Izagirre bang on track for Tour debut

On the final day of the Tour de Suisse, Ion Izagirre showed he's on track to replicate that resounding Giro d'Italia of 2012 performance when he embarks on his maiden Tour de France in two weeks' time.

Last year's Italian Grand Tour of course saw the youngest of the Izagirre brothers come away with a stage win in his very first three-week race, and hopes will be high he can conjure up something special at the French equivalent after his strong final-day ride in Switzerland.

The 26,8km hill time trial to the top of the Flumserberg would decide the outcome of the WorldTour race, and, unexpectedly, Movistar's Rui Costa emerged victorious both on the day and overall to defend his title from last year.

Izagirre, though, who'd been keeping a low profile up until today, powered his way to 11th on the day, even leading the race at one point. The 24-year-old bested riders like Tejay van Garderen, Peter Velits, Daniel Martin and Michele Scarponi, to name but a few, and is thus likely to depart for Corsica with a certain degree of confidence.

Igor Antón, also using the race to fine-tune his shape for the Grand Boucle, came in 16th on Sunday, and finished the race just outside the top ten on GC.

Results:

• (1, Rui Costa (Movistar), 51:56)
• 11, Ion Izagirre, 1:27
• 16, Igor Antón, 1:52
• 59, Gorka Verdugo, 4:36
• 69, Juan José Oroz, 5:16
• 71, Robert Vrecer, 5:22
• 72, Jorge Azanza, 5:31
• 84, Ricardo Mestre, 6:40
• 94, Adrián Sáez, 7:10

Final general classification:

• (1, Rui Costa (Movistar), 31:08:11)
• 12, Igor Antón, 5:10
• 34, Ion Izagirre, 21:53
• 43, Juan José Oroz, 27:58
• 46, Gorka Verdugo, 30:05
• 55, Jorge Azanza, 36:31
• 95, Adrián Sáez, 1:00:06
• 119, Ricardo Mestre, 1:10:53
• 126, Robert Vrecer, 1:15:13

Photo: BCPT