Salvatore Commesso of Saeco won the 18th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday - a 246.5km ride from Lausanne to here - edging out Alexandre Vinokourov of Telekom in a sprint for the line.
The 25-year-old Italian crossed the line in 6hr 8min 15sec after seeing off all comers in this the longest stage of the entire event.
The only consolation for the survivors was that they entered the day's ride with the grueling mountain stages behind them.
Defending champion Lance Armstrong retained the leader's yellow jersey after coming some 15min adrift with the peloton.
Kazakhstan's Vinokourov and Commesso were 2min ahead of the pack over the final 6km with Jean-Cyril Robin of Bonjour, Credit Agricole's Jens Voigt and Jacky Durand of Lotto chasing.
Commesso, a former Italian national champion who won the 13th stage of the Tour last year, won by just a handful of centimeters in a mad dash for the finish after both he and Vinokourov stopped on the final sharp turn to avoid leading the final sprint.
In the end the Italian's late surge from second brought him the day's honors as large crowds rushed to the roadside to see the riders home after the race crossed from Switzerland into Germany in the most picturesque of settings.
"Let's hope I can provide more of the same," laughed the Naples-born former junior European champion breathlessly afterwards.
Both Commesso and Vinokourov were in it for the long haul as they headed up a 242.5km escape just 4km out of Lausanne.
Commesso's win at Albi last year followed a similarly long escape.
The two frontrunners started their final push some 40km out to leave Voigt, Durand and Robin in their slipstream – (AFP)
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