48th Six Days of Zürich - 6DZürich, Switzerland, November 27-December 2, 2000Day 0 - November 26The Six Days of Zürich had its unofficial "prologue" on Sunday, November 26 in the Zürcher Hallenstadion in Oerlikon. The main event was the 40 kilometre "Blaue Band von Zürich", a individual points race with 46 starters. It was a close affair that saw 9 riders gain one (or more) laps on the field, with the eventual victory going to Christian Weber (Swi), who pipped world madison champion Stefan Steinweg (Ger) in the final points score. Third place went to amateur, Beat Obrist also from Switzerland. There was some controversy over the winner, because Alexander Aeschbach (6th) thought he had an extra lap in hand which would have given him the overall victory. However, a protest to the jury was dismissed and Weber was declared the winner. Aeschbach did not start in the 40 kilometre madison that followed, won by German pair Eric Weisspfennig and Lars Teutenberg. Weber continued his good form by placing third with Mario Vonhof, one lap behind. Second went to the Swiss/German combo, Peter Jörg/Frank Kowatschitsch. Only 8 teams finished, from 12 starters. Finally there was a 30 kilometre "Stayer" race (motorpaced event) which saw Swiss Champion Hanskurt Brand win behind René Aebi. Felice Puttini (behind Roberto Puttini) placed second, and Dutchman Roland Rol behind Jos De Bakker was third.
ResultsBlaues Band von Zürich (40 km) 1 Christian Weber (Swi) 49.07 (48.9 km/h) 22 pts 2 Stefan Steinweg (Ger) 21 3 Beat Obrist (Swi) 12 4 Peter Jörg (Swi) 11 5 Mario Vonhof (Ger) 9 6 Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 7 7 Christian Sidler (Swi) 5 8 Markus Kammermann (Swi) 0 9 Dirk Ronellenfitsch (Ger) 0 1 lap behind: 10 Frank Kowatschitsch (Ger) 23 11 Kai Schrödter (Ger) 7 12 Sven Epple (Ger) 5 2 laps behind: 13 Erik Weispfennig (Ger) 0 14 Markus Blessing (Swi) 13 15 Jürg Bannwart (Swi) 5 16 Lars Teutenberg (Ger) 3 17 Glenn Rendall (Can) 2 18 Gregor Gut (Swi) 0 19 Alexandre Cloutier (Can) 0 20 Karsten Wörner (Ger) 0 Starters: 46 Finishers: 31 Madison (40 km) 1 Eric Weisspfennig/Lars Teutenberg (Ger/Ger) 32 pts 2 Peter Jörg/Frank Kowatschitsch (Swi/Ger) 17 1 lap behind: 3 Christian Weber/Mario Vonhof (Swi/Ger) 17 2 laps behind: 4 Markus Kammermann/Christian Sidler (Swi/Swi) 9 3 laps behind: 5 Beat Obrist/Gut (Swi/Swi) 14 5 laps behind: 6 Wörner/Wörner (Swi/Swi) 2 7 Epple/Dirk Ronellenfitsch (Swi/Ger) 2 6 laps behind: 8 Bannwart/Blessing (Swi/Swi) 4 Started: 12 teams Classified: 8 teams Stayers (30 km) 1 Hanskurt Brand (Swi) behind René Aebi 28.11 (63.863 km/h) 2 Felice Puttini (Swi) behind Roberto Puttini 3 Roland Rol (Ned) behind Jos De Bakker 4 Christoph Göhring (Swi) behind Peter Steiger 5 Lubomir Mazel (Cze) behind Helmut Baur 4 laps behind: 6 Sabino Cannone (Ita) behind Dieter Durst Courtesy of Veloinfo/Ernst Bretscher |