France's Sandy Casar won the fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse in a photo finish Friday.
Casar took 4 hours, 5 minutes, 1 second to complete a tough 168km route over the Alps, during which the riders had to contend with temperatures reaching 33 degrees Celsius.
Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan retained the overall lead, but was still just 6 seconds ahead of Italy's Francesco Casagrande.
PHOTO: AFP
Casar and Filippo Simeoni of Italy broke from the pack just 22km from the start, in the lakeside town of Losone, in Switzerland's southern Ticino region.
They were 8 minutes, 45 seconds ahead of the peloton by the time they reached the foot of the Nufenen Pass, some 40km into the course. The tour riders faced a 14km climb to the summit of the Nufenen, which at 2,478m is the highest mountain crossing in the country.
The pair held on to their lead as the riders dropped sharply down the Nufenen -- where the fastest cyclists reached speeds of 113kph.
The route wound its way along the River Leventina to Losone, and Casar and Simeoni looked set to cross the line together, despite their lead having been shaved to 42 seconds as the stage entered its final kilometer.
The peloton, however, attacked just meters from the finish, and four riders powered past Simeoni, led by Luxembourg rider Kim Kirchen.
Kirchen, believing he would cross ahead of Casar, lifted his arms to signal his victory, but the Frenchman won in a photo finish by centimeters.
Kirchen and third-place Australian Stuart O'Grady both had the same time as Casar.
"I didn't want to end in 25th place ... I absolutely wanted to win a stage," Casar said, adding that he saw the fourth stage as his last chance. "Kirchen almost caught me, but he raised his arms and that's what lost it for him."
In Saturday's fifth stage, the riders travel 178km northeast, scaling the 2,066m San Bernardino Pass midway through the route, before dropping into the valleys of the Graubuenden region.
Some 40km from the finishing line in La Punt, they will tackle a tough climb to the 2,315m Albula Pass. The stage ends with a 9km downhill stretch with plenty of potential for a hard-fought sprint.
Tour of Catalonia
Spain's Oscar Freire won the fifth leg of the Tour of Catalonia in a three-man sprint finish Friday.
Freire beat out Spain's Angel Vicioso of the ONCE-Eroski team and Austria's Rene Haselbacher of Gerolsteiner to finish the 166km leg from Llivia to Manresa in 3 hours, 46 minutes, 37 seconds.
Roberto Heras of US Postal Service retained the overall lead by 9 seconds from Jose Antonio Pecharroman of the Paternina team. The seven-stage race ends Sunday.
There were frequent breakaway attempts Friday until a trio comprised of Russia's Pavel Brutt and Spaniards Cesar Garcia and Josep Jugre fashioned a cushion which the pack allowed.
The three riders grabbed the lead after 6km and held on until around 161km, when sprinters started jockeying for position. Ultimately prevailing was Freire of Dutch team Rabobank. The sixth leg Saturday is a 13.1km time trial from Molins de Rei to Vallvidriera, both near Barcelona.
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