Brilliant Honchar seizes yellow jersey
Brilliant Honchar seizes yellow jersey
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Saturday, 08, Jul 2006 10:18
The unfancied Ukrainian star Serhiy Honchar won a stunning victory in stage seven of the Tour de France to take the yellow jersey.
The rider who races for T-Mobile set a target of 1:01:43.6 for the 52km trial, his nearest challenger in Rennes was the American Floyd Landis, who finished as much as 61 seconds behind.
Honchar said: “I am extremely happy. Time trials are my specialty, I did my best and I have done pretty well - I succeeded in the end.
"It was pretty important for the team because we have been through some difficult times. I am very happy to get the victory, and of course the yellow jersey."
It is the first time a Ukrainian has worn the famous jersey and took Honchar three Tours de France. But the 31-year-old won the world time trial championship in 2000.
T-Mobile technical director Mario Kummer claimed that the team were not surprised by the superb effort of Honchar claiming that they knew he could perform well in the time trial stages.
Tom Boonen, the Belgian who was wearing yellow for the three previous days, was beaten into 41st place and is now languishing in 21st position overall.