Risi and Stam come to blows

A slightly ridiculous turn of events came during the fifth night of the Zurich six day, reports Tages-Anzeiger. During the 50km Madison, the prime event of the evening, leaders Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli, who apparently had been cultivating a sort of rivalry with the Dutch pair Danny Stam and Jens Mouris, found the conflict coming to a head. Risi and Marvulli, who ended the night a lap down on the pair of Iljo Keisse and Robert Bartko, could find themselves losing what looked like a sure thing because of the spat.

Risi was so annoyed with the racing style of the Dutch pair that he went over to Stam's camp to confront him. According to the Tages-Anzeiger, Risi doused Stam with a water bottle and the pair came nearly to blows. Risi said that he regretted the outburst. "I never lost my temper in this way before, and I would have also never believed that this would happen." He continued, "I was dreadfully annoyed, because we will possibly lose here because of the behavior of the Dutchmen."

Risi and Stam were given a fine of 50 Swiss francs for "improper behavior", a mere slap on the wrist compared with similar events such as Tom Steels' famous bottle throw in the Tour de France, or Jeroen Blijleven's slapping match with Bobby Julich, both of which led to the riders' disqualification from the event. Stam and Risi eventually shook hands, but Risi's team ended the night in second place as Robert Bartko/Iljo Keisse took advantage of the spat to steal the lap and take over the lead.