Kruijswijk climbs to stage win

Following a top-ten finish at the Giro d'Italia, Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) confirmed his climbing talent once again with a victory in stage six of the Tour de Suisse atop the hors categorie Triesenberg/Malbun ascent.

The 24-year-old Dutchman made his winning move 2km from the summit as he attacked an elite selection of 12 riders which formed on the finishing climb. Kruijswijk soloed to the line for his first professional win while the rest of the group shattered in the finale. Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) finished second, nine seconds back, while race leader Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) crossed the line in third place, 18 seconds behind Kruijswijk.

Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) edged Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) for fourth three seconds later while Fränk Schleck (Leopard Trek) bested Mathias Frank (BMC) for sixth 30 seconds behind Kruijswijk.

"I think with 3km to go [Fränk] Schleck went first and Cunego reacted to him - from then it was everybody alone," said Kruijswijk. "I tried to be with Cunego, but then I went alone. I think the last kilometre to the finish was the hardest - I gave it everything I had and luckily I was able to win.

"I had a really good Giro in the last few weeks, and I was hoping to do well here with the condition I had from the Giro. To win here my first race as a professional is very nice."

Cunego remains in the leader's jersey in a stage marred by a serious crash involving Mauricio Soler (Movistar), who started the day in second overall. Soler collided with a spectator 33km into the stage and was airlifted to the hospital with a suspected fractured skull. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) moves into second overall, 1:23 behind the Lampre-ISD Italian, while Kruijswijk climbs into third at 1:36.

"What a tough climb - with high speeds on the first part it was not so simple to face it," said Cunego. "I think I did quite a good performance, since I increased the gap on my immediate followers [on general classification].

"Rabobank had the advantage of relying on three riders, so I decided to focus my attention on [Bauke] Mollema. When he attacked, I chased him and then I tried to counter-attack, paying attention on pedaling with agility.

"My attack soon ended and so I kept my pace, but [Levi] Leipheimer was on a very good day. My thoughts are with [Mauricio] Soler, who was very unlucky. I hope he'll be able to get well soon."

The day's early break containing Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), Angel Madrazo (Movistar) and Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) survived through to the day's final climb, a 10.8km ascent with a maximum gradient of 15 percent.

Under the strong pace-making of Leopard Trek, a peloton of approximately 50 riders reached the base of the final climb three minutes behind the escapees.

The Luxembourg ProTeam continued its blistering tempo up the climb which eventually created an elite selection containing Fränk Schleck, Jakob Fuglsang and Maxime Monfort (Leopard Trek), Bauke Mollema, Laurens Ten Dam and Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank), Giampaolo Caruso and Danilo Di Luca (Katusha), Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad), Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD), Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) and Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo).

At the head of affairs up the road, the leading trio splintered with Izagirre climbing alone in the lead, followed by Chavanel then Madrazo.

Izagirre would be the last of the escape to be absorbed with the catch occurring five kilometres from the finish. At this point Di Luca was dropped while Mathias Frank (BMC) heroically climbed his way into the lead group following a crash just prior to the start of the climb.

While several riders looked to be under severe pressure, the lead group continued their ascent together until Cunego lit the match with 2.5km remaining as he chased down an attack by Mollema. As the Italian was brought back the lead group shattered in his wake. Two kilometres from the finish Kruijswijk was the next to attack and the young Dutchman soon found himself alone in the lead.

Cunego and Leipheimer climbed together in pursuit of the Rabobank rider but were unable to make contact. Leipheimer surged in the final 500 metres to claim second while Cunego followed in third to remain in the leader's jersey.

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