Bettini too quick for Ullrich

Paolo Bettini timed his finish to perfection

Click here for results and standings

Italy's Paolo Bettini outsprinted Germany's Jan Ullrich to win the Zurich World Cup race on Sunday.

The 248km event came down to a battle between Bettini, Ullrich, Italy's Francesco Casagrande and Spain's Fernando Escartin over the final few metres.

And it was Bettini who timed his charge best in the eighth race of the series, coming off Ullrich's back wheel with 30 metres to go.

It left the German as runner-up for the third time in five years with Escartin taking third place.

Three times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong's final European race of the season was an uneventful one.

The fatigued American stepped off his bike midway through the second lap.

Dutch rider Erik Dekker crossed the line in fifth place to increase his lead at the top of World Cup standings to 105 points with just two events remaining.

The winner of each of these will get 100 points each, which means Dekker could claim the crown with victory at the peunultimate race, Paris-Tours in October.

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Leading results of the 248.4km Zurich World Cup race.

1 Paolo Bettini (Italy) 6hrs17mins48secs
2 Jan Ullrich (Germany)
3 Fernando Escartin (Spain)
4 Francesco Casagrande (Italy) all same time
5 Erik Dekker (Netherlands) 21 secs behind
6 Cristian Moreni (Italy) same time
7 Marco Serpellini (Italy) 1:04
8 Niki Aebersold (Switzerland) 1:09
9 Mario Aerts (Belgium) 1:12
10 George Hincapie (U.S.) 1:20

Overall standings (after eight of 10 events)

1 Erik Dekker 305 points
2 Erik Zabel (Germany) 200
3 Romans Vainsteins (Latvia) 197
4 Paolo Bettini 195
5 Davide Rebellin (Italy) 170
6 Francesco Casagrande 153