As he foreshadowed yesterday, Aitor Gonzalez (Euskaltel) attacked on the final climb of the final stage to put enough distance between him and yellow jersey wearer Michael Rogers to claim the overall victory in the Tour de Suisse. Gonzalez had 1'08 at the top of the Furkapass with 23 km of downhill to go, and he conserved 46 seconds of that across the finish line in Ulrichen, as Frank Schleck led home the Rogers group for second. Thus, Gonzalez won his second big Tour after the 2002 Vuelta, and showed that he is back to his best.
In the battle for the minor placings, Jan Ullrich dropped to third overall after losing Rogers and co. on the last climb. The T-Mobile rider still needs some form if he is to challenge for Tour de France honours, but if 2003 is anything to go by, where he finished 7th in the Tour de Suisse and then a close second in the Tour, Ullrich should improve a little.
