Frenchman Wins Swiss Tour
- By Unknown
- Jun. 30 1997 00:00
Agnolutto hung on to the tour leader's yellow jersey for seven consecutive days, largely thanks to a spectacular win in the third stage where he collected an 11-minute lead over most of the other riders.
Completing the 10 stage tour with an aggregate time of 37 hours, 48 minutes and 1 second, Agnolutto became the second Frenchman to win the Swiss tour and the first since 1935.
Switzerland's Oskar Camenzind, winner of the prologue, finished second 2:08 behind the Frenchman.
Germany's Jan Ullrich was third overall, 4:20 adrift.
Spain's Fernando Escartin scored the most important win of his career Thursday when he sealed victory in the Tour of Catalonia.
Escartin won the race by just two seconds after sticking by second-placed Angel Casero throughout the final stage, which was won by Sergei Uchakov of Ukraine. (AP, Reuters)