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15.08.2007/ Gerald Ciolek won the bunch sprint of stage 6
of the Deutschlandtour. Jens Voigt defended his overall lead.
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| Gerald Ciolek signing autographs (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
Current U 23 road world champion Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) won stage six
of the Tour of Germany in a dramatic bunch sprint finish in Kufstein, Austria on Wednesday. The young German went
shoulder-to-shoulder with Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) over the tight and narrow roads leading to the finish, before
diving through a small gap between Napolitano and the barricades to push clear and win by more than a bike length on the line.
Ciolek
struggled in the bunch finales that concluded stages one and three, but here he showed that he was back to his best form:
"I waited for the right moment. I didn't want to be in the wind too early again and gambled a bit. In the end it got a bit
tight on the right hand side [with Napolitano] but I made myself some room."
"It's great to win at the Deutschland-Tour after all that has happened
recently. It is also the biggest race that I will ride this year, so it is a great feeling and it's also a great win for the
team," added Ciolek.
There were no major changes in the general classification. CSC's Jens Voigt defended his lead on David Garcia
Lopez (Caisse d'Epargne) and Robert Gesink (Rabobank). "There were lots of attacks left and right at the start of the stage,
but once the two men got going, the work was easy enough, so it was a good stage for us. Haedo had a go in the sprint, but
he got a bit squeezed in towards the end. He was doing really well until a kilometre from the finish, so it was a bit annoying,"
said CSC sports director Kim Andersen after the stage.
Results
Stage 6
1
Gerald Ciolek (Ger) T-Mobile Team
3.57.40 (44.18 km/h)
2 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
4 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quickstep-Innergetic
5 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
6 Aurélien Clerc (Sui) Bouygues Telecom
7 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
8 Martin Elmiger (Sui) AG2r Prévoyance
9 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
10 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
General Classification after stage 6
1 Jens Voigt
(Ger) Team CSC
22.52.24
2 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
0.33
3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
1.14
4 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team CSC
1.24
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
1.31
6 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Liquigas
2.19
7 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com
2.34
8 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
2.48
9 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
3.27
10 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone
3.45
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