25th Seis Horas de Euskadi

Velódromo de Anoeta, Spain, February 9, 2003

Martinello/Villa in command in Euskadi Six

Gonzalez beats Sevilla in Vuelta rematch

The 25th edition of the Six Hours of Euskadi held on the Anoeta Velodrome in Spain has been won by Italian pair Silvio Martinello and Marco Villa. The pair beat Swiss duo Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart, with Argentina's Curuchet/Perez taking third place. Martinello and Villa won this event in 1996, but this will be the last time that they will ride in the Euskadi Six, as Martinello is retiring.

There was also a special "Match Omnium" staged between former teammates Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) and Aitor Gonzalez (Fassa Bortolo). Billed as a Vuelta rematch, the contest saw each rider pitted against each other over three rounds of varying distance. In the first round, a flying one lap time trial, Sevilla was faster than Gonzalez by 0.111 seconds. However, the Vuelta champion had his revenge in the next round, which was three laps, beating Sevilla by over a second. The final round again went to Gonzalez, who won the overall classification as a result.

The fans and organisers also paid tribute to the recently retired Abraham Olano, who received a warm welcome in the Anoeta velodrome. Olano admitted that retiring had been difficult but he was sure he made his decision at the right time.

Results

Six Hours of Euskadi

1 Silvio Martinello/Marco Villa (Ita)         73 pts
2 Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart (Swi)             61
3 Curuchet/Perez (Arg)                        42

Match Omnium

Round 1 (1 lap)

1 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca      19.815
2 Aitor González (Spa) Fassa Bortolo          19.926
 
Round 2 (3 laps)

1 Aitor González (Spa) Fassa Bortolo
2 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca      

Round 3 (8 laps)

1 Aitor González (Spa) Fassa Bortolo
2 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca      

Final classification

1 Aitor González (Spa) Fassa Bortolo
2 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca