Vinokourov attacked on the flat first stage of the 2003 Tour de Suisse and only the Russian, Serguei Ivanov, could match him. Vinokourov won the stage and took the lead. Francesco Casagrande dropped Vinokourov on the first mountain stage and closed the gap to six seconds. Casagrande attacked again on the following mountain stage and took the jersey. But Casagrande cracked several days later in an individual time trial as Vinokourov finished fifth to retake the jersey and win the race.