The 213 kilometer mountainous queen stage of Tour de Suisse from Meiringen to La Punt, the scene was set for an epic battle among the top favorites of the GC. However, thirteen riders similated the opening attractions by taking off and leaving the main field behind with a gap of six minutes.

But after He-man performances by Stuart O'Grady and Jens Voigt, the gap was minimized and the front group slowly fell apart and soon, only the always vigilant, Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil) was left in the front.

With 13 kilometers to the top of the last climb and 24 kilometers left of the stage, Andy flew from the main pack and he was soon followed by teammate, Jakob Fuglsang and Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Romans Kreuziger (Liquigas) and Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil).

As the favorites sensed that Tony Martin (Columbia) was suffering, they dropped him and moved slowly towards the Andy and Jakob Fuglsang group. Andy quickly saw the opportunity to strike again and he immediately creately a gap with Rabobank's Robert Gesink to the new group of favorites.

The Dutch rider was immensely strong and he left Andy to ride alone all the way to the finish line to take the overall lead of the race. Fränk Schleck was in the chase group and is now fourth overall. Teammate Jakob Fuglsang lost a little ground on the descent and is now nineth in the GC.

»Everything is going according to plan and I am feeling very strong until the last 500 meters of the final climb when Rodriguez launches an attack. It's a pity I wasn't able to close that gap on the descent but I just needed that last bit of strength to make it. Sunday, I will do everything I've got to take a step or two towards the top of the GC. In general, I feel the shape is coming strong now and I think I will peak during the Tour de France. Until then, I am will do what I can to take Danish national time trial championship,« says Jakob Fuglsang after the stage.

Andy finished in 12th place and in the overall clasification he is in 11th place with 1 minute and 40 seconds to Robert Gesink