Atop the dizzying heights of the Grimselpass, 2614 meters above the sea, Discovery Channel's Vladimir Gusev emerged out of the mist, and after a 120-kilometer break, to claim the seventh leg of Tour de Suisse.

It sure beats the tire you won at last week's local crit, eh?

Photo: Agence France Presse - 2007

A distant second was Predictor-Lotto's popular American Chris Horner, two minutes in arrears, while Astana's Andreas Klöden finished 2:37 back to round out the top three.

Victory for 24-year-old Gusev came after he instigated a three-man escape less than 10 kilometers into the stage, on a day that contained three of the biggest climbs in the country.

"It was my directeur-sportif Dirk Demol that gave me the advice to go into a break," said Gusev, Demol later confirming the Russian's ride Friday guarantees him a spot at the Tour de France.

"Gusev was very aggressive from the start of today's stage and I encouraged him all day long," said Discovery's other director at the tour, Laurenzo Lapage. "Once he was in the front on the final climb I made sure he gauged his effort properly, because the climb was very long and became steeper at the top."

"It was a little strange, though," said Gusev, "because on the last climb, I never gave 100 percent - I never had to go into the red."

And it seems if you're Russian and your first name's Vladimir, Switzerland's a good place to be.

The non-threatening break proved the perfect scenario for race leader Vladmir Efimkin: it neutralized any dangerous moves from those closest to him on the overall classification, and allowed his Caisse d'Epargne team-mates to set the speed all the way to the line. "It looked like it was a quiet day for us but my team-mates had to do a big job, which they did very well," praised Efimkin.

Largely aided by Vladimir Karpets (yet another Vladimir) throughout the day, Efimkin finished the stage in ninth position, 4:15 behind Gusev. Interestingly, despite no fireworks back in the bunch, the riders previously placed second and third overall lost their positions to T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen and Karpets himself, who now trail the maillot jaune by 24 and 30 seconds respectively.

Asked why he thought there were no attacks until the final kilometer, Efimkin again alluded to the work of his team: "Because the pace dictated by my team-mates was so high, the others weren't able to."

With Unibet's Matteo Carrara, early race leader Frank Schleck of Team CSC, and Lampre-Fondital's Damiano Cunego also within a minute of the leader, it appears that the final classification won't be decided till the time trial two days from now - which is probably what the race organizers hoped would happen.

On paper, Schleck is probably the favorite. But Efimkin says if he's still wearing the same colored maillot come Sunday's 33.4 kilometer TT in Bern - a likely scenario - then the 25 year-old will ride with the special powers that the Golden Fleece brings. Or so he hopes...

"I think I'll have the jersey after tomorrow; it's a relatively easy stage," Efimkin said. "But if I keep the jersey, then I'll race the time trial on a higher level, because I'm then in a situation to defend the maillot jaune; Schleck may be the favorite, but I will do more than I am normally capable of."

Asked about his chances of riding the Tour de France, which his twin brother Alexander will be riding for Barloworld, Efimkin said probably not this year, but maybe one day in the not-too-distant future, where he hopes they'll ride together. "It would be a dream to ride in the same ProTour team and ride the same races," he said.

Class, define tension
Naturally, with the queen stage of the 71st Tour de Suisse dawning upon the peloton Friday morning, there was an air of tension surrounding Ulrichen at half-past midday: little was stirring at the village departe, the weather was a cool 64 Fahrenheit (18C), and riders weren't keen to talk, preferring to take shelter in their team buses, or warm up before tackling the first of the three sizeable ascents.

Just before the first climb of the Furka Pass, Discovery Channel's Vladmir Gusev attacked, almost immediately breaking the peloton into several pieces. Predictor-Lotto's Chris Horner and Lampre-Fondital's Marzio Bruseghin decided to join him, as a chase group of roughly 20 riders formed behind them, containing all the principal favorites.

By the top of the 2346 meter summit, 58 seconds separated the trio from the first chase group containing Andreas Klöden and Daniel Navarro Garcia (Astana), Beat and Markus Zberg (Gerolsteiner), Patrice Halgand (Cridit Agricole), Steve Zampieri (Cofidis) and yesterday's escape artist, Laurens Ten Dam (Unibet); two minutes behind them was the groupe maillot jaune.

On the long descent to Wassen, Beat Zberg and Zampieri bridged to the front group to make a handy five, with two groups in between them and the groupe maillot jaune, now 1:39 in arrears. The additional firepower up front made a difference: after 46 kilometers, the quintet extended their lead to a shade under three minutes.

Sensing a now-or-never chase, Klöden and three others bridged the gap on the second ascent of the Sustenpass, catching the front five midway up the climb. Two kilometers later, when Ten Dam and the other Zberg brother also came across, the lead group now numbered 11. By this stage, the groupe maillot jaune was now trailing by a significant 4:40, and was losing riders as those at the head upped the ante, but Efimkin and his team-mates didn't panic; with Klöden the most dangerous, 6:21 behind at the start of the day, they didn't need to.

Another long descent to Innertkirchen before the final rise up the Grimsel Pass proved handy for AG2R's Martin Elminger, who used plenty of grinta to bomb the downhill and open a half-minute advantage 27 clicks from the finish. Four kilometers later, Beat Zberg and Gusev were hot on his heels, as the three began what would be a race of attrition.

At 23 to go, Gusev decided to go it alone, leaving Elminger and Zberg in his wake. Another four kilometers and the Russian was a minute ahead of Zberg, 1:45 on a group containing Klöden , Elminger, Navarro Garcia, Horner, Bruseghin and Zampieri, and 5:34 in front of the groupe maillot jaune.

14 kilometers from the line, Horner chose to launch his own chase, going after Zberg and Gusev, the former he caught and passed a kilometer up the road, and the latter now within two minutes' reach. Meanwhile, back in the groupe maillot jaune, with no-one ahead of him much of a threat, race leader Efimkin remained cool as a cucumber, evenly paced by three of his Caisse d'Epargne team-mates.

With 10 kilometers remaining, it was clear Horner wasn't going to catch Gusev unless he fell off the roadside, the gap between the two stabilizing at around two minutes; behind them, the Klöden group had reduced to three, Bruseghin and Zberg his only company.

Gusev had no problems holding on to take the stage, 2:02 in ahead of Horner and 2:37 in front of Klöden and Bruseghin, who finished together. However, he did have problems when he crossed the line, slamming on the brakes and diving over his bars, but put his arms and hands out just in time to stage a recovery worthy of an Olympic gymnast.

"I simply hit the brakes too hard and too fast - it was stupid," said Gusev, slightly embarrassed by his forward somersault that almost ended in a handstand.

Back in the groupe maillot jaune, a few last-ditch efforts were made by Efimkin's rivals in the final kilometer, though it was nothing significant, with Kirchen stealing six seconds from the Russian and finding himself second overall by the day's end.

The road ahead - Although nothing like Friday’s profile, Saturday's eighth stage still counts as a mountain stage of sorts, but more than likely, not one for those high on the overall classification.

Starting at the base of the climb to the Grimselpass, the peloton leaves Innertkirchen to embark on a lumpy 152.5 kilometer journey, first due to east to Fribourg then south to Schwarzee for the final 31.5 kilometers, traversing across the mid-section of the Swiss countryside. The day ends with two small categorized climbs, the last Cat. 3 to Schwarzee somewhat of a mountain-top finish, so those who saved their biscuits by hitching a ride in Friday's autobus will no doubt try their luck tomorrow.

Results
1. Vladimir Gusev (Rus), Discovery, at 3:53:50 (32.254 kph)
2. Christopher Horner (USA), Predictor-Lotto, at 2:02
3. Andreas Klöden (G), Astana, at 2:37
4. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre-Fondital
5. Beat Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 3:00
6. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, at 4:09
7. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, at 4:15
8. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre-Fondital
9. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne
10. Matteo Carrara (I), Unibet, at 4:20Overall
1. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne 25:55:08
2. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile 0:24
3. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne 0:30
4. Matteo Carrara (I), Unibet 0:31
5. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC 0:33
6. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre-Fondital 0:57
7. Stijn Devolder (B), Discovery 2:02
8. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval 2:03
9. Gerrit Glomser (A), Volksbank 2:04
10. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Sp), Saunier Duval 2:06