GENEVA, May 3, 2009 (AFP) – Czech rider Roman Kreuziger of the Liquigas team won the Tour of Romandie after the fifth and final stage which was won by Spaniard Oscar Freire here on Sunday.

Freire, a three-time world champion, claimed victory in a bunch sprint for his Rabobank team holding off the threat of promising young American Tyler Farrar of the Garmin team.

Kreuziger, an up and coming stage race specialist who is only 23 years old, won the Tour of Switzerland last year having finished runner-up in the 2008 edition of the Tour of Romandie.

He all but secured his victory after winning the tough mountain stage on Saturday to Sainte Croix where he left a small group of front runners in his wake to seal the stage win and take the overall lead.

That stage proved key to his victory, but Kreuziger admitted that not losing too much time in the team time trial – Liquigas finished fourth at 24secs behind Team Columbia – on Friday had also played a part.

“After the team time trial at Yverdon-les-Bains we managed to limit our losses. But I knew I would make the biggest difference on Saturday’s queen stage,” said Kreuziger, who won a junior world title in 2004.

Despite his love of Swiss races, Kreuziger has other big ambitions this year – the Tour de France, where he hopes to gain a place on the podium.

“My main objective of the year is the Tour de France,” added Kreuziger, one of the few Czechs to have succeeded in the tough European elite ranks.

Freire meanwhile picked up his second professional victory since returning from an injury setback, having broken two ribs in a crash at the Tour of California in February.

The versatile Spaniard, a sprinter by definition but who still manages to handle the tough climbs, also won stage two into La Chaux de Fonds.

Final standings after the 5th stage of the Tour
de Romandie, a 150.5km ride from Aubonne to Geneva on Sunday:

1. Oscar Freire (ESP/RAB) 3h29min 49sec
(average: 43,038 km/h)
2. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) at 0:00.
3. Koldo Fernandez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
4. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/SIL) 0:00.
5. Nico Sijmens (BEL/COF) 0:00.
6. Tony Martin (GER/THR) 0:00.
7. Markus Zberg (SUI/BMC) 0:00.
8. Iker Camano (ESP/FUJ) 0:00.
9. Sebastian Lang (GER/SIL) 0:00.
10. Jens Voigt (GER/SAX) 0:00.
11. Vitaliy Buts (UKR/LAM) 0:00.
12. Thomas Rohregger (AUT/MRM) 0:00.
13. Marcel Wyss (SUI/CTT) 0:00.
14. Guillaume Bonnafond (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
15. Ricardo Serrano (ESP/FUJ) 0:00.
16. Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP/ALM) 0:00.
17. Arnaud Labbe (FRA/BBO) 0:00.
18. Jeremy Roy (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
19. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 0:00.
20. Lars Bak (DEN/SAX) 0:00.
Selected:
24. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 0:00.
42. Cadel Evans (AUS/SIL) 0:00.
44. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/GCE) 0:00.

General classification
1. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 14h20min 14sec
2. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) at 0:18.
3. Rein Taaramae (EST/COF) 0:25.
4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/GCE) 0:46.
5. Rigoberto Uran (COL/GCE) 0:48.
6. Lars Bak (DEN/SAX) 1:01.
7. Cadel Evans (AUS/SIL) 1:07.
8. Tony Martin (GER/THR) 1:08.
9. Fredrik Kessiakoff (SWE/FUJ) 1:16.
10. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/THR) 1:21.
11. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 1:25.
12. Mathias Frank (SUI/BMC) 1:26.
13. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/FDJ) 1:29.
14. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/SIL) 1:29.
15. Alberto Losada (ESP/GCE) 1:31.
16. Mikel Astarloza (ESP/EUS) 1:34.
17. Sylvester Szmyd (POL/LIQ) 1:38.
18. Marcel Wyss (SUI/CTT) 1:40.
19. Sandy Casar (FRA/FDJ) 1:42.
20. Chris-Anker Sörensen (DEN/SAX) 1:44.
21. Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 1:44.
22. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 1:45.
23. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/AST) 1:47.
24. Steve Morabito (SUI/AST) 1:47.
25. Yevgeni Petrov (RUS/KAT) 1:47.
26. Ricardo Serrano (ESP/FUJ) 1:49.
27. Volodomir Gustov (UKR/CTT) 1:54.
28. Thomas Rohregger (AUT/MRM) 2:17.
29. Tadej Valjavec (SLO/ALM) 2:22.
30. Stephane Goubert (FRA/ALM) 2:23.

Photo by: CorVos Pro