Monfort rides to stage win

Maxime Monfort of HTC-Columbia won the time trial of the Bayern Rundfahrt to take the overall lead going into the final stage. The Belgian time trial champion covered the 28km long course in Berching in 36:04. Adriano Malori (Lampre-Doimo) was second, at 36:16, with third going to Monfort's teammate Hayden Roulston, 48 seconds down.

Malori moved into second overall, 23 seconds behind Monfort.

It was the 27-year-old's first victory of the season. "I felt very good after the first part of the race this week and was very confident. The distance was perfect for me and there were two climbs," he said.

"What can I say, it was simply perfect and I was properly motivated. I gave everything on the stage, and that was it."

Monfort said later that he was surprised but pleased at the result. "I haven't raced for five weeks, so I wasn't expecting my form to be this good. But in each stage of the race so far I've been feeling a little bit better and today I felt the best. It was a very hilly course, with two big climbs with steady gradients of between five and ten percent, and that suited me, too."

Monfort used Roulston as a reference point to ensure he maintained a steady pace on the 27.8 kilometre course. "Hayden had set the best provisional time, and as I was beating his times all the way through, I knew I was on the right track. I passed two guys that had started ahead of me as well, and that's always something that gives you extra motivation."

Milram's Christian Knees was headed towards a third-place finish when he punctured with five kilometres to go.

The time trial was especially important this year, as 35 riders went into it only 10 seconds behind leader Ruben Moreno Gonzalez. While the time gaps have now increased, there are still six riders within one minute of Monfort's time.

Now in the overall lead, Monfort says he will try to stay in control of the race on the final stage Sunday. "Tomorrow's stage is really flat and hopefully it should end in a bunch sprint. I haven't got much of a margin, just 12 seconds on (Adriano) Malori, and I haven't won a stage race since 2004, so the team and I will be giving it 100 percent to try to get this win."

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