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SION, Switzerland, May 2, 2008 (AFP) - Astana rider Andreas Kloeden took the overall lead of the Tour of Romandie after winning the third stage, a 18.8km time trial, here Friday.

The German, a former runner-up at the Tour de France, finished ahead of Dutchman Thomas Dekker, of Rabobank, over the mainly flat course around Sion which included one main climb.

After a rapid descent towards the technical final part of the course Kloeden avoided disaster when he managed to stay on his bike despite clipping a barrier.

He finished in 25min 32secs to claim his first victory of the year, and take the yellow jersey from Liquigas rider Michael Albasini of Switzerland, who finished in 26:53.

“I went so fast that when I used my brakes, my back wheel locked,” said Kloeden of his near mishap.

“Fortunately I was able to keep myself on the bike by hitting the publicity boarding with my shoulders.”

Dekker, a former winner of the Tour of Romandie - which much of the peloton uses as preparation for the May 10-June 1 Giro d’Italia - finished four seconds behind Kloeden and is now second overall.

With four climbs coming before the mountain finish on the fourth stage over 127km between Sion and Zinal, Astana could come under attack from the orange and blue shirts of Rabobank on Friday.

“I know that tomorrow will be tough with four climbs, but I’m confident in the team’s ability to control the race,” added Kloeden.

“With four riders in the top 11, it shows that we are in good shape and motivated to win here.”

Astana claim their second victory in the race after Maxim Iglinsky’s win on the first stage.

The Kazakh-based team includes Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, but the team will miss this year’s race due to the organizers’ decision not to issue an invite because of their past brushes with doping.

Astana were thrown off last year’s Tour after star rider Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping. Contador did not ride with them at the time

Result Stage 3 Sion-Sion (time trial 18.8 K):
1. Andreas Klöden (AST); 2. Thomas Dekker 0.06; 3. Stef Clement 0.20; 4. Tony Martin 0.21; 5. Gustav Larsson 0.25; 6. Roman Kreuziger 0.37; 7. Vladimir Gusev (AST) 0.37; 8. Marco Pinotti 0.39; 9. Denis Menchov 0.39; 10. Rein Taaramae 0.41; 16. Steve Morabito (AST) 0.54; 21. Maxim Iglinskiy (AST) 1.04; 56. Thomas Frei (AST) 1.53; 61. Sergei Yakovlev (AST) 1.58; 72. Julien Mazet (AST) 2.06; 75. Dmitriy Muravyev (AST) 2.08

General Classification:
1. Andreas Klöden (AST); 2. Thomas Dekker 0.05; 3. Roman Kreuziger 0.35; 4. Vladimir Gusev (AST) 0.38; 5. Marco Pinotti 0.43; 6. Rein Taaramae 0.44; 7. Denis Menchov 0.45; 8. Oscar Pereiro 0.46; 9. Mikel Astarloza 0.54; 10. Maxim Iglinskiy (AST) 0.55; 11. Steve Morabito (AST) 0.55; 38. Thomas Frei (AST) 2.30; 51. Sergey Yakovlev (AST) 3.19; 56. Dmitriy Muravyev (AST) 3.27; 119. Julien Mazet (AST) 20.16