WHEN Credit Agricole team officials named Mark Renshaw in their team for the 72nd Tour de Suisse they did so with a view to testing the Bathurst cyclist and seeing if he was worthy of riding for them in the world’s toughest cycling race - the Tour de France.

Yesterday he showed them exactly why he should be considered worthy as he was only just beaten out in a sprint finish.

With the Switzerland based event containing plenty of mountainous stages, Renshaw’s assignment is not to push for overall honours against the likes of last year’s runner-up Kim Kirchen (High Road), but rather hunt for prestigious stage victories.

Though Renshaw’s sprinting talent has been proved in the past, the field for the Tour de Suisse contains other men with the ability to produce explosive speed at the death such as fellow Australian Robbie McEwen (Silence-Lotto), Danilo Napolitano (Lampre), Erik Zabel (Team Milram) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank).

After finishing off the pace in the first two stages, yesterday Renshaw had his chance to impress Credit Agricole team officials as he tackled a 155 kilometre ride from Flums to Gossau.

It rained, there were two category three and one category four climbs, but Renshaw stuck with the leading bunch to give himself a shot at a stage win.

On his way he managed five points for the points classification, but when it came to the final 250 metres he was unable to match McEwen in the sprint to the line.

With the help of his team-mates Leif Hoste and Greg Van Avermaet who worked hard over the final kilometre, McEwen positioned himself near the front of the lead group before exploding in a powerful sprint that caught his rivals out.

He stopped the clock after three hours, 50 minutes and five seconds to claim the stage win, Renshaw given the same time as he crossed close behind.

“What Leif Hoste and Greg Van Avermaet did today in the last kilometre was sublime,” McEwen told cyclingnews.

“It was a very hard day because of the rain and the team had to work really hard.”