Stage 8: Le Sentier - Crans-Montana 182km
Tour de Suisse 8: Martin wins ahead of Cunego
Red-and-white polka dotted jersey of best climber, Germany's Tony Martin (R) (Team Columbia-High Road/USA) rides in the pack on March 14, 2009, during the 191 km seventh stage of the 2009 Paris-Nice. (PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images)
Tony Martin (Columbia-Highroad) won the 182km Stage 8 of the 2009 Tour of Switzerland from Le Sentier to Crans-Montana Saturday, ahead of Lampre's Damiano Cunego.
Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara, second overall to Tadej Valjavec (Ag2R-La Mondiale), finished third on the day, setting up a dramatic ending for Sunday's final 39km time trial stage in Bern, Cancellara's hometown.
Valjavec leads Cancellara by just four seconds.
King of the Mountains leader Martin powered away with less than a kilometre to race on Saturday with Italy's Cunego, four seconds back.
"I realized Cunego was chasing behind, and he got fairly close, but I made it in the first place to the finish all the same," Martin said. "I'd tried the same kind of move on Friday at the mountain-top finish in Juraparc but it didn't work out. This time round was different. I waited a lot longer and finally accelerated 500 metres from the line. I got a good gap, and then I knew that I was going to be able to win."
Already victorious in the time trial stages of the Criterium International in France and the Bayern Rundfahrt in Germany this year, the second-year pro said he considered his Swiss victory "to be the first big win of my career."
"Hopefully I can do a good time trial on Sunday, too," he added.
© 2009 AFP & BikeRadar
For a complete report, visit Cyclingnews.com.
STAGE 8 RESULTS
| 1 | Tony Martin (Ger) Columbia-Highroad | ||
| 2 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-NGC | ||
| 3 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank | 0:00:02 | |
| 4 | Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R-La Mondiale | ||
| 5 | Kim Kirchen (Lux) Columbia-Highroad | ||
| 6 | Rein Taaramäe (Est) Cofidis | ||
| 7 | Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana | ||
| 8 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas | ||
| 9 | Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Katusha | ||
| 10 | Fränk Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank |
General classification after Stage 8
| 1 | Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R-La Mondiale | ||
| 2 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank | 0:00:04 | |
| 3 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas | 0:00:28 | |
| 4 | Tony Martin (Ger) Columbia-Highroad 39 | 0:00:39 | |
| 5 | Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana | 0:00:45 |
