Rui Costa (Movistar) has won the second stage of the 2012 Tour de Suisse.
Costa caught Frank Schleck unawares as the pair approached the summit finish at the end of a 218.3km stage from Verbania to Verbier.
The Portuguese simply rode up to Schleck’s wheel after the Luxembourger had broken clear in the closing kilometres and looked assured of victory.
Costa said: “I had not won anything since Romandie and in these situations I always come with some uncertainty.
“Schleck was far and honestly did not think about winning, but I started strong, I saw that was wrong and I slowly approached. When I met him, I breathed a moment and I attacked him because I saw he was very fair.
“For me, being leader of Switzerland is amazing, but much remains and you have to go day by day. I dedicate it to my family, my friends and my wife are always next to me and, of course, on this day to Mauricio Soler, who last year won this stage. “
Costa now leads the race by eight seconds from Schleck, who had had looked comfortable when breaking clear of the peloton on the steep ramps into Verbier.
Schleck said: “Right now I know I should have waited one or two kilometres more to attack but you have half a second to make that decision and I went all in at that point. I felt it was the time.”
“We’re not finished yet,” he added. “In a way it’s good that we don’t take the leader’s jersey so we won’t have to control the race and now I’m second in the overall. This gives us a good position with more hard stages coming up.”
The early break of Ryan Anderson (Spidertech powered by C10) and Alessandro Bazzana (Team Type 1-Sanofi) had looked destined to succeed and took the combined efforts of a number of bigger teams, including Schleck’s RadioShack-Nissan-Trek, to reel them in with just 30km to go.
Yesterday’s stage winner, Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Canndondale), was among a number of sprinters to slip back as RadioShack-Nissan-Trek drove the bunch up the slopes into Verbier.
Just 40 riders remained in contention when Schleck attacked with six kilometres to go, pulling out more than 20 seconds in a single kilometre.
The ever aggressive John Gadret (AG2R-La Mondiale) launched from the front of the bunch in pursuit of Schleck, but failed to make an impression. A subsequent attack by Tom Danielson (Garmin-Barracuda) proved equally fruitless.
But their attacks may have prepared the ground for Costa who was able to sally clear of his rivals and swiftly bridge the gap to Schleck, who seemed blissfully unaware of his presence.
By the time he noticed Costa, it was too late. His half-hearted response seemed only to inspire the Portuguese to launch his sprint without further ado and when he did, Schleck had no answer.
Tour de Suisse stage two – result
1) Rui Costa (POR) – Movistar – 6.21.13
2) Frank Schleck (LUX) – RadioShack-Nissan-Trek +4”
3 Mikel Nieve (SPA) – Euskaltel-Euskadi +12”
4) Giampaolo Caruso (ITA) – Katusha +13”
5) Thibaut Pinot (FRA) – FDJ-Big Mat
6) Nicolas Roche (IRL) – AG2R La Mondiale +16”
7) Chris Anker Sörensen (DEN) – Saxo Bank
8) John Gadret (FRA) – AG2R-La Mondiale
9) Alejandro Valverde (SPA) – Movistar +18”
10) Roman Kreuziger (CZE) – Astana +22”
General Classification
1) Rui Costa (POR) – Movistar – 6.31.22
2) Frank Schleck (LUX) – RadioShack-Nissan-Trek +8”
3) Roman Kreuziger (CZE) – Astana +15”
4) Thibaut Pinot (FRA) – FDJ-Big Mat +19”
5) Nicolas Roche (IRL) – AG2R-La Mondiale +21”
6) Thomas Löfkvist (SWE) –Team Sky
7) Alejandro Valverde (SPA) – Movistar +23”
8) John Gadret (FRA) – AG2R-La Mondiale +24”
9) Mikel Nieve (SPA) – Euskaltel-Euskadi +26”
10) Thomas Danielson (USA) – Garmin-Barracuda +29”
