Alex Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won the Tour de Suisse Wednesday, cruising to victory after nearest rival Francesco Casagrande of Italy withdrew before the start of the ninth and final stage.
With a combined time of 36 hours, 38 minutes, 58 seconds, Vinokourov was 1 minute, 12 seconds ahead of Guiseppe Guerini of Italy. Spain's Oscar Pereiro was third, 1:26 behind.
The ninth stage winner was Australia's Baden Cooke, who completed the 94.5-mile route in 3 hours, 25 minutes, 41 seconds. Alexandre Moos of Switzerland and New Zealand's Julian Dean were second and third, with the same time as Cooke.
PHOTO: AFP
Vinokourov was fifth, also with the same time.
Vinokourov battled Casagrande throughout the tour, winning the first stage and then holding his overall lead until Saturday's fifth stage, when the Italian grabbed the yellow jersey. Vinokourov regained it on Tuesday, building up a 15-second advance on his rival. But shortly before the riders set out on the final run from Staefa, near Zurich, to Aarau in northern Switzerland, Casagrande pulled out after doctors found he was suffering from inflammation of the urethra.
Vinokourov, who himself withdrew from the 2002 Tour de Suisse after he broke a bone at the base of his spine in the fifth stage, said his mind is already on cycling's biggest challenge.
"I won the Tour de Suisse," he said. "Now I'm concentrating on the Tour de France."
That race starts July 5 and Vinokourov said he has no plans to compete in other events in the build up to the race.
"I'm going to spend a calm few days, resting up," he said.
Switzerland's Alex Zuelle, who after years of trying finally won the Tour de Suisse last year, was 22nd this year, 11 minutes, 48 seconds behind Vinokourov. Zuelle has already said he will retire at the end of the season.
Pantani enters clinic
Cyclist Marco Pantani confirmed Wednesday that he has entered a health clinic specialized in the treatment of depression and drug addiction. In an open letter to the press released by his management company, the former Tour de France and Giro d'Italia champion wrote that he is being cared for at the Parco dei Tigli clinic in Teolo, in northern Italy. Italian media began reporting last week that Pantani was hospitalized. His team had denied the reports.
"I hope this letter will put to rest the continuous conjecture on my state of health," Pantani wrote, adding that his care was being coordinated by his own medical staff.
In the letter, Pantani called on his fans and the media to respect his privacy and that of other patients at the clinic.
However, he added, "to reassure all the fans and the many who have demonstrated affection and support, as well as respect, I authorize the doctors to release medical bulletins or communiques on my state of health."
Pantani, who won both the Giro and Tour in 1998 before becoming the subject of numerous doping investigations, finished 14th in the latest Giro earlier this month, his best performance in the past few years. Italy's most popular cyclist has been the focus of doping suspicions since the 1999 Giro, which he was dominating until he was suspended for failing a blood test before the start of the penultimate stage.
Pantani's Mercatone Uno team was not invited to next month's Tour de France.
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