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RACE REPORTS: 73RD TOUR DE SUISSE STAGE 4: SCHLECK POISED AS BRESCHEL BAGS STAGE
Road Bike Action & AFP
June 16, 2009
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Tadej Valjavec of AG2R slipped into the overall lead
(Photo: Roberto Bettini)
Up-and-coming Danish cyclist Matti Breschel triumphed in the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, a 195km ride from Biasca to here on Tuesday. In a small bunch sprint for the finish, Saxo Bank rider Breschel held off Astana's Maxim Iglinskiy by a wheel rim to snatch the stage victory ahead of Wednesday's 202km-long hilly fifth stage to Serfaus in Austria. It is the third victory of the season for the 24-year-old Dane, a bronze medallist at last year's world road race championship, after stage wins at the Tour of Catalonia and the Tour of Luxembourg.
Overnight leader Fabian Cancellara, also of Saxo Bank, handed the race leader's jersey to Slovenian Tadej Valjavec of the AG2R team, who finished third in the lead group. Cancellara had led the nine-stage race since winning the opening time trial but he came over the finish 1min 03sec in arrears to drop down the standings. Thanks to the bonus seconds awarded for his third place finish Valjavec now leads Cancellara's teammate Andy Schleck by two seconds in the race's general classification. Any doubts about Schleck's intentions on the race were dispelled by the fact he pocketed six bonus seconds from the intermediate sprints near the end of the stage.
While Breschel was rewarded by lasting the pace throughout the day after getting into a 27-man breakaway, eventually reduced to nine, from the ninth kilometer Saxo Bank will now be expected to throw everything behind Schleck in the race for the yellow jersey. One of the best climbers in the business, Schleck, 24, won the white jersey for the best placed rider aged under 25 at last year's Tour de France, and this season won the prestigious Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic.
Valjavec, however, is now slouch in the mountains and finished ninth overall in the Tour of Italy last month. The scene is now set for a thrilling battle between AG2R and Saxo Bank in Wednesday's fifth stage, which includes the climb over the 1793m high Col de Arlberg at the 141km mark and the 10km long climb to Serfaus.
The Tour of Switzerland is a major warm-up race for the three-week Tour de France, which begins in Monaco on July 4.
73rd Tour de Suisse
June 13-21, 2009
Stage 4: June 16, Biasca - Stäfa 195km
1. Matti Breschel (DEN/SAX) 5hr 01min 34sec
2. Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) at s.t.
3. Tadej Valjavec (SLO/ALM)
4. Peter Velits (SVK/MRM)
5. Oliver Zaugg (SUI/LIQ)
6. Andy Schleck (LUX/SAX)
7. Alexander Efimkin (RUS/ALM)
8. Thomas Rohregger (AUT/MRM)
9. Robert Kiserlovsky (CRO/FUJ) @ :05
10. Filippo Pozzato (ITA/KAT) @ 1:03
Overall Classification After Stage 4
1. Tadej Valjavec (SLO/ALM) 13hr 27min 57sec
2. Andy Schleck (LUX/SAX) @ :02
3. Peter Velits (SVK/MRM) @ :11
4. Thomas Rohregger (AUT/MRM) @ :13
5. Oliver Zaugg (SUI/LIQ) @ :14
6. Fabian Cancellara (SUI/SAX) @ :20
7. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO/FUJ) @ :34
8. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) @ :42
9. Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) s.t.
10. Andreas Kloden (GER/AST) @ :45
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