Eighth stage of Tour de Suisse was a stretch over 172 slightly hilly kilometers from Wetikon to Liestal where the breakaway was kept in a very tight leash as the sprinter teams wanted to use this last chance of a sprint showdown before tomorrow's time trial.

But 30 kilometers to go, Maxime Montfort (Columbia) exploded the front group and increased the gap to the peloton where Cervelo tried to maintain the lead of the pack until Team Saxo Bank ruined their pace with countless attacks from both Jakob Fuglsang, Jens Voigt and not least a Gustav Larsson in peak shape for the Tour.

Cervelo gave up controlling the anarchy of the peloton and Rabobank was forced to the front of the main pack which kept getting smaller as the action intensified.

In the front of the race, Rui da Costa (Caisse d'Epargne) seized the opportunity to make his breakthrough on the road as he escaped from his followers and soloed to victory.

Andy finished 20th and in the overall clasification he is still in 11th place.

”The stage profile practically invited us to attack and it's so great to see that our riders have the guts and not least are in the condition that allows them to make such a mark on a tough stage like this. However, dropping the top favorites turned out to be too difficult so we are planning on gaining time on tomorrow's time trial where I, besides Fabian (Cancellara) hope to see Gustav (Larsson) and Jakob (Fuglsang) in the top of the lists. When the riders are doing like this they make picking the right line-up for the Tour de France a problem of luxury,” concludes sports director Kim Andersen after the incredibly viewable stage.