He was a last-minute substitution when Paolo Bettini decided not to race, and it's a big call to fill the shoes of a current world road champion. But on Monday in the tiny Austrian village of Nauders, after the longest leg of the race, Quick Step's Alessandro Proni repaid the trust to claim victory on the third stage of the Tour de Suisse.

Though it was by the barest of margins, as the Italian only just finished ahead of Bouygues Telecom's Xavier Florencio and T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen, who were part of a 28-man group that surprisingly included race leader Fabian Cancellara.

So despite what he said the day before, the maillot jaune rests on Cancellara's shoulders for another day - although Proni now finds himself a tantalizing two seconds away from what would be another welcome addition to his palmarès. Kirchen, Florencio and AG2R's Martin Elminger round out the top five and aren't too far away either, between 14 and 17 seconds adrift.
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"With my 80 kilos, I will never be a climber," smiled Cancellara, whose performance was a surprise to many. "I felt a little fatigued after the [penultimate climb of the] Flüelapass.

"It's more an argument of pride in my home race," he said, asked if he's trying so hard to guarantee his place on CSC's Tour de France squad. "All the Swiss people, who come out to support me, I want to give them something back.

"Last year, I was convinced I was in the selection [for the Tour]. Probably, my shape wasn't good enough to be worth a spot in the Tour. But this year, until now, it's clear I will be in the Tour."

Without a result to his name, the 24-year-old Proni attacked with audacity of a neo-pro that he is, along with Astana's Daniel Navarro and Unibet's Luis Pasamontes - a massive 200 kilometers from the finish.

"At first, my main goal was to get points for the king of the mountains competition," Proni said of his motives.

Working with his two Spanish breakaway companions till the base of the final climb, the Italian put in a big effort to drop them, before expending his energy to perfection with a captivating display of cat-chasing-mouse. By the top, still two kilometers from the line, Proni's three-minute advantage had reduced to a handful of seconds, but a relatively straightforward descent - coupled with his now-renowned craziness - saw him win by seven single seconds.

"Mainly because the gap was coming down," Proni said, explaining why he attacked straight away, "but also because earlier, on the hill before, I had the impression that I wasn't much stronger than the two Spaniards.

"My only chance was to attack, and my thoughts were supported by the director, Davide Bramati, who told me: 'Now you have to go'.

"Even though my advantage was small at the top [of the climb], I still thought I could win. Last season, as an amateur, I won 11 races, and in each of those 11 races, the margin was just a couple of seconds," he said.

228 bottles of beer on the wall...
At 228 kilometers, the longest day of the 71st Tour de Suisse took off much earlier than the previous two days, with proceedings underway shortly after eleven in the morning.

Attacks were plentiful right from the get-go, although it took 25 kilometers of attacking and counter-attacking before a group of three got away, Proni, Daniel Navarro (Astana) and Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) the trio represented.

With a long, long, way to the finish, total cooperation was required if they were to stand any chance of winning, and that they did. Prino and Pasamontes were part of an unsuccessful break the day before, so there was enough impetus up front to make this move stick.

After roughly 70 kilometers, the trio reached their maximum advantage of slightly more than 11 minutes, but with the 40km climb of the Flüelapass in front of them - even though the climb's recorded length is only 13 kilometers - they were going to need it. Over the top, 2.383 meters above sea level, Proni led Pasamontes followed by Rodriguez, and when the groupe maillot jaune arrived, their lead was still a handy eight and half minutes.

At the start of the final climb to Nauders, 13 kilometers from the finish, 3:17 was the distance between break and bunch, the latter being driven by the men from Lampre-Fondital, hoping Cunego would have the legs.

With nine kilometers to go and the gap fading fast, Proni decided to give it a nudge, leaving Pasamontes and Rodriguez in his wake. He did well, very well, but the peloton was reaching warp speed, and with three kilometers remaining, the Italian was just 30 seconds in front.

Aiding Proni's chances was a tricky, two kilometer downhill run from the summit of the climb, and luckily for him, he got there just ahead of the peloton. Amazingly, the maillot jaune of Cancellara was driving the first chase group, no more than 20 riders strong, but not even the world time trial champion could stop the young Quick-Stepper from taking a very well-deserved victory, having spent virtually the entire day out in front.

The road ahead - Tuesday's stage crosses back from Austria to Switzerland, but then finishes in the tiny country of Liechtenstein, sandwiched between the two Alpine nations.

The 167.2 kilometer journey begins in Nauders, and on paper, isn't overly strenuous with just the one Category 2 climb up the Arlberg Pass before another Cat. 2 takes the riders to the finish - but it's the uphill journey to Triesenberg-Malbun that will most likely see Cancellara's final day in yellow. Of course, we - and he - said that before, and were proven wrong.

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Stage 3
1. Alessandro Proni (I), Quick Step, 228.7km in 6:02:17 (37.876kph
2. Xavier Florencio (Sp), Bouygues Telecom, at 0:07
3. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile
4. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis
5. Fränk Schleck (Lux), CSC
6. Matthias Kessler (Ger), Astana
7. Matteo Carrara (I), Unibet.com
8. Andreas Klöden (G), Astana
9. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre
10. Linus Gerdeman (G), T-Mobile, all s.t.
 
Overall, after stage 3
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 389.7km in 10:11:34 (38.227kph)
2. Alessandro Proni (I), Quick Step, at 0:02
3. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, at 0:14
4. Xavier Florencio (Sp), Bouygues Telecom, at 0:15
5. Martin Elmiger (Swi), Ag2r Prévoyance, at 0:17

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