Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) won the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Thursday to move into second place overall.

The Italian is now six seconds behind leader AlexanderVinokourov (Telekom) of Kazakhstan, after winning the 205km stage from Nyon to the Saas Fee ski resort in five hours, 10 minutes, 38 seconds.

Mountain specialist Casagrande took the initiative on the final 20kmclimb in the Alps after the riders had traveled around Lake Geneva andthrough the valley of the River Rhone. He finished 13 seconds clear ofLuxembourg's Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo), with leader Vinokourov taking third place a further five seconds behind.

"It was imperative that I won a stage here," said the 32-year-old Casagrande. "Now I'm going to do my best to challenge for overall honours and will be going out to attack."

As for Vinokourov, who has been on a golden streak all season, having won Paris-Nice and the Amstel Gold Race, he seems determined to hang on to the lead to claim another prestigious victory.

"I'm pretty satisfied at keeping the jersey for the third straight day - I don't want to give it up," said the Kazakh, who added that he "must suffer before the start of the Tour de France."

The hero of the day was Belgian Peter Wuyts, who made a break from the pack after 18km and opened up a 20-minute lead. The Palmans-Collstrop rider was gradually caught, and after leading for 184km Wuyts surrendered his lead just 3km from the finish line. He was eventually classified 34th on the stage, almost three minutes adrift of Casagrande.

Australian Bradley McGee (FDJeux) dropped to third overall after coming home sixth, while Kirchen's performance promoted him to fourth in the standings. Reigning champion and home favorite Alex Zülle (Phonak) is fifth overall, with 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich (Bianchi) dropping a place to 10th after finishing the stage 29 seconds down on Casagrande.

Friday's fourth stage will provide a test for riders as the 168kmstage from Visp-Losone includes a 14km climb to the Nufenen Pass,the highest in the country at 2,478 meters.