Beat Zberg retires

By Hedwig Kröner

The elder of the two Zberg brothers, Beat, will quit pro cycling at the end of this season. The Gerolsteiner rider, 37 years of age, has announced his retirement at the end of 2007 after 15 seasons within the peloton. Zberg has won 18 races during that time, among them the Henninger Turm race in Frankfurt, which he won twice. But he also leaves behind an impressive amount of top placings in highest-ranked races: he was fourth in the Dauphiné Libéré, fifth in the Tour de Suisse and sixth in the Giro di Lombardia in the first year of his career.

Finishing third in the Amstel Gold Race in 1995 and 1997, seventh in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1997, second in the Tour de Suisse in 1998, fourth in the Giro di Lombardia in 2000 and 2003, Zberg raced for a total of five teams: Helvetia, Carrera, Mercatone Uno, Rabobank and Gerolsteiner.

Together with his younger brother Markus and his elder sister Luzia, the Zberg family has scored a total amount of 38 professional victories so far, amongst which a silver medal at the 1999 Worlds by Markus ranks as one of the highlights.