Juan Mauricio Soler (Movistar) finished off his second attack in Crans Montana to take a solo stage two win at the Tour de Suisse. Soler's move inside the final kilometer left Fränk Schleck (Leopard Trek) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) behind and gave Soler the overall lead by 16 seconds over Cunego. Rabobank's Bauke Mollema is in third place overall.
It had been a long time coming for Soler, who took his last victory at the Vuelta a Burgos in 2007. "I'm really happy, this is an important win for me because this is a top-ranked race and because I had spent four years without winning. I was in need for it." Soler had interrupted his European campaign to get back to Colombia for training. "I haven't raced since the Vuelta a Castilla y León," he said. "The season start was difficult due to the crashes and physical troubles, but I had done already 30 days of competition and the first two weeks home were recovery time, in both mental and physical aspects."
The time at home was good for him and Soler was ready for physically and tactically. "We fulfilled the team orders and had made sure that, if we had a chance, we had to try before the final kilometer." Soler set his first move just outside the flamme rouge. "The second one was the good one," he said. With 550 meters remaining he dropped Schleck, Cunego and Di Luca. "I knew it was the moment because, if I came to the finish with riders like Di Luca, I would not stand any chance in the final 300m."
Soler will assess his chances as the race progresses. "This tour has just started and it will be difficult to keep the yellow jersey, but I have a strong team and we'll try to stay on front."
In his triumph Soler did not forget about deceased team member Xavier Tondo. "My victory and leadership are dedicated to Xavi Tondo. He's not with us anymore, but he's still in our thoughts. Apart from an excellent rider, he was a big friend of mine."
The mountains wait early in Switzerland
The race started out under sunny skies and in moderate pace, as the road tilted upward right away. The first climb of the day was the Nufenenpass, almost 2500 meters high. After only 22 kilometers of racing, the riders reached the top. Dane Matti Breschel of Rabobank was first over the top, ahead of Heinrich Haussler (Garmin - Cervélo) and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) came over the top in fifth spot, but the sprinter showed that he is a very good descender. Together with José Iván Gutiérrez he clipped away on the downhill, enjoying a two-minute lead after a good 40km raced. After 50 kilometers, the duo had four minutes to spare over the peloton, where Cancellara was riding in his yellow jersey.
The two front runners obtained a maximum lead of over five minutes, before Cancellara's Leopard team cut into the lead. Laszlo Bodrogi chased solo behind. At the halfway point, he was two minutes behind the two leaders, but the peloton was now only 3'15 back. Bodrogi was back in the bunch with 65km to go.
The gap went down to two minutes, when the peloton decided to sit up and let the time difference grow again. The riders faced a headwind in the Rhone valley, making it difficult for the duo. With a little over 40 kilometers to go, the advantage had gone up to four and a half minutes.
Leopard Trek cuts into the lead
With less than 30 kilometers to go, Leopard Trek seriously accelerated on the front. At the second sprint of the day, in Sierre, Mondory preceded Gutierrez. The peloton crossed the sprint line, with 22km to go, 3'10 later. With 19km to go, the gap was only two and a half minutes.
This marked the beginning of the climb to Crans Montana. Cancellara immediately was having trouble staying in contact and was dropped out of the peloton. More riders lost touch and when the 15km mark was reached, a group of less than 40 riders rode about 45 seconds behind the two leaders.
Pieter Weening (Rabobank) attacked from the bunch and passed the front duo with 14km to go. But an attack by Fränk Schleck with 12.5km to go but a quick end to Weening's' day at the front. One of the victims of Fränk Schleck's move was his brother Andy, who was dropped with less than 12km remaining.
Fränk Schleck's second attack with 10.5km to go was again answered by Cunego first. The accelerations reduced the front group to around a dozen riders. Matthias Frank was the first one over the KOM point, with still almost ten kilometers remaining.
Steven Kruijswijk went, drawing Danilo Di Luca and Frank with him. The trio stayed around a dozen seconds ahead of the dozen-strong chase group. But with 2.5km to go, the effort was over for the three.
In the final uphill kilometers Frank Schleck stayed close to the front and Soler's first move, just before the flamme rouge, was brought back. Cunego was the next to try, but Schleck and Soler were right with him. Soler's second acceleration with 550 meters to go was the good one, with Cunego and Schleck struggling to get to terms with the final uphill finish.