Dufaux wins Zurich World Cup race

The Swiss winner, Laurent Dufaux (left), crosses the finish line ahead of Germany's Jan Ullrich Keystone

Switzerland's Laurent Dufaux won the Zurich World Cup race on Sunday by covering the 248.4 kilometers in a time of six hours, two minutes and 21 seconds. It was the first time in 19 years, since Beat Breu, a Swiss took the championship title.

The German, Jan Ullrich, came second and the world number one, Francesco Cassagrande of Italy, came third.

The Swiss, Oscar Camenzind, finished in seventh place, making his performance the second best for Switzerland.

Germany’s Erik Zabel did not finish among the leaders but managed to maintain his overall lead with just two races remaining.

In other cycling events at the weekend, the Frenchman Christophe Manin won the Swiss Grand Raid mountainbike long distance race from Verbier to Grimentz. Manin, who came second last year, finished the 131 kilometer stretch ahead of his compatriot, Gilles Delion.

He fell short of setting a new record by just two minutes by completing an altitude difference of 4,684 metres in six hours and 17 minutes. Delion set the record in last year’s race.

Pascal Corti from canton Aargau achieved the best performance for Switzerland, finishing five minutes and 46 seconds later than the leader.

swissinfo with agencies