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Martin scores win at Swiss Tour
Valjavec keeps jersey
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Columbia’s Tony Martin won the eighth stage of the Tour of Switzerland from Le Sentier to Crans-Montana on Saturday.
Wearing the pink climber's jersey, the German outsprinted Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), starting his dash to the line 500 meters from the finish.
"I realized Cunego was chasing behind, and he got fairly close, but I made it in the first place to the finish all the same," said Martin.
"I'd tried the same kind of move on Friday at the mountain-top finish in Juraparc but it didn't work out," he noted. "This time round was different. I waited a lot longer and finally accelerated 500 metres from the line. I got a good gap, and then I knew that I was going to be able to win."
Already victorious in the time trial stages of the Criterium International in France and the Bayern Rundfahrt in Germany this year, the second-year pro said he considered his Swiss victory "to be the first big win of my career."
"Hopefully I can do a good time trial on Sunday, too," he added.
The win represents the sixth victory by Columbia-Highroad riders at this year’s Tour of Switzerland, with five different riders on that team earning stage wins.
Ag2r’s Tadej Valjavec finished fourth to maintain his hold on the leader’s jersey. Cancellara collected enough time bonuses to cut Valjavec's overall lead to four seconds.
The Slovenian may face a big challenge from Cancellara, the former world time trial champion, in the Sunday’s final stage, a 39km individual race against the clock around the Swiss capital of Bern.
