Valiant Vrecer almost makes it

Euskaltel's Slovenian hard-man crowned a day-long effort in the break of the day in the Tour de Suisse's fourth stage by clinching the mountains jersey.

The national time trial champion got away early on along with noted rouleurs Jens Voigt and Olivier Kaisen, and Vrecer made good use of his day in the spotlight by cresting three of the stage's climbs first.

He might not have made it all the way to the line - his last move with Voigt was brought to a halt with less than five clicks to go - but he did enough to be able to don the red climber's jersey upon finishing the 161km leg from Innertkirchen to Buochs.

Igor Antón, Ion Izagirre et al. finished safe and sound inside the peloton, making for a good day's work from the orange squad.

Results:

• (1, Arnaud Démare (FDJ), 4:08:23)
• 20, Adrián Sáez, s.t.
• 58, Igor Antón, s.t.
• 85, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 86, Juan José Oroz, s.t.
• 99, Jorge Azanza, s.t.
• 118, Ion Izagirre, s.t.
• 133, Ricardo Mestre, s.t.
• 153, Robert Vrecer, 1:46

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi