BiciRace.com :: 2006 Tour de Suisse

2006 Tour de Suisse, Stage 7

Tour de Suisse, Switzerland

Stage 7, St Moritz - Ascona, 233K

16 June

Freire Makes it Happen

Freire wins the seventh stage, photo: www.ciclismovitamia.it

Spaniard Oscar Freire (Rabobank) took the race by the horns and produced a stunning win in the 70th Tour de Suisse: Bolting free from his escape companions in the final 5000 meters as the peloton loomed. The three-time world champion, in a show of versatility and strength, crossed the line on his Italian Colnago just three seconds ahead of the bunch sprint. Spaniard Koldo Gil (Saunier Duval-Prodir) remains the race leader with two more days of racing to go.

Today's stage was the longest of the Tour de Suisse, at 233K, from St Moritz to Ascona. The riders left St Moritz, the old hang-out of Lance Armstrong, under grey skies, which produced light showers on and off throughout the stage.

Even though this was a "mountain" stage the parcours would not favor a mix-up in the GC. The last major climb, cat. 1 Col du Lukmanien (1940m), came with an almost completely 90K downhill run to Ascona. Along the way (-22K) there was the little cat. 4 Sementina bump that would barely make a difference.

After a Cat. 2 climb that started the stage, an escape group started to form. An initial 20 riders went off the front, but this got chopped down to eight with 180K remaining. The eight brave men: David Herrero (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Martin Elmiger (Phonak), Michael Rogers (T-Mobile), Salvatore Commesso (Lampre-Fondital), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Matthew White (Discovery Channel), Beat Zberg (Gerolsteiner) and Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom).

Koldo Gil retains the leader's jersey, photo: www.ciclismovitamia.it

Today's pace-making was mostly up to Saunier Duval-Prodir as they were protecting the lead of their team captain Koldo Gil. They let the eight have a wide gap as no one was an immediate threat to the overall. By the start of the Lukmanien, -105K, the escapees had eight minutes in hand. Their goal was to get over the 1940m brute with enough time advantage to ride clear to the finish.

Zberg led the eight over the top, -90K, with the peloton coming past six minutes later. The work in the peloton shifted over to the teams of the sprinters: Davitamon-Lotto started making tempo to help bring about a bunch sprint for Aussie McEwen. By -40K they had brought the gap to just under six minutes, then by -20K, over the cat. 4 Sementina, it was down to two minutes.

It was touch and go for the escapees. After a long day in the saddle your mentality starts to wear thin and paranoia runs high. Italian Commesso was the first to snap, feeling uneasy in his surroundings he blasted away. Aussie Rogers jumped on the Italian's wheel and the duo were free with -12K, but with only a minute back to the peloton.

Zabel and Bennati ride into the finish, photo: www.ciclismovitamia.it

This was the start of the unraveling of the day's escape and the odds of anyone of them staying clear were now very, very unlikely. Freire and White bridged to the duo five kilometers later, but the gap to the peloton was falling fast. Lampre-Fondital and Milram had their foot soldiers on the front for sprinters Bennati and Zabel. The orders were to crush the escape and do it quickly.

Freire, a sprinter, and all too familiar with how the sprint teams operate, decided it was best to go solo. The Spaniard looked more Belgian when he attacked, using street furniture and wet pavement to his advantage to go clear at -4K.

Freire on the podium, photo: www.ciclismovitamia.it

One kilometer later, -3K, the 3X World Champion had 21", -2K at 17" and -1K at 14". The speed in which Freire rode was amazing, only losing 3" from -2K to -1K. He used all of his 14" over the final kilometer, and if you tuned-in your TV with 300 meters remaining you might have thought Freire had won the bunch sprint ahead of Bennati and Zabel, but even better he made his own race in an attacking and aggressive style. Bravo Oscar!

Results: 5:38'49", 41.385 K/h

0.03

d'Epargne-Illes Balears

0.06
0.07

0.11

0.15

0.24
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
0.26

(Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir

0.30

d'Epargne-Illes Balears

d'Epargne-Illes Balears
d'Epargne-Illes Balears

0.36

0.39

0.43
0.56
1.02
1.10

1.12
1.14

1.18
1.37
2.43

Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir

2.50
3.07
3.08

3.10

3.13
3.15

3.16

d'Epargne-Illes Balears
3.21
3.29
5.39

6.05
11.39

d'Epargne-Illes Balears

Points
1 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 15
2 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 12
3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 10
4 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 9
5 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 8
6 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step 7
7 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 6
8 Allan Davis (Aus) Astaná-Würth 5
9 Alexei Markov (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 4
10 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 3
11 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance 2
12 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel 1

Mountains
GPM Le Gruyere AOC - Cat. 2
1 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 8
2 David Herrero (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6
3 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 4
4 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2
5 Trent Lowe (Aus) Discovery Channel 1
GPM Le Gruyere AOC - Cat. 1
1 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 12
2 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 8
3 Matthew White (Aus) Discovery Channel 6
4 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 4
5 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 2
GPM Le Gruyere AOC - Cat. 4
1 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 3
2 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 2
3 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 1

Sprints
Winterthur Sprint K 208.7
1 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 6
2 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 3
3 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 1
Winterthur Sprint, K 227.6
1 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 6
2 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 3
3 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 1

Teams
1 Astaná-Würth 16:56'40"
2 Ag2R Prévoyance 0.04
3 Crédit Agricole
4 Cofidis 0.08
5 T-Mobile
6 Phonak
7 Rabobank 0.09
8 Team CSC 0.11
9 Discovery Channel 0.12
10 Davitamon-Lotto 0.19
11 Lampre-Fondital 0.27
12 Quick-Step
13 Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.35
14 Bouygues Telecom 0.39
15 Gerolsteiner 0.40
16 Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.44
17 Milram 0.50
18 Liquigas 1.13
19 Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.16
20 Française Des Jeux 6.28

GC:
1 Koldo Gil (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 33:22'21"
2 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Astaná-Würth 0.30
3 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile 0.50
4 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Astaná-Würth 2.03
5 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.15
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 2.22
7 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel 2.36
8 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Astaná-Würth 2.45
9 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile 3.30
10 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 3.42
11 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3.46
12 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak 4.08
13 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 4.11
14 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel 4.15
15 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile 5.03
16 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC 5.21
17 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 5.28
18 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 5.37
19 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 6.32
20 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
21 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux 6.58
22 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 7.17
23 David Herrero (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7.36
24 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas 7.44
25 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 9.28
26 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astaná-Würth 11.02
27 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile
28 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 12.16
29 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 13.18
30 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 14.47
31 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Quick-Step 15.00
32 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel 17.07
33 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas 17.37
34 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astaná-Würth
35 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Ag2R Prévoyance 17.54
36 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram 18.34
37 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step 20.07
38 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 20.33
39 Alberto Fernández De La Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 21.28
40 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC 22.36
41 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile 22.45
42 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 22.47
43 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 23.03
44 Marco Fertonani (Ita) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 23.57
45 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 24.35
46 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 25.21
47 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 25.35
48 Trent Lowe (Aus) Discovery Channel 26.42
49 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 26.44
50 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak 27.29
51 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 27.31
52 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 27.58
53 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 29.12
54 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis 29.58
55 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 30.33
56 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Milram 30.55
57 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 32.10
58 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Crédit Agricole 32.37
59 Pierre Drancourt (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 32.54
60 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Milram 34.38
61 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 35.18
62 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 35.34
63 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 35.46
64 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak 36.51
65 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 38.21
66 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Crédit Agricole 39.39
67 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 39.43
68 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 39.50
69 David Etxebarria (Spa) Astaná-Würth 40.54
70 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis 42.46
71 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step 43.33
72 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 44.43
73 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC 44.47
74 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 45.02
75 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 45.08
76 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis 45.45
77 Renaud Dion (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 46.25
78 Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick-Step 47.02
79 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 47.14
80 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance 47.24
81 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile 47.49
82 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 51.52
83 Allan Davis (Aus) Astaná-Würth 52.29
84 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel 52.36
85 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 55.01
86 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak 55.28
87 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis 55.39
88 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 57.54
89 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 58.56
90 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner 59.43
91 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 59.49
92 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank 1.00.06
93 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.01.09
94 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Milram 1.01.12
95 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step 1.02.23
96 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team LPR 1.02.31
97 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 1.02.59
98 Matthew White (Aus) Discovery Channel 1.04.34
99 Javier Mejías (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.05.56
100 Alan Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.08.05
101 Alexei Markov (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.08.43
102 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
103 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step 1.09.17
104 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 1.09.31
105 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel 1.09.33
106 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Milram 1.10.27
107 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 1.10.50
108 Erki Pütsep (Est) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.11.15
109 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.12.00
110 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astaná-Würth 1.12.36
111 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step 1.12.56
112 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.13.01
113 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.13.47
114 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 1.14.51
115 David Navas (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.15.06
116 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.15.33
117 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.15.39
118 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 1.16.52
119 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.17.58
120 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis
121 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Milram 1.18.59
122 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 1.19.08
123 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 1.19.57
124 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
125 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux 1.21.31
126 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française Des Jeux 1.21.36
127 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 1.22.09
128 Christophe Riblon (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.25.00
129 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.27.42

Points
1 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 71
2 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 55
3 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Astaná-Würth 39
4 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 39
5 Koldo Gil (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 37
6 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Astaná-Würth 33
7 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step 32
8 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step 29
9 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis 27
10 Allan Davis (Aus) Astaná-Würth 27
11 David Herrero (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 24
12 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance 24
13 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile 22
14 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 20
15 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile 17
16 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 16
17 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak 15
18 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team LPR 14
19 Alexei Markov (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 14
20 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 13
21 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 12
22 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel 12
23 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 12
24 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 9
25 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Ag2R Prévoyance 8
26 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram 8
27 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 8
28 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 7
29 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel 6
30 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Astaná-Würth 6
31 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile 6
32 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 6
33 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux 6
34 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 5
35 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5
36 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel 4
37 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3
38 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 3
39 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak 3
40 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis 3
41 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 3
42 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 2
43 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 2
44 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel 2
45 Javier Mejías (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2
46 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1
47 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1
48 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC 1
49 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel 1
50 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1

Mountains
1 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 61
2 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 23
3 Koldo Gil (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 22
4 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 15
5 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak 15
6 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile 15
7 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astaná-Würth 14
8 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Crédit Agricole 14
9 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Astaná-Würth 13
10 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 11
11 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Ag2R Prévoyance 10
12 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak 8
13 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel 8
14 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 8
15 Alan Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7
16 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile 6
17 David Herrero (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6
18 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile 6
19 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 6
20 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6
21 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 6
22 Matthew White (Aus) Discovery Channel 6
23 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step 5
24 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astaná-Würth 4
25 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 4
26 Marco Fertonani (Ita) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 3
27 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas 2
28 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance 2
29 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 1
30 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1
31 Trent Lowe (Aus) Discovery Channel 1
32 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis 1
33 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 1

Sprints
1 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 21
2 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance 12
3 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 10
4 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile 9
5 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 9
6 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Astaná-Würth 7
7 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astaná-Würth 7
8 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step 6
9 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak 4
10 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Ag2R Prévoyance 4
11 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3
12 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 3
13 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 3
14 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 3
15 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak 3
16 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 3
17 Koldo Gil (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1
18 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC 1
19 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel 1
20 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 1
21 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile 1
22 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 1
23 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Crédit Agricole 1
24 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Milram 1
Teams
1 Astaná-Würth 100:12'28"
2 Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.37
3 T-Mobile 3.26
4 Discovery Channel 11.18
5 Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 13.36
6 Team CSC 15.09
7 Rabobank 15.18
8 Phonak 21.19
9 Gerolsteiner 31.00
10 Ag2R Prévoyance 31.10
11 Liquigas 32.56
12 Euskaltel-Euskadi 40.10
13 Quick-Step 45.19
14 Lampre-Fondital 46.02
15 Milram 52.32
16 Crédit Agricole 59.26
17 Davitamon-Lotto 1.06.42
18 Bouygues Telecom 1.08.39
19 Cofidis 1.14.43
20 Française Des Jeux 2.32.01