35th Internationale Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt - 2.4

Germany, September 13-17, 2000

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Stage 3a - September 15: Kirn - Trier, 82.4 km

Zabel wins first half stage

The short 82.4 kilometre stage from Kirn to Trier finished in another bunch sprint, but this time it was Erik Zabel who took the win in front of Fred Rodriguez (again) and Jan Bratkowski. Despite numerous attacks, the stage wasn't nearly hard enough for anything to stay away, and the sprinter's teams were happy to keep things together.

Zabel described the win as "good for my morale" in the lead up to the Olympics. However, he will not finish the race as he will fly out to Sydney on Sunday.

Winner of the past two stages, Romans Vainsteins finished in the bunch but kept his leader's jersey going into the afternoon's time trial stage.

Results

1. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom           1.49.35 (44.9 km/h)
2. Fred Rodriguez (USA) Mapei
3. Jan Bratkowski (Ger) Team Coast
4. Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Rabobank
5. Andreas Kappes (Ger) Agro Adler
 
General classification after stage 3a:

1. Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Vini Caldirola    
2. Bo Hamburger (Den) Memorycard                  0.17
3. Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank                    0.20