Burghardt escapes for rainy stage win

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Germany's Marcus Burghardt (BMC) used his power and strength to win stage five of the Tour de Suisse after being part of the five-rider breakaway that dominated the rain-soaked stage from Wettingen to Frutigen.

The former Ghent-Wevelgem winner attacked alone in the final kilometre of the hilly 172km stage. Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions) and Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Doimo) were in his slipstream but were unable to hang onto him. They hesitated a few seconds but began to chase too late and Burghardt was able to celebrate his first win of the 2010 season with his arms in the air.

"My plan was to look for Maaskant because he was the strongest, but then he went out on the left side and was blocked by Oss," Burghardt said. "When I saw that, I took the moment and attacked. This is a nice present for (BMC Racing Team Owner) Andy Rihs and the BMC Racing Team to have a victory in Switzerland."

Maaskant finished second and Oss was third, two and four seconds behind.

Angelo Furlan (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Francisco Javier Aramendia (Euskaltel-Euskadi) had also been part of the five rider break that spent 160km on the attack under terrible weather conditions. However they were dropped on a late climb and swept up by the peloton.

Australia's Robbie McEwen (Katusha) won the sprint for fourth place, 47 seconds behind Burghardt, proving that he is fit enough to deserve selection for the Tour de France.

Only 60 riders finished in the front group at 47 seconds. Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) were there, as was David Zabriskie and Tom Danielson (Garmin-Transitions). Their teammate Christian Vande Velde finished in the sprinters group at 11:07, as he continues to recover after breaking his collarbone in the Giro d'Italia. The last group including crash victims Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia), Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Gerald Ciolek (Milram).

Germany's Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) finished safely in the front peloton and so kept the race leader's yellow jersey. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) is still just one second behind, with Thomas Löfkvist (Team Sky) third at nine seconds.

Cancellara was just happy that Switzerland had beaten Spain in the soccer World Cup, enjoying teasing a Spanish rider during the stage.

A nervous day in the rain

After the high-speed crash on Tuesday, many of the riders were still battered and bruised at the start of the stage, and still not happy with Mark Cavendish.

He was penalised 30 seconds and fined 200 Swiss Francs but that wasn’t enough for some of the riders in the bunch, who wanted to protest against his riding and lack of a clear apology. The race eventually got away after a couple of minutes but nobody went on the attack and the dark clouds and rain did not help the riders moral, as the faced 172.5km in the saddle.

The first riders to up the pace were Simon Gerrans (Team Sky) and Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r La Mondiale) but they were quickly pulled back.

The five-rider break of the day formed after 10km of racing: Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Transitions), Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Doimo) Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Angelo Furlan (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Francisco Javier Aramendia (Euskaltel-Euskadi) went clear, with the bunch happy to let them go. The first half of the stage was on rolling roads and the gap rose rapidly to five minutes. HTC-Columbia accepted responsibility for the chase with Tony Martin in the leader's yellow jersey, and set the tempo, getting some help from Rabobank.

The stage came alive in the last 80 kilometres. The category two Schallenberg climb was almost hidden in the clouds but hurt the legs of the riders in the break. The gap fell by a minute and suddenly the break seemed doomed, with Omega Pharma-Lotto leading the chase on the descent, intentioned to set up Philippe Gilbert for another late attack.

However fortune favoured the brave up front and the bunch eased dramatically after two riders crashed with 30km to go. One Omega Pharma rider went off the road with a long skid, somehow standing up with his brakes locked. He rode into the crowd, which fortunately seemed to soften his blow.

The gap on the break went back up to 3:30 at that point and convinced the five that they could stay away. It also convinced many in the bunch to avoid any further risks.

A short category three climb, 15km from the finish meant Furlan and Aramendia were dropped but Burghardt, Maaskant and Oss powered on, chasing the stage victory.

With 14km to go, Lance Armstrong gathered his RadioShack riders on the front. They led the chase but also allowed Armstrong to stay out of the trouble and avoid other possible crashes. The gap was still a minute with 10km to go and the bunch seemed to ease even more, admitting defeat. Pablo Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne) tried to go across the gap with a teammate but it was futile move and they were quickly caught.

Upfront Burghardt knew he would struggle to beat Oss and Maaskant in the sprint. He saw the road begin to rise in the final kilometre and went for it, pushing a huge gear.

He immediately got a slight gap and kept going. It was enough to crack Oss and Maaskant mentally, and the German stayed away all the way to the finish.

Behind the overall contenders were happy just to finish the stage without crashing or losing time. Their big day will be on Thursday with the 213.3km sixth stage is from Meiringen to La Punt.

It is the big mountain stage of this year's race and includes two early climbs and the Albulapass pass, just 13km from the finish.

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