Telkom’s Erik Zabel won the eighth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, a 235km stretch from Vevey to Lyss on Wednesday, continuing a pattern of wins that the German sprinter vowed to carry into next week’s Tour de France.

Alex Zülle (Coast) retained the leader's yellow jersey, holding only a three-second advantage over Laurent Dufaux (Alessio) and 19 over Domo's Piotr Wadecki. Considered a strong strong time trialist, Zülle holds the advantage going into Thursday’s final stage a 34.5 km between Lyss and Bienne.

Zabel said win on Wednesday gives him confidence going into the Tour de France, where he hopes to earn a seventh green points jersey in the French national tour which begins on July 6.

"I'm dreaming of a seventh green jersey in the Tour de France," said Zabel, whose win Wednesday represented his 13th this season and the second of this year's Tour of Switzerland. Zabel also won the second stage at the Swiss tour.

Zabel relied on a powerful leadout from Gian Matteo Fagnini to set him up for the final sprint. Zabel beat Phonak’s Sven Teutenberg to the line to take first. Taconi’s Andrej Hauptman came in third.

Copyright AFP2002