In today's stage we had to wait over 60 kilometers before a leading group was formed. From this group with 16 riders the German rider Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team), after his victory in the stage Wettingen > Frutigen the day before yesterday continues for a solo adventure over 60 kilometers to win this 7th stage of the Tour of Switzerland 2010. The day before the final weekend of this 74th edition of the Tour of Switzerland, Robert Gesink (Rabobank) is still leading the general classification.

The summary of the 7th stage of the 2010 Tour of Switzerland: Savognin > Wetzikon

After the queen stage of the Tour of Switzerland 2010 yesterday, a quite a lot easier stage was awaiting the riders today, over 204.1 kilometers between Savognin and Wetzikon, not far from Zurich. The first half of the stage was going down while the second half contained 3 climbs: in Wildhaus (2nd), Hulftegg (3rd) and finally in Vorderbetswill in the circuit around the finish city Wetzikon where the finish line was drawn in the Rapperswilerstrasse.

After a quite nervous start of the stage - which was the reason behind several falls which fortunately remained without any real damages - animated by attacks of several riders who could however not manage to get away from the peloton, it was only at kilometer 62 that a group of 16 riders managed to create a gap with the peloton. In this group we found Matti Breschel (Team Saxo Bank), Aleksandr Kuschynski and Manuel Quinziato (photo) for the Liquigas-Doimo team, Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana), Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia), Marcus Burghardt and Mathias Frank for BMC Racing Team, Greg van Avermaet (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Luis Léon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne), Oscar Freire and Bauke Mollema for the Dutch Rabobank team, Daniel Sesma (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Jurgen van de Walle (Quick Step), Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky), Mathew Wilson (Garmin-Transitions) and Michal Golas (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) and since there was no real danger for Robert Gesink (Rabobank)'s yellow jersey (Juan Antonio Flecha was the best placed rider at the 27th place in the general classification at 8'24" from the Dutch rider) the peloton let these 16 riders go. The gap rapidly increased to 5 to 6 minutes before it stabilised around 3 minutes.

In the leading group, Michal Golas (photo) arrived first at the top in Wildhaus, ahead of Mathias Frank and Matti Breschel. Mathias Frank, the young Swiss rider of the BMC Racing Team, thus took back the leader's jersey for the King of the Mountains classification. In this climb several riders couldn't follow the rhythm while others attacked just after passing the top, but finally the 16 riders get back together again with a 4 minutes gap on the peloton.

At 60 kilometers from the finish, the German rider Marcus Burghardt (photo) thinks it's not going quick enough and he thus gets away from the leading group. He continues alone until the finish in Wetzikon and in the final circuit around that city towards a solo victory. Behind him, his team mate Mathias Frank secures the gap of the German rider, taking the 2nd places on the two remaining mountain tops at the same time, thus securing even more his first place in the King of the Mountains classification. On the finish line, Burghardt manages to find a German flag among all Swiss flags, provided by Würth, to celebrate his second victory in this Tour of Switzerland 2010.
Oscar Freire takes the second place in this stage while the third place was for Greg van Avermaet.

Matteo Bono (Lampre-Farnese Vini) abandoned during this stage, just like Valeriy Dmitriyev (Liquigas-Doimo), Pavel Brutt (Katusha Team), Philippe Gilbert and Leif Hoste (Omega Pharma-Lotto)..

At 2 days from the final individual time trial in Liestal, Robert Gesink (Rabobank) keeps his place as leader of the general classification. This weekend's programme will be interesting with a hilly stage tomorrow and a decisive individual time trial on Sunday:
> Saturday 19 June 2010 - the route, profile and time- and route schedule for the 8th stage of the 2010 Tour of Switzerland: Wetzikon > Liestal
> Sunday 20 June 2010 - the route, profile and time- and route schedule for the 9th stage of the 2010 Tour of Switzerland: individual time trial in Liestal

The 2010 Tour of Switzerland classifications after the 7th stage

Classification for the 7th stage: Savognin > Wetzikon

Here's the top 10 of this 7th stage of the Tour of Switzerland 2010:

1/ Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team) - 4h52'02" (41,934 km/h)
2/ Oscar Freire (Rabobank) - +1'01"
3/ Greg van Avermaet (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
4/ Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas-Doimo)
5/ Luis Léon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) - +1'08"
6/ Mathias Frank (BMC Racing Team)
7/ Juan Antonio Flecha - +3'24"
8/ Matti Breschel - +3'28"
9/ Michal Golas
10/ Jurgen van de Walle

General classification

At two days from the finish of the Tour of Switzerland 2010, Robert Gesink (Rabobank) is still leading the general classification:

1/ Robert Gesink (Rabobank) - 30h15'59"
2/ Rigoberto Uran (Caisse d'Epargne) - +0'29"
3/ Steve Morabito (BMC Racing Team) - +0'36"
4/ Fränk Schleck (Team Saxo Bank) - +0'38"
5/ Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha Team) - +0'42"
6/ Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) - +0'54"
7/ Lance Armstrong (Team Radioshack) - +0'55"
8/ Oliver Zaugg (Liquigas-Doimo) - +1'01"
9/ Jakob Fuglsang (Team Saxo Bank) - +1'17"
10/ Thomas Löfkvist (Team Sky) - +1'38"

Classification by points

Thanks to his stage victory, Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team) also takes the first place in the classification by points:

1/ Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team) - 50 points
2/ Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) - 43 points
3/ Oscar Freire (Rabobank) - 33 points
4/ José Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) - 30 points
5/ Matti Breschel (Team Saxo Bank) - 28 points

King of the Mountains classification

The young Mathias Frank completes BMC Racing Team's good operation by taking the first place in the King of the Mountains classification and also in the classification of the intermediate sprints.

1/ Mathias Frank (BMC Racing Team) - 49 points
2/ Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) - 40 points
3/ Robert Gesink (Rabobank) - 21 points
4/ Aitor Hernandez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) - 19 points
5/ Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) - 19 points

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Tour of Switzerland | Tour of Switzerland 2010 | UCI ProTour

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