Russia's Vladimir Karpets won the 71st Tour de Suisse on Sunday, while Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara clinched the race's concluding 33.7km time trial.
Karpets -- who was sitting third overall heading into the final stage -- triumphed with a total time of 30 hours, 7 minutes and 23 seconds, and enjoyed a 1 minute 4 second victory margin over runner-up Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg. Belgium's Stijn Devolder finished the Swiss tour in third place, 1 minute 30 seconds off the total winning pace.
Russia's Vladimir Efimkin, who led the general standings heading into the final time trial, was more than three minutes behind the leaders on Sunday and slipped to sixth place.
PHOTO: EPA
Cancellara, the world time trial champion and winner of the Swiss tour's prologue, won the stage in 41 minutes, 46 seconds.
"This victory comes in the most beautiful city in the world, in my birth city," said Cancellara, who was forced to make alterations to his bike before his run because it failed to meet the standards of the International Cycling Union.
Germany's Andreas Kloeden finished the time trial in second place with his time of 42 minutes 6 seconds, while compatriot Stefan Schumacher was third in 42 minutes 19 seconds.
Karpets sealed the overall victory when he crossed sixth in 42 minutes 52 seconds. He also won the Volta of Catalunya last month.
The Caisse d'Epargne rider is the second Russian to win the Swiss tour, after Pavel Tonkov in 1995.
Last year's winner was 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich, who has since retired after being implicated in the Spanish doping scandal Operation Puerto.
For many top cyclists, the Swiss tour is traditionally a final warmup for the Tour de France.
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