ZURICH, Aug 18: Paolo Bettini took over as leader of cycling’s World Cup series Sunday when he grabbed second place behind fellow-Italian Dario Frigo in the 89th running of the classic ‘Meisterschaft’ event on the shores of Lake Zurich.

Frigo pulled clear of the field by breaking on the final long climb before springing away to win by one minute and seven seconds. It was his first World Cup victory and followed six other wins this year, including a Tour de France stage victory.

Bettini was also celebrating at the end of a demanding road race mixing steep climbs and flat sprints as he collected 70 points as runner-up to move clear of Belgian Johan Museeuw by two points in the standings.—Reuters