It looked like Servais Knaven, 37, of Team Columbia would win the Sparkassen Giro in Bochum, Germany. There were three Columbia riders in the leading group of 12 going into the final climb, and with two kilometres to go, the Dutch rider attacked. But the rain and wet pavement did him in.
"There was a final curve 250 metres before the finish line," he said on his website, servaisknaven.com. "The road was slick with rain. I looked back to see how far forward I was. That worked out, but the moment I looked, I went down. I slid a metre or 20 and got back on my bike, but the chasers were already there."
