Professional cyclists intending to race in the Tour de France prepare by riding either the Dauphiné Criterium or the longer Tour de Suisse. These seven- and nine-day races give riders a chance to test their form, find their weaknesses, and tune up their bodies for the three-week Tour in July.
Sky’s Bradley Wiggins won the Dauphiné, raising his profile as an overall Tour contender. The Tour de Suisse, which started Saturday, June 11, could present yet another prime challenger.
The Tour de Suisse started with an Individual Time Trial, where each rider races alone against the clock. Leopard Trek’s Fabian Cancellara, generally considered to be the best time-trialer in the world, showed his form Saturday with a stage win.
This is the fifth Tour de Suisse prologue for Cancellara, a native of Switzerland. “I felt extra pressure today because it was my home race, but I like the pressure,” said Cancellara said on the Leopard Trek website. “Both time trials in this race are my main focus, and I have accomplished my first goal with flying colors.”
No one was surprised to see such a performance from Cancellara, who has seven National time trials wins, four World Championships, and an Olympic gold medal. Most people were surprised by the second-place finish of young American rider Tejay Van Garderen of HTC-Highroad, who trailed Cancellara by only 9 seconds.
Van Garderen, only 23, has earned himself a spot on the HTC Tour de France squad already; he might earn himself a Tour de Suisse win as well.
Third was Peter Sagan of Liquigas, even younger at only 21, another 8 seconds back.
Soler Takes Stage Two, Yellow Jersey
Stage Two was a serious climbers’ stage, with an Hors Categorie climb followed by a Cat 1 climb, a brief descent, and an uphill finish.
This stage saw the Schleck brothers of Leopard Trek make their bids for Tour dominance. Frank Schleck, the older at 31, made several strong attacks on the final climbs. Younger brother Andy, 26, showed that he wasn’t yet on form, dropping away from the leaders and finishing 16th—a huge disappointment for the two-time Tour de France runner-up.
Frank Schleck (and teammate Jakob Fuglsang, until the final 5 km) pushed the pace until there were only four other riders left: Lampre’s Damiano Cunego, Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema, Katusha’s Danilo Di Luca, and Movistar’s Juan Mauricio Soler
After his long effort, Schleck couldn’t respond when Soler attacked; Damiano Cunego could, but even the powerful Cunego couldn’t stay with Soler on his second attack with 600 meters (1,970 feet) to go. Soler won the stage and the yellow jersey by 12 seconds.
“I could see that Schleck and Cunego were watching each other and so I took advantage of that,” Soler told CyclingNews.com. “Now I hope to keep the race for a few days.”
Next… Stage Three: Sagan Descends to Win
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