Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) took a fine solo victory at the Tour de Suisse on a day that saw Fränk Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) edge closer to the overall lead of Rui Costa (Movistar). With one day of racing to go, Costa leads Schleck by 14 seconds, with Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) a further 7 seconds back in 3rd.

It was ultimately a day of two races on the 148.2km trek from Bischofszell to Arosa. The first was a straightforward fight for stage honours that saw Albasini outlast his three breakaway companions and then pull away on the hors categorie climb to the finish; the second, a tense, tactical battle for the leader’s yellow jersey, in which the initiative ebbed and flowed between a number of contenders in the finale.

The foundations of Albasini’s win were laid in a low-key time trial display on Friday – definitively out of the overall picture, the Swiss rider had the freedom to infiltrate the day’s early break, which chugged away 15km into the stage. In the company of Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Remi Cusin (Team Type 1-Sanofi) and Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Barracuda), Albasini had a lead of five minutes by the time he reached the stage’s two climbs, the second category Castiel and the final haul to Arosa.

Albasini launched his first attack at the foot of the Castiel, bringing Velits clear with him, and together the duo succeeded in maintaining a three-minute advantage by the time the road reared up for the final 8km to Arosa. Cleverly, Albasini once again attacked just before the climbing began in earnest and he quickly careered away from Velits and towards Switzerland’s first stage win of the week.

Rabobank sets the pace

Robert Gesink had shown signs in recent days that he had recovered from his sub-par outing on the opening road stage last weekend, and the Dutchman received a considerable vote of confidence from his Rabobank squad, as they did the bulk of the pace-setting in the yellow jersey group behind.

Indeed, such was the ferocity of Laurens Ten Dam’s tempo on the Castiel that he whittled the group of favourites down to just under twenty riders, with Costa among those riders struggling to maintain contact. While there was a brief regrouping on the descent, Gesink showed his intentions by clipping away for the bonus second on offer at Peist ahead of the final climb.

As the gradient pitched up to 15% on the final climb, Steven Kruijswijk took over pace-making duties for the Dutch squad and his efforts put Costa into difficulty once again. With the Portuguese rider’s grip on his yellow jersey guttering at the rear of the group, it was Fränk Schleck – and not Gesink – who delivered the anticipated attack, however.

The Luxembourger went away inside the final 4 kilometres, bringing Nieve and Leipehimer with him. Behind, Gesink was unable to get on terms, but after initially struggling, he settled to follow at a distance of around 20 seconds, accompanied by Kruijswijk and the impressive Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat).

Up front, Albasini had managed his resources perfectly on the steepest section of the climb and he then dosed his effort accordingly on the false flat run-in to the finish, and secured a fine stage victory.

Schleck led the pursuit behind, hoping that he might move into the yellow jersey, but his cause was not helped when Nieve and Leipheimer nipped around him for the bonus seconds on offer at the finish. Even so, the trio took 21 seconds out of Robert Gesink and it was left to Rui Costa to limit his losses to Schleck in the closing kilometres, with the help of his teammate Alejandro Valverde.

Costa succeeded in doing so, salvaging his yellow jersey by 14 seconds, but the Portuguese rider will face a stiff test if he is to repeat the feat on the tough final stage to Sörenberg on Sunday.

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