Stage 6: Frutigen - Linthal, 185.4 k

Switzerland's Nicki Aebersold (Phonak Hearing Systems) has won the gruelling Stage 6 of his home tour, from Frutigen to Linthal over 186 km. The men in white and green soloed to victory at the end of a long breakaway, with Holland's Thorwald Veneberg (Rabobank) taking second, and Roger Beuchat (Swi - Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie) claiming the sprint for third place from Austrian waterboy Georg Totschnig.

T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich held onto his GC leadership, with Fabian Jeker now in second and Italo-British rider Dario David Cioni (Fassa Bortolo) moving up into third overall, in the same time as Totschnig (4th) and Spaniard Txema Del Olmo (5th), whereas Camenzind lost about 01'13" to Ullrich and some positions on GC.

Race Report

Today was the king stage of the Tour de Suisse, with two Hors Category climbs and three sprints. One hundred twenty four riders took the start - not starting were Christophe Detilloux (Lotto-Domo), Marco Zanotti (Vini Caldirola), Steffen Wesemann (T-Mobile team) and Fabrizio Guidi (Team CSC).

The first 60 kilometers of the race were pretty well flat, and two men attacked the peloton: Roger Beuchat  (Vini Caldirola) and eventual winner Niki Aebersold (Phonak Hearing Systems). Three riders take chase - Thorwald Veneberg of Rabobank, Salvatore Commesso of Saeco and Stéphane Augé of Crédit Agricole. The three catch Beuchat and Aebersold, and gain 2:09 on the pack after 35 kilometers.

At 12 km before the first ascent, the leaders have six minutes' advantage on the peloton. On the ascent Auge cannot keep up with the four escapees. The climb begins to crack riders - McEwen falls back, as do former stage animators Hunter and Chicchi. Commesso cannot keep pace at the front, though the three leaders have 8:50 on the pack midway up the climb. The three - Beuchat, Aebersold and Veneberg work well together and maintain their gap over the ascent at 8:30. Aebersold gains the maximum mountain points.

The descent is very fast - Roger Beuchat was clocked at 104 kp/h. Meanwhile, several riders have abandoned, including Olaf Pollack of Gerolsteiner and Van Impe Kevin of Lotto-Domo, who has achilles tendon problems. Down into the valley the three have increased their lead to nearly ten minutes. Leblacher attacks and comes into no man's land with Auge. Veneberg takes the sprint points at Burglen. Another ten kilometers down, and the lead is over eleven minutes - if the second climb does not do too much damage, one of the three looks to be the winner on the day.

Aebersold attacks his co-escapees at 35 km to go. Leblacher and Auge are caught at 30 to go, the main field numbering about 40 riders, which includes all the main contenders. At 27 to go, just before the summit, Aebersold has 1:45 on his former companions, and 7:45 on the pack. Meanwhile, the second climb sorts out more riders - the main group now numbers about 20, with race leader Ullrich in the group. A kilometer later, the pack is down to only these riders: Guerini and Ullrich (T-Mobile), Cioni (Fassa Bortolo), Del Olmo (Milaneza), Jeker (Saunier) and Totschnig (Gerolsteiner).

24 km to go - former escapee Beuchat is caught by the Ullrich group. Aebersold has 5:20 as he flies down the descent toward the finish. The chasers close the gap to him as they descend, but he still manages a safe distance. He crosses the line solo, after a long breakaway. Veneberg crosses second and behind, what's left of the peloton fights for third - escapee Beuchat and Ullrich, among others, battle it out to the line - Ullrich takes fourth spot, just off the podium. So an unusual podium it is, with previously caught escapee Beuchat standing beside his breakaway companions Aebersold and Veneberg. Aebersold also leads the mountains competition.

Three stages to go - tomorrow's route has a significant uphill finish into the ski area of Malbun, Saturday has more climbing with three mountain passes, including the Category 1 Lukmanier Pass, and Sunday finishes this year's edition with a hilly 40 km time trial in Lugano.

Camenzind lost precious time today, and also lost his second place on GC to Fabian Jeker, who is six seconds down on race leader Jan Ullrich. Hunter and McEwen are very close on points, with 56 and 50 points respectively. There are six more opportunities for sprint points in this race; the next three behind the two English-speakers who could be contesting the sprints over the weekend are Ullrich with 38 (though his sights are surely on the winner's jersey), Jeker and Camenzind. Milaneza moves into second spot on the teams competition, edging out Fassa Bortolo.

Results

1. Aebersold Niki (Pho) Sui 5:04:07
2. Veneberg Thorwald (Rab) Ned +2:51
3. Beuchat Roger (Vin) Sui +3:00
4. Ullrich Jan (Tmo) Ger m.t.
5. Totschnig Georg (Gst) Aut m.t.
6. Jeker Fabian (Sdv) Sui m.t.
7. Del Olmo Jose Maria (Mil) Esp m.t.
8. Cioni Dario David (Fas) Ita m.t.
9. Guerini Giuseppe (Tmo) Ita m.t.
10. Moos Alexandre (Pho) Sui +4:13
11. Vila Francisco (Lam) Esp m.t.
12. Camenzind Oscar (Pho) Sui m.t.
13. Canada Gracia David (Sdv) Esp m.t.
14. Sinkewitz Patrik (Qsd) Ger m.t.
15. Perez Fernandez Santiago (Pho) Esp m.t.
16. Petrov Evgeni (Sae) Rus m.t.
17. Merckx Axel (Lot) Bel +5:13
18. Julich Bobby (Csc) Usa +5:24
19. Schleck Frank (Csc) Lux m.t.
20. Lavarinhas Rui (Mil) Por m.t.
21. Glomser Gerrit (Sae) Aut m.t.
22. Sousa Rui (Mil) Por m.t.
23. Caucchioli Pietro (Alb) Ita m.t.
24. Zampieri Steve (Vin) Sui m.t.
25. Kolobnev Alexandr (Dve) Rus +6:39
26. Gentili Massimiliano (Dve) Ita m.t.
27. Niermann Grischa (Rab) Ger +7:19
28. Elmiger Martin (Pho) Sui +7:47
29. Zintchenko Andrei (Mil) Rus +8:01
30. Blaudzun Michael (Csc) Den m.t.
31. Fothen Marcus (Gst) Ger m.t.
32. Codol Massimo (Fas) Ita m.t.
33. Ludewig Jörg (Sae) Ger m.t.
34. Sabaliauskas Marius (Sae) Ltu m.t.
35. Gustov Volodymir (Fas) Ukr m.t.
36. Zülle Alex (Pho) Sui m.t.
37. Kirchen Kim (Fas) Lux +9:20
38. Bodrogi Laszlo (Qsd) Hun m.t.
39. Leblacher Eric (C.a) Fra m.t.
40. Coenen Johan (Mbp) Bel m.t.
41. Kashechkin Andrey (C.a) Kaz m.t.
42. Joly Sébastien (C.a) Fra m.t.
43. Verbrugghe Rik (Lot) Bel m.t.
44. Verheyen Geert (Cho) Bel m.t.
45. Loosli David (Sae) Sui m.t.
46. Schnider Daniel (Pho) Sui m.t.
47. Piatek Zbigniew (Cho) Pol m.t.
48. Cardoso Pedro (Mil) Por m.t.
49. Tonkov Pavel (Vin) Rus m.t.
50. Bernabeu David (Mil) Esp +12:00
51. Van Goolen Jurgen (Qsd) Bel +14:14
52. Ivanov Ruslan (Alb) Mda m.t.
53. Ivanov Serguei (Tmo) Rus m.t.
54. Gerosa Mauro (Vin) Ita m.t.
55. Nardello Daniele (Tmo) Ita m.t.
56. Weening Pieter (Rab) Ned m.t.
57. Garate Juan Manuel (Lam) Esp +14:49
58. Cortinovis Alessandro (Lam) Ita m.t.
59. Serpellini Marco (Gst) Ita m.t.
60. Christensen Bekim (Csc) Den m.t.
61. Dean Julian (C.a) Nzl m.t.
62. Barbero Sergio (Lam) Ita m.t.
63. Rast Grégory (Pho) Sui m.t.
64. Joergensen René (Alb) Den +15:35
65. Commeyne Davy (Mbp) Bel m.t.
66. Bettini Paolo (Qsd) Ita +18:03
67. Bertoletti Simone (Lam) Ita m.t.
68. Milesi Marco (Vin) Ita m.t.
69. Botero Echeverry Santiago (Tmo) Col m.t.
70. Bertogliati Rubens (Sdv) Sui m.t.
71. Den Bakker Maarten (Rab) Ned m.t.
72. Clerc Aurélien (Qsd) Sui +23:30
73. Sunderland Scott (Alb) Aus m.t.
74. Thijs Erwin (Mbp) Bel m.t.
75. Marichal Thierry (Lot) Bel m.t.
76. Vansevenant Wim (Lot) Bel m.t.
77. Day Ben (Mbp) Aus m.t.
78. Castresana Angel (Mbp) Esp m.t.
79. Castanheira Bruno (Mil) Por m.t.
80. Gousev Vladimir (Csc) Rus m.t.
81. Strauss Marcel (Gst) Sui m.t.
82. Löwik Gerben (Cho) Ned m.t.
83. Voskamp Bart (Cho) Ned m.t.
84. Bortolami Gianluca (Lam) Ita m.t.
85. Cancellara Fabian (Fas) Sui m.t.
86. Casagrande Francesco (Lam) Ita m.t.
87. Cobo Acebo Juan Jose (Sdv) Esp m.t.
88. Fuentes Angullo Juan (Sae) Esp m.t.
89. Ferrara Raffaele (Alb) Ita m.t.
90. Commesso Salvatore (Sae) Ita m.t.
91. Baldato Fabio (Alb) Ita m.t.
92. Jones Timothy (Dve) Zim m.t.
93. Hinault Sébastien (C.a) Fra +27:40
94. Hunter Robert (Rab) Rsa +27:52
95. Hiemstra Bert (Cho) Ned m.t.
96. Wuyts Peter (Mbp) Bel m.t.
97. Aranaga Azkune Andoni (Cho) Esp m.t.
98. Bramati Davide (Qsd) Ita m.t.
99. Boven Jan (Rab) Ned m.t.
100. Calcagni Patrick (Vin) Sui m.t.
101. Stevens Christophe (Cho) Bel m.t.
102. Auge Stéphane (C.a) Fra m.t.
103. Hammond Roger (Mbp) Gbr m.t.
104. Fischer Murilo (Dve) Bra m.t.
105. Zaugg Oliver (Sdv) Sui m.t.
106. Danielson Tom (Fas) Usa m.t.
107. Lobato Elvira Ruben (Sdv) Esp m.t.
108. Ongarato Alberto (Fas) Ita m.t.
109. Hayman Mathew (Rab) Aus m.t.
110. Nazon Damien (C.a) Fra m.t.
111. Hvastija Martin (Alb) Slo m.t.
112. Hoffman Tristan (Csc) Ned m.t.
113. Wauters Marc (Rab) Bel m.t.
114. Bazhenov Alexandre (Dve) Rus m.t.
115. Hunt Jeremy (Mbp) Gbr m.t.
116. Wiggins Bradley (C.a) Gbr m.t.
117. Fagnini Gian Matteo (Dve) Ita m.t.
118. McEwen Robbie (Lot) Aus +30:47
119. D'Hollander Glenn (Lot) Bel m.t.
120. Chicchi Francesco (Fas) Ita +31:31
Dns Detilloux Christophe (Lot) Bel
Dns Wesemann Steffen (Tmo) Ger
Dns Guidi Fabrizio (Csc) Ita
Dns Zanotti Marco (Vin) Ita
Dnf Lüttenberger Peter (Csc) Aut
Dnf Pollack Olaf (Gst) Ger
Dnf Van Impe Kevin (Lot) Bel
Dnf Bucciero Antonio (Sae) Ita

General Classification after Stage 6

1. Ullrich Jan (Tmo) Ger 25:50:32
2. Jeker Fabian (Sdv) Sui +6
3. Totschnig Georg (Gst) Aut +25
4. Cioni Dario David (Fas) Ita +25
5. Del Olmo Jose Maria (Mil) Esp +25
6. Guerini Giuseppe (Tmo) Ita +1:00
7. Camenzind Oscar (Pho) Sui +1:15
8. Canada Gracia David (Sdv) Esp +1:21
9. Moos Alexandre (Pho) Sui +1:38
10. Sinkewitz Patrik (Qsd) Ger +1:38
11. Petrov Evgeni (Sae) Rus +1:44
12. Zampieri Steve (Vin) Sui +2:31
13. Merckx Axel (Lot) Bel +2:38
14. Vila Francisco (Lam) Esp +2:45
15. Julich Bobby (Csc) Usa +2:48
16. Lavarinhas Rui (Mil) Por +3:46
17. Kolobnev Alexandr (Dve) Rus +4:04
18. Niermann Grischa (Rab) Ger +5:08
19. Gustov Volodymir (Fas) Ukr +5:38
20. Zintchenko Andrei (Mil) Rus +5:45
21. Sabaliauskas Marius (Sae) Ltu +6:01
22. Kirchen Kim (Fas) Lux +6:45
23. Tonkov Pavel (Vin) Rus +6:51
24. Bodrogi Laszlo (Qsd) Hun +7:10
25. Schnider Daniel (Pho) Sui +7:13
26. Kashechkin Andrey (C.a) Kaz +7:13
27. Joly Sébastien (C.a) Fra +9:36
28. Verbrugghe Rik (Lot) Bel +11:27
29. Barbero Sergio (Lam) Ita +12:59
30. Cortinovis Alessandro (Lam) Ita +14:29
31. Blaudzun Michael (Csc) Den +19:59
32. Perez Fernandez Santiago (Pho) Esp +20:38
33. Veneberg Thorwald (Rab) Ned +20:53
34. Aebersold Niki (Pho) Sui +20:55
35. Schleck Frank (Csc) Lux +21:05
36. Beuchat Roger (Vin) Sui +21:27
37. Sunderland Scott (Alb) Aus +22:14
38. Sousa Rui (Mil) Por +23:42
39. Caucchioli Pietro (Alb) Ita +25:30
40. Fothen Marcus (Gst) Ger +25:32
41. Gentili Massimiliano (Dve) Ita +25:33
42. Castresana Angel (Mbp) Esp +25:47
43. Cardoso Pedro (Mil) Por +25:59
44. Zülle Alex (Pho) Sui +25:59
45. Glomser Gerrit (Sae) Aut +26:16
46. Leblacher Eric (C.a) Fra +26:25
47. Piatek Zbigniew (Cho) Pol +26:40
48. Codol Massimo (Fas) Ita +26:52
49. Elmiger Martin (Pho) Sui +27:00
50. Coenen Johan (Mbp) Bel +27:04
...
53. Bernabeu David (Mil) Esp +28:54
55. Botero Echeverry Santiago (Tmo) Col +31:22
57. Commeyne Davy (Mbp) Bel +33:09
59. Nardello Daniele (Tmo) Ita +33:54
62. Bettini Paolo (Qsd) Ita +36:16
67. Cancellara Fabian (Fas) Sui +38:41
69. Garate Juan Manuel (Lam) Esp +40:49
73. Casagrande Francesco (Lam) Ita +43:12
74. Danielson Tom (Fas) Usa +44:03
75. Jones Timothy (Dve) Zim +45:28
78. Dean Julian (C.a) Nzl +47:48
81. Hammond Roger (Mbp) Gbr +49:41
84. Commesso Salvatore (Sae) Ita +50:47
87. Ongarato Alberto (Fas) Ita +52:41
90. Baldato Fabio (Alb) Ita +53:28
93. Bertogliati Rubens (Sdv) Sui +54:34
94. Wauters Marc (Rab) Bel +54:56
99. Nazon Damien (C.a) Fra +56:06
105. Vansevenant Wim (Lot) Bel +58:41
109. Hinault Sébastien (C.a) Fra +1:00:18
114. McEwen Robbie (Lot) Aus +1:03:59
116. Lobato Elvira Ruben (Sdv) Esp +1:06:58

Points after Stage 6

1. Hunter Robert (Rab) Rsa 56
2. McEwen Robbie (Lot) Aus 50
3. Ullrich Jan (Tmo) Ger 38
4. Jeker Fabian (Sdv) Sui 35
5. Camenzind Oscar (Pho) Sui 26
6. Kirchen Kim (Fas) Lux 22
7. Kolobnev Alexandr (Dve) Rus 20
8. Chicchi Francesco (Fas) Ita 20
9. Zampieri Steve (Vin) Sui 16
10. Aebersold Niki (Pho) Sui 15
11. Totschnig Georg (Gst) Aut 15
12. Julich Bobby (Csc) Usa 15
13. Moos Alexandre (Pho) Sui 13
14. Baldato Fabio (Alb) Ita 13
15. Veneberg Thorwald (Rab) Ned 12
16. Del Olmo Jose Maria (Mil) Esp 12
17. Rast Grégory (Pho) Sui 12
18. Bettini Paolo (Qsd) Ita 12
19. Fischer Murilo (Dve) Bra 12
20. Canada Gracia David (Sdv) Esp 11

Mountains Classification after Stage 6

1. Aebersold Niki (Pho) Sui 45
2. Veneberg Thorwald (Rab) Ned 30
3. Beuchat Roger (Vin) Sui 22
4. Elmiger Martin (Pho) Sui 17
5. Blaudzun Michael (Csc) Den 15
6. Hunter Robert (Rab) Rsa 13
7. Rast Grégory (Pho) Sui 6
8. Jeker Fabian (Sdv) Sui 6
9. Commesso Salvatore (Sae) Ita 6
10. Danielson Tom (Fas) Usa 5
11. Canada Gracia David (Sdv) Esp 5
12. Bettini Paolo (Qsd) Ita 5
13. Garate Juan Manuel (Lam) Esp 5
14. Fischer Murilo (Dve) Bra 5
15. Zampieri Steve (Vin) Sui 4
16. Verheyen Geert (Cho) Bel 4
17. Wuyts Peter (Mbp) Bel 4
18. Ullrich Jan (Tmo) Ger 4
19. Van Goolen Jurgen (Qsd) Bel 4
20. Auge Stéphane (C.a) Fra 4

Teams Classification after Stage 6

1. Phonak Hearing Systems  SUI 77:28:05
2. Milaneza Maia  POR +10:39
3. Fassa Bortolo  ITA +11:24
4. T-Mobile Team  GER +18:34
5. Saeco  ITA +33:11
6. Lampre  ITA +33:29
7. Vini Caldirola - Nobili Rubinetterie  ITA +33:34
8. Quick Step - Davitamon  BEL +39:50
9. Lotto - Domo  BEL +45:03
10. Credit Agricole  FRA +45:49
11. Team CSC  DEN +47:20
12. Saunier Duval - Prodir  ESP +48:10
13. Rabobank  NED +50:33
14. Gerolsteiner  GER +52:47
15. Domina Vacanze  ITA +1:09:39
16. Alessio-Bianchi  ITA +1:20:18
17. Mr. Bookmaker.com - Palmans  BEL +1:24:36
18. Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf  BEL +1:43:47