Freire denies Zabel home win

OSCAR FREIRE surprised himself and the Saarbrucken crowd gathered to cheer an Erik Zabel win by denying the German rider a victory on home soil yesterday.

Zabel had been tipped as favourite to win yesterday's stage and looked in a strong position as he was led out by his Telekom team-mates into the final 200m.

He appeared to be struggling however as Robbie McEwen, who is intent on taking Zabel's points title, surged ahead.

But the Australian had to settle for second place as world champion Freire put in a final burst to claim the win and disappoint the massed ranks of German fans gathered at the finish line.

''I wasn't expecting to win today because I'm not in good shape but sometimes you get a little bit of luck,'' said the Spaniard, who denied that he had taken extra delight in beating Zabel.

''It's not so much who you beat it's my 13th victory and that's what's important.''

The local supporters did have something to cheer about however, as Zabel retained the green points jersey and moved into second overall behind surprise race leader Rubens Bertogliadi.

The Lampre-Daikin rider did enough to keep the yellow jersey and stay top of the U25 rankings, ahead of Britain's David Millar in second.

The Maltese-born Scot is seventh in the general classification, eight seconds off the lead.

Lance Armstrong, the American in pursuit of a fourth consecutive Tour title, enjoyed a quiet day but remains in a strong position in fourth overall behind third-placed Laurent Jalabert.

After two days in Luxembourg, the Tour left behind the narrow streets and cobbles of the Duchy for the wide road to Saarbrucken, tucked just inside the German border.

The rolling hills of the route had seemed tailored to Zabel's strengths with the Telekom rider looking for a seventh points title.

But it was Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel of Bonjour, perhaps with an eye on wearing yellow when the race enters France today, who attacked first, just 11km in.

He was followed by Thors Hushovd (Credit Agricole) and compatriot Stephane Berges (AG2R) and the trio built a significant lead.

At one stage, Chavanel held the virtual race leadership but Bertogliadi's Lampre-Daikin's team-mates led the peloton in closing the gap in a bid to preserve the Swiss rider's advantage.

Hushovd was plagued by cramp and eventually dropped off the back of the peloton before limping home streets behind the rest.

Berges was rewarded for his efforts, however.

The Frenchman will wear the polka-dot jersey tomorrow after crossing yesterday's final climb, the Cote d'Alsweiler-Heid, first to overtake Christophe Mengin in the King of the Mountains' rankings.

But the lead built by the front two, as high as five minutes earlier in the race, came under threat the closer they got to the finish line.

With the gap closed to one minute, German Jens Voight of Credit Agricole made a bid to grab some local glory with an attack 31km from the end.

CSC-Tiscali's Paul van Hyfte was dispatched to catch him but Voight stormed into the lead ahead of the tiring Chavanel and Berges.

As Telekom emerged at the front of the peloton, driving the speed up, Chavanel and Berges accepted the inevitable and were overtaken along with Van Hyfte leaving Voight on his own.

He was caught in turn but his Credit Agricole team-mate Sebastien Hinault attacked again almost instantly.

Telekom were not to be denied in their attempts to provide Zabel with the best possible opportunity to win as the men in pink dictated the pace.

But, with the crowds reaching fever pitch in anticipation of a German win, it was Spaniard Freire who stole across the line first.