Colombia’s Juan Mauricio Soler got to savor former days of glory when he claimed an impressive win on the second stage of the Tour de Suisse on Sunday.
Soler timed a final attack to perfection during an exciting finale to cross the finish line 12 seconds ahead of Italy’s Damiano Cunego of Lampre and Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck, the defending race champion.
The Colombian now leads Cunego by 16 seconds in the overall standings, with Leopard all-rounder Schleck standing fifth overall a further 15 seconds adrift as the first major selection of the race was made.
Photo: EPA
From among the pre-race contenders, Andreas Kloden perhaps finished the worst off, the German struggling home with the sprinters’ grupetto to sit 71st overall, 10 minutes, 46 seconds back.
Despite being in the throes of relaunching a career that has more downs than ups, Soler is dreaming of being in contention for overall victory.
“This is a really important victory for me,” said the Colombian, whose last major win came on the 2007 Tour de France when he won the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey. “I’ve had problems with my health and some injuries, that’s why I’ve not been at the forefront of things lately, but hopefully I’m on my way back.”
Beginning in Lugano with Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara in the yellow jersey, the peloton called a truce for the first of the day’s two major climbs.
They raced tempo for 13km to the summit of the Col de Nufenen, the race’s highest point at 2,478m, but on the way down Frenchman Lloyd Mondory went on the attack. The AG2R rider was later joined by time trial specialist Jose Gutierrez, whose move allowed Movistar the luxury of not having to chase, ultimately paying dividends for Soler.
Despite building a maximum five-minute lead, the pair were caught early on the final climb not long after Cancellara began trailing. Eventually, the big Swiss trailed home more than 17 minutes off the pace.
Despite brief solo attacks from Belgium’s Jan Bakelants and Dutchman Pieter Weening, the first significant selection was made by Frank Schleck, who took Cunego, Levi Leipheimer of the US and several others with him when he accelerated 13km from home.
Cunego, Soler and Leipheimer were alone in following Schleck when he attacked 10km out, prompting a 12-man lead group to follow.
Further attacks ensued and despite a 13-man lead group forming in the final 5km, a select group composed of Schleck, Danilo Di Luca, Cunego, Soler and Leipheimer were left alone for the finale.
With Schleck and Cunego marking each other, Soler took full advantage.
“I noticed that Cunego and Schleck were marking each other, and that gave me the impetus to go for it,” said Soler, who dedicated his win to Xavier Toldo, who died in a tragic accident a few weeks ago.
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