)
2 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                
3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram                                         
4 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) Liquigas                                
5 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone               
6 Grégory Rast (Swi) Astana                                            
7 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                 
8 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                        
9 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r Prevoyance                                 
10 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole                     

General Classification after stage 5

1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                  19.28.03 (38,505 km/h)
2 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                           0.49
3 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                      
4 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir           0.58
5 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                   1.05
6 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                           1.19
7 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                     1.39
8 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                              1.46
9 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team           2.03
10 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir                     2.06

Thomas Dekker got a great morale boost in his preparation for the Tour de France on Thursday. He impressively won the mountain stage to Crans Montana, which was shortened due to terrible weather conditions. At the 1500 meter mark of the in total 12 kilometer long final climb, Dekker rode away from the ten men lead group in commanding style. The lead group included well-known climbing veterans such as Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego and Vladimir Karpets. Dekker reached the finish line solo. Austrian rider Gerrit Glomser (Volksbank) came in second ahead of Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval).

Dekker's victory is remarkable if we take into consideration his performances earlier this week, his preparation that was hindered by a hip injury, and the fact that he was among those who were wounded by the terrible hailstorm at the start of the stage. Sports Directors warned their riders to quickly take shelter from the approaching heavy weather. Some riders were a little too late, including Dekker. He got hit by hailstones as big as golf balls, but he was able to continue after treatment. That did not go for the Italian Nocentini, who was hurt so badly that he had to give up.

The weather was so bad that the tour organization immediately decided to stop the race. Riders took shelter in garages, houses and cars. Nearly all the follow cars, including Rabobank's two team leader cars, had damage to the body work due to the heavy weather. After a considerable delay, the organization decided to shorten the stage by one-hundred kilometers. Hence, the highest point of the Tour of Switzerland, the Nufenenpass at 2479 meters altitude, was deleted from the parcours.

Dekker wrote in a mobile message: "What a surprise, I wanted to test today but my ambition was top 20! I saw Gibo and Cunego looking fresh and had to surprise them. Well it was successful!"

Thomas Dekker reports on his own website that he thought this was an advantage. But, both Dekker as well as Michael Boogerd had already announced before the start of the stage that they wanted to test themselves. "They wanted to know in what kind of condition they are in, and that decision was made well before they decided to delete the high climb from the parcours," said Rabobank Sports Director Adri van Houwelingen. He saw the youngest of the two perform better than anyone of the Raboteam had expected. "Thomas really did not start the stage this afternoon thinking about winning it. That is how it unfolded, but if he had finished in fifteenth place, we would have also been satisfied."

Michael Boogerd was also doing better than the last few days. "It was of course not perfect, but Michael is making progress. The little improvements he makes are normal for a rider at the age of 35. They are smaller than the progress such a young guy like Thomas makes, but he is improving himself," reported Van Houwelingen satisfied.

Volksbank's Gerrit Glomser came in second and said: "We have a good team. With this result I want to thank all." Glomser continued by saying: "I concentrated on finding my rhytm quickly. I succeeded. At the climb i rode to the front found my rhytm and felt so well that I attacked. I knew I needed an advantage before they started with the firework at the back [of the group]. " Glomser did not win because he was unable to follow Thomas Dekker's furious attack. "But a second place is something you can present yourself with," Glomsre said. The Austrian veteran concluded: "I hope I can give pleasure to the team on the remaining stages."

CSC's Fränk Schleck lost his yellow jersey to Russian rider Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d'Epargne). That's too bad, but it couldn't be helped. We'd kinda hoped that Fränk would take another stage, which is why we picked up the pace just before the climb. But maybe it was a disadvantage for Fränk that the stage was shortened. He never really got the chance to wear down his rivals, because it was fast paced on a flat road before the climb. But on the other hand it was quite good that the team was spared a bit today with a shorter route," said CSC Sports Director Kim Andersen.

Friday's 125k stage 7 is the undoubted queen stage with two Hors Categorie climbs (Furkapass 2.436 m and Sustenpass 2.215m) and then the summit finish on the first category climb of the Grimselpass.

Results

Stage 6

1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                   2.28.00 (38.514 km/h)
2 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Team Volksbank                               0.08
3 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir                      0.11
4 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                              
5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                 
6 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir              
7 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                              
8 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                   0.21
9 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                       0.31
10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Unibet.com                     

General Classification after stage 6

1 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                       21.57.03
2 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir           0.09
3 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                      0.21
4 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                   0.26
5 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                           0.30
6 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                      
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                              0.57
8 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                     1.10
9 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir                      1.13
10 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team          1.50

Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) took an impressive solo win on Friday's queen stage of the Tour de Suisse. The 24-year-old Russian attacked on the final climb to the summit finish on the Grimselpass, crossing the line with a two minutes lead on second place Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto). Andreas Klöden (Astana) also was on the attack all day and came in third.

The queen stage at Tour de Suisse was rather short, but really difficult, over 127 kilometres between Ulrichen and the top of Grimselpass (1st category), with two hors category ascents on the road: 4 km after the start, Furkapass (17 km) and 52 km farther, Sustenpass (18 km).

Chris Horner had promised to be seen today and he kept his word, attacking immediately after the start with Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) and Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre-Fondital). Shortly after that attack Klöden started a counter attack and reached the Gusev group with 7 riders in his wheel on the Susten pass. 

This 11-man group came together at the foot of the final ascent, Grimselpass, where Gusev attacked alone.

The small group disintegrated behind the winner of last Tour of Belgium, Chris Horner being last to keep sight of Gusev, who won the stage solo. Chris arrived also alone at the top. Andreas Klöden
 
T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen continued his impressive run, charging hard on the final ascent to place sixth and move up to second overall after Caisse d'Epargne's Vladimir Efimkin finished six seconds behind Kirchen to retain the overall lead.
 
"I am very excited about this win. To win a mountain-top finish in a Pro Tour race is incredible and I want to thank Johan and all the directors for believing in me. I love this team. My teammates and the staff are the best," Vladimir Gusev said.

“Kim was very strong on the finale. His attack wasn't planned, but he just had to go for it. If he keeps on riding like this, he cold go on to win the race", said a highly satisified T-Mobile Sports Director Brian Holm. "After his struggle with back injuries last season, Kim says that the team's new gymnastic training methods have made him feel like a new man."

Michael Rogers and Giuseppe Guerini (both T-Mobile) were not at the start-line for Friday’s 125,7 Kilometre 'queen stage' of the Tour de Suisse.

The veteran 36-year-old Guerini is suffering from stomach problems, while Rogers is being hampered by knee trouble. With the Tour de France in mind, the Australian has decided not to take any risks and instead return home for physio treatment.

"I am certain that the problem will pass soon so that I can make a quick return to intensive training," said Rogers, who finished Thursday's weather-curtailed fifth stage in a ‘Grupetto’ together with Guerini.

Although nothing like Friday's profile, Saturday's eighth stage still counts as a mountain stage of sorts, but more than likely, not one for those high on the overall classification.
 
The lumpy 152.5 kilometre journey ends with two small categorized climbs, the last Cat. 3 to Schwarzee somewhat of a mountain-top finish.

Results

Stage 7

1 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team          3.53.50 (32,254 km/h)
2 Christopher Horner (USA) Predictor-Lotto                            2.02
3 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                         2.37
4 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                 
5 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                                       3.00
6 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                     4.09
7 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                             4.15
8 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                   
9 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                                
10 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                    4.20                    

General Classification after stage 7

1 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                         25.55.08 (37,437 km/h)
2 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                     0.24
3 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                             0.30
4 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                     0.31
5 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                        0.33
6 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                0.57
7 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             2.02
8 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir                        2.03
9 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Team Volksbank                                 2.04
10 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir            2.06

The Columbian Rigoberto Uran (Unibet.com) has won the eighth stage of Tour de Suisse today. Uran jumped in the final kilometer and left the entire lead group behind him to take a powerful first ProTour win for the Unibet.com squad. Italian rider Christian Moreni (Cofidis) came in second, Andreas Klöden Astana came in third. Russian rider Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d'Epargne) defended the overall lead.

"I attacked at 800 metres from the uphill finish line", said Uran. "I felt really strong and kept on the pace perfectly. This is a fabulous victory and I'm very satisfied with it!"

"This is brilliant", said Unibet Sports Director Jacques Hanegraaf. "This victory and our collective team performance this week, show we deserve our ProTour spot. This is exactly what our team needed."

Early in the stage Sastre was in a break with 10 others, but as some of them were main contenders in the general classification, they were not allowed too far. Furthermore this was the very last chance for a stage win for many riders, so the chance of a break lasting all the way home was minimal.

Still Sastre managed to escape from the group just 20 kilometers before the finish - with him was Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), but he was soon left behind by Sastre in his quest for victory.

But the peloton sat a furious pace and eight kilometers before the finish Sastre had to face the fact that he was not going to make it. In stead Unibet ran off with the victory, when young Columbian rider Rigoberto Uran went solo 600 meters before the line and won with a two-second gap to the peloton, which counted about 50 riders – among them the main contenders for the overall win.

"Carlos got to test himself, which was nice to see. I think he did well – it definitely looked promising ahead of the Tour. He was a bit unlucky with the wind, because he had head wind on the part, where he was on his own. But it was a good day for us, and now we're hoping for a great time trial from Fabian Cancellara and Fränk Schleck tomorrow," said Team CSC's sports director Kim Andersen.

Results

Stage 8

1 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Unibet.com                                  3.28.51 (43.811 km/h)
2 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone              0.02
3 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                            
4 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                   
5 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Team Volksbank                                    
6 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                                
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                   
8 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                          
9 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                                
10 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux                   

General Classification after stage 8

1 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                         29.24.01
2 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                     0.24
3 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                             0.30
4 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                     0.31
5 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                        0.33
6 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                0.57
7 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             2.02
8 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir                        2.03
9 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Team Volksbank                                 2.04
10 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir            2.06

Picture gallery: Tour de Suisse , stage 7, Ulrichen - Grimselpass (3 pages)

Picture gallery, Tour de Suisse , Stage 4, Nauders - Triesenberg (3 pages)

Vladimir Karpets of the Caisse d'Epargne team has won the Tour de Suisse. Karpets finished sixth in the ninth-stage individual time trial around Berne but gained enough time on his overall rivals to move from third to first place. T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg) finished second overall, one minute and four seconds behind Karpets. Belgium's Stijn Devolder (Discovery Channel) was third overall at 1:30.

Fabian Cancellara (CSC) rounded Tour de Suisse off nicely by winning the final stage – a 34.2-kilometer time trial in the area around Bern. The Swiss Team CSC rider won with 20 seconds down to Astana captain Andreas Klöden, who was in the lead at the first intermediate time.

"I'm extremely happy to have won here in my hometown. I'd hoped to win both time trials in this race, so that was perfect really. The fact that I got three days in yellow was a nice bonus. I had some problems with my bike at the beginning, where the officials were saying that my bike was the wrong size, so that took some of my focus right at the very beginning of the stage, but I quickly regained my rhythm," said Cancellara after having been celebrated on the podium by a home audience.

The overall victory went to Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d'Epargne), who finished the stage about a minute after Cancellara, but it was enough to neutralize the other contenders and win the race.

Fränk Schleck (CSC) lost time during the time trial and finished seventh overall, but he was still satisfied with Tour de Suisse.

"All in all I'm quite satisfied. Two days in the yellow jersey, a stage win for me: I had one really good and one really bad day. Today was just medium for me. I didn't have brilliant legs or anything. It wasn't totally bad either though," concluded Schleck about himself and at the same time expressed his happiness with his team's success:

"We've had three stage wins and four or five days in the yellow jersey. I think that's pretty good." CSC Sports director Kim Andersen was also happy with the outcome of the race:

"We influenced the race all the way through and three stages is as much as anyone could expect. Today's main objective was to get another victory for Cancellara and also move Fränk up a bit in the general classification. We almost succeeded in doing both and as far as I'm told Fränk was only 17 seconds from fulfilling his part of the bargain. So that's not too bad at all," said Andersen.

T-Mobile Sports Director Valerio Piva was satisfied with the performance of his team, Piva said: "It was a good week for the team overall, capped off by Kim Kirchen's deserved second place overall finish. Kim was among the strongest riders on each of the mountain stages, and though he was hurt in a crash on stage two, he didn't let it effect him and he battled for every second in the final time trial." said sporting director Valerio Piva.

"Unfortunately we didn't have captain Michael Rogers and climbing specialist Giuseppe Guerini for the last few stages - they dropped out due to injury and illness respectively, but that's part and parcel of bike racing," Piva added.

A victory in the concluding time trial in the Tour of Zwiterserland was, as team leader Adri van Houwelingen had already predicted on Saturday, not possible for Thomas Dekker. He did finish in the top ten. Dekker finished ninth and could live with that, indicated Rabobank Sports Director Van Houwelingen. "Thomas was convinced, however, that he can and must ride faster, but the progress he has made in this tour has been great for his morale. The time trial as well, because one could observe enough positive aspects."

With regard to the aforementioned positive aspects, Van Houwelingen particularly aimed at the impression Dekker made during such moments as when they raced uphill. "He did not lose anything there. Thomas rode amazingly well uphill. The time trial offers a lot to build on for the Tour, just like the entire Swiss tour by the way," noticed Van Houwelingen. Dekker came to Switzerland with some doubts regarding his hip injury, but these have completely vanished. And, then there is the moral victory because of the two serious and successful tests on the Crans Montana and the one in Bern this Sunday.

"Thomas just needs to enjoy this while preparing himself for the Tour. He did what he wanted during the moments that he had selected for himself. To ride well and claim a stage victory, that is more than we had dreamed about, not even that," confessed Van Houwelingen, who was also delighted about the progress that Michael Boogerd made on a daily basis, even though it was not as spectacular as Thomas Dekker. Van Houwelingen: "But, that is largely caused by the age difference. Things, nevertheless, went well here for Michael, but he is not good enough yet to play a prominent role in the Tour. Let us say he is halfway now. But, the period of three weeks until the first mountain stages could be enough."

Results

Stage 9

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC                                   41.46 (48.412 km/h)
2 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                         0.20
3 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                0.33
4 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             1.04
5 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             1.05
6 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                             1.06
7 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) Astana                                        1.26
8 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com                                1.31
9 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                        1.36
10 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone              1.57                  

Final General Classification

1 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                         30.07.23
2 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                     1.04
3 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             1.30
4 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Unibet.com                                        
5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                1.41
6 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                             1.46
7 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                        1.47
8 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Team Volksbank                                 2.50
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Unibet.com                                     3.16
10 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                        3.19

Picture gallery: Tour de Suisse , Stage 9 ITT 33.7 km, Bern - Bern (4 pages)