Dietziker satisfied in Bavaria

Ten centimetres further ahead and Andreas Dietziker of Team Volksbank would have finished third in the final stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt, which would have given him the time bonuses to jump into first place overall. But he finished fourth on the stage and thus second overall, by a mere three seconds. But the 25 year-old is still satisfied with both his performance and that of his team.

The Swiss rider moved into second place with a strong showing in the penultimate stage time trial, in which he finished fifth. "Actually, I had expected only to be in the top ten after the time trial. I had never thought that it would turn out to be second place. But I felt good and time trialing is something that I can do well."

The final stage, in which he hoped to take over the lead from Milram's Christian Knees, was "an exhausting workday!" Interviewed on the website of his Austrian Professional Continental team, he said, "We were happy to see an escape group get away and take the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprints. We had agreed before the stage that we would concentrate on picking up the seconds at the finish line. The stage was very fast and nervous. Since it was the last state, everyone wanted to try something again. Milram, who was first and third in the overall, kept sending either Knees or Terpstra in the break groups. I always had to go with them or have my team chase them down."

He had gone into the race with the GC in the back of his mind, and it was made easier by Olaf Pollack's winning the second stage, only the first season win for the team. "There was a lot of satisfaction on the team after his stage win. Things got quieter and of course it took a lot of pressure off of our shoulders. One win was our goal for this race."

Dietziker now heads to one of his main goals of the season, the GP Gippingen in his native Switzerland. "The course is good for me and now I have the knowledge that I am in good form, and it is also good preparation for the Tour de Suisse. The self-confidence is there and I am dreaming of the win."(SW)