Weisenhof-Akud's Marcel Sieberg did his best to help future teammate Erik Zabel win the world championship, but he ended up watching the unsatisfactory end of the race on the TV in the team bus. He stepped out of the race with two laps to go. "After 200 km, my battery was simply empty," he told www.waz.de. "My legs just didn't want to do it anymore." He was satisfied with his day, though. "I am not at all disappointed. The whole team worked well and did everything they could to bring Erik Zabel to the front." Sieberg was the only non-Pro Tour rider on the German squad. He will ride for Team Milram next year.
For the first part of the race, the German tactics were to see that "every time one of us is in the leading group." That worked out well, with Stephan Schreck in an escape group that led for a long time. Sieberg himself made one big appearance, as he attacked on the Gschaiderberg climb, but was quickly caught. "That wasn't a real escape attempt, but tactics," he admitted.
