Rolf Aldag, 37, rode his last week this week and has made his farewells as an active rider. Aldag, who will continue to work for the T-Mobile Team, ended the Berlin Six-Days Race in sixth place with his partner Robert Bartko. "I had three reasons for choosing Berlin for my last race," he said. "I won my most important six-days race in Berlin with Silvio Martinello, I can say goodbye to an expert public here, and there is a Berliner to whom I owe many thanks for my time at Team Telekom and T-Mobile: Erik Zabel."
Aldag had hoped to win his farewell race, but an appendectomy the beginning of January and a bad crash during the race put an end to those plans. "I was sorry for Robert," Aldag noted. "He couldn't win because of me. And it's too bad for the public, that I couldn't present myself in top form. And I feel sorry for myself. I had overestimated my chances. Obviously one can't compete in top form in a cycling race only three weeks after an appendectomy with complications."
