Robert Hunter grabbed the cycling worlds attention yet again on Wednesday by claiming his second stage win in the Tour de Suisse in the fifth stage of the prestigious event.
Hunter again did it as part of an escape group and he again attacked his co-escapees on the final climb of the day to ride home solo with a lead of 35 seconds over second placed Brazilian Murilo Fischer (Domina Vacanze).
It was almost a carbon copy of his win in stage three, knowing that the tour leaders will still afford him some leeway in a breakaway move because he is no threat to their positions.
Hunter also won two of the three sprint primes on the day and got 1st and 2nd in the mountain primes. He leads the points competition by six points from Aussie Robbie McEwen and is third in the King of the Mountains classification.
With Hunter previously not a conscious part of Rabobanks Tour de France plans, the team now want him to ride in the Tour, but his season hasnt been structured to peak at the Tour de France.
I wanted to peak for Germany and Switzerland and then take it a bit easier. I don’t know yet if I’ll be selected for the Tour, but I want to focus on the Olympics," he said after his stage win.
Results
1 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 3.45.16 (43.069 km/h)
2 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Domina Vacanze 0.35
3 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 0.37
4 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 4.30
5 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
6 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner
7 Jose Maria Del Olmo (Spa) Milaneza Maia
8 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
9 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Domina Vacanze
10 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo
11 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team
12 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick.Step-Davitamon
13 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems
14 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Domina Vacanze
15 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
16 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
17 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems
18 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
19 Santiago Perez Fernandez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems
20 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Saeco
General classification after stage 5
1 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team
2 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.02
3 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.06
4 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 0.07
5 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.08
6 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 0.24
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 0.25
8 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Domina Vacanze
9 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
10 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner
33 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 9.36
Points classification
1 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 56 pts
2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 50
3 Olaf Pollack (Ger) Gerolsteiner 36
4 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 29
5 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 28
6 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 25
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 22
8 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Domina Vacanze 20
9 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 20
10 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team CSC 17
|
