Robbie McEwen (Silence) has won Stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse. The Australian veteran took a bunch sprint from Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Gerald Ciolek (High Road) to win the rolling, 155-km run from Flums to Gossau in 3:50:05. Igor Anton (Euskaltel) remains the yellow jersey.
The stage was ridden in intermittent rain. At five km, Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis) and Rene Weissinger (Volksbank) attacked. At 15 km, Jeff Louder (Team BMC) bridged up to the pair. The trio's lead maxed out at 8:00 at 55 km. With 50 km remaining, the sprinters' teams began chasing in earnest, and with 25 km left, about 1:00 separated bunch and break.
With 10 km left, the peloton reeled in the break. A number of riders attacked, but none could stay clear. Milram led the field into the last km. McEwen started the sprint and held on for the win.
In the overall, Anton leads Kim Kirchen (High Road) by 0:06 and Damiano Cunego (Lampre) by 0:12. Stage 4 will probably not change this state of affairs. The flat-to-rolling, 171-km run from Gossau to Donat-Ems will probably end in another bunch sprint. Will McEwen win his second consecutive stage? Will Freire take his second scalp of the 2008 Tour de Suisse? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!
