Erik Zabel and Rolf Aldag, the heroes from the road, showed in Dortmund once again their great talents for the track. They won the 60^th 6-days in Dortmunds Westfalenhalle, and we think that nobody can deny, that they were really the best team. The experienced Swiss team Risi – Betschart gave them a hard fight in the finale, but with at pointsscore of more than 100 points less than the Germans, they had to decide with a lap, and they just couldn’t do that. Kappes – Beikirch and Martinello – Villa took 3^rd and 4^th place, respectfully one lap down. Even more respect was paid by the next teams Slippens – Stam, Madsen – Stocher and Steinweg – Weispfennig, respectively 14, 15 and 16 laps down.
  We note that Olympic World Champion in sprint, Marty Nothstein, survived his first 6-days. Together with partner James Carney he ended up on last place in the classement, 64 laps behind Zabel – Aldag, but still we pay our compliment to the courageous American sprinter. Go on Marty!

Dortmund 6-days, final classement :
1 Erik Zabel – Rolf Aldag (GER), 387 p., 2 Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart (SUI), 280 p., at 1 lap: 3 Andreas Kappes – Andreas Beikirch (GER), 336 p., 4 Silvio Martinello – Marco Villa (ITA), 300 p., at 14 laps: 5 Robert Slippens – Danny Stam (NED), 171 p., at 15 laps: 6 Jimmi Madsen (DEN) – Franz Stocher (AUT), 109 p., at 16 laps: 7 Stefan Steinweg – Erik Weispfennig (GER), 120 p., at 17 laps: 8 Etienne Dewilde – Frank Corvers (BEL), 97 p., at 22 laps: 9 Lars Teutenberg – Ronny Lauke (GER), 137 p., at 23 laps: 10 Gerd Dörich – Mario Vonhof (GER), 157 p., at 24 laps: 11 Christian Lademann – Thorsten Rund (GER), 148 p., at 34 laps: 12 Frank Kowatschitsch – Andreas Müller (GER), 120 p., at 56 laps: 13 Josef Zabka – Martin Liska (SVK), 59 p., at 64 laps: 14 Marty Nothstein – James Carney (USA), 179 p.

PODLESCH KING OF STAYERS
After victory in the finale leg and with only one single point advance of last years winner Stefan Klare, Carsten Podlesch took the overall victory in the stayers competition after 10 legs.
International KARSTADT Stayer Championship:
1 Carsten Podlesch (GER)/Bruno Walrave (NED), 46 p., 2 Stefan Klare (GER)/Christian Dippel (GER), 45 p., 3 Hanskurt Brand (SUI)/René Aebi (SUI), 43 p., 4 Jan Richter (GER)/Manfred Schmadtke (GER), 33 p., 5 Raymond Rol (NED)/Helmut Baur (GER), 23 p., 6 Sabino Cannone (ITA)/Dieter Durst (GER), 20 p.

HE
 

The second-last evening in Dortmund didn’t many hints concerning the finale result. Four teams in the same lap, but with a considerable advantage in points. That makes the German "dream-team" the team-to-beat to night, and most likely it must be by a lap. After what we have seen in Dortmund in the weekend, we think that Risi – Betschart might be the team with the greatest chances of doing so.
The next teams were allowed to come a little bit closer during the Monday evening, but still far from any possibilities of a top-ranking. They are still fighting for the 5^th place.

Dortmund 6-days, classement after 5^th day:
1 Erik Zabel – Rolf Aldag (GER), 331 p., 2 Andreas Kappes – Andreas Beikirch (GER), 280 p., 3 Silvio Martinello – Marco Villa (ITA), 244 p., 4 Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart (SUI), 233 p., at 9 laps: 5 Robert Slippens – Danny Stam (NED), 145 p., at 11 laps: 6 Stefan Steinweg – Erik Weispfennig (GER), 104 p., 7 Jimmi Madsen (DEN) – Franz Stocher (AUT), 89 p., at 12 laps: 8 Etienne Dewilde – Frank Corvers (BEL), 80 p., at 17 laps: 9 Lars Teutenberg – Ronny Lauke (GER), 104 p., at 18 laps: 10 Gerd Dörich – Mario Vonhof (GER), 130 p., 11 Christian Lademann – Thorsten Rund (GER), 117 p., 12 Jens Lehmann – Guido Fulst (GER), 97 p., at 30 laps: 13 Frank Kowatschitsch – Andreas Müller (GER), 80 p., at 48 laps: 14 Josef Zabka – Martin Liska (SVK), 31 p., at 56 laps: 15 Marty Nothstein – James Carney (USA), 149 p.

HE
 

The Sundays program in Dortmund brought again Risi – Betschart back in the front, one lap ahead of their closest rivals. But now Zabel – Aldag is very close to a bonuslap which will again bring them even with the Swiss team.

Dortmund 6-days, classement after 4th day:
1 Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart (SUI), 211 p., at 1 lap: 2 Erik Zabel – Rolf Aldag (GER), 285 p., 3 Andreas Kappes – Andreas Beikirch (GER), 224 p., 4 Silvio Martinello – Marco Villa (ITA), 208 p., at 11 laps: 5 Robert Slippens – Danny Stam (NED), 95 p., at 12 laps: 6 Jimmi Madsen (DEN) – Franz Stocher (AUT), 57 p., at 13 laps: 7 Stefan Steinweg – Erik Weispfennig (GER), 61 p., 8 Etienne Dewilde – Frank Corvers (BEL), 55 p., at 16 laps: 9 Jens Lehmann – Guido Fulst (GER), 80 p., 10 Lars Teutenberg – Ronny Lauke (GER), 65 p., at 17 laps: 11 Gerd Dörich – Mario Vonhof (GER), 95 p., 12 Christian Lademann – Thorsten Rund (GER), 86 p., at 26 laps: 13 Frank Kowatschitsch – Andreas Müller (GER), 57 p., at 40 laps: 14 Josef Zabka – Martin Liska (SVK), 19 p., at 48 laps: 15 Marty Nothstein – James Carney (USA), 115 p.

HE
 

(HE from Dortmund)
What an atmosphere in Dortmunds Westfalenhalle during the "golden" Saturday night! More than 15.000 people on the tribunes and in the track-center, and we can tell you: They loved what they saw! Erik Zabel, one of the greatest all round-riders today, probably the best road-rider of the past season and here in Dortmund making even with the best track-riders in the world! And his partner Rolf Aldag also showing the very best of his talents. The absolute highlight of the evening was the 60 minutes REWE chase, were Zabel – Aldag in the last 10 minutes managed a "doublet", bringing them the victory one lap ahead of their three top-opponents Risi – Betschart, Kappes – Beikirch and Martinello – Villa. In the overall classement Zabel – Aldag is now back in front, but with Risi – Betschart in the same lap, and very close to a bonuslap by reaching the next 100 points. And with Kappes – Beikirch and Martinello – Villa just one lap down and also close to the bonuslap, the race is still very open between those five teams. In a respectful distance we find Slippens – Stam, Madsen – Stocher, Dewilde – Corvers and Steinweg – Weispfennig, fighting for the 5^th place. Old Etienne Dewilde, 43 years of age, had a very good Saturday evening, and it looks like he will be able to say a very decent farewell to his many fans in Dortmund.

Dortmund 6-days, classement after 3^rd day:
1 Erik Zabel – Rolf Aldag (GER), 237 p., 2 Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart (SUI), 186 p., at 1 lap: 3 Andreas Kappes – Andreas Beikirch (GER), 198 p., 4 Silvio Martinello – Marco Villa (ITA), 191 p., at 9 laps: 5 Robert Slippens – Danny Stam (NED), 85 p., at 10 laps: 6 Jimmi Madsen (DEN) – Franz Stocher (AUT), 55 p., at 11 laps: 7 Etienne Dewilde – Frank Corvers (BEL), 55 p., 8 Stefan Steinweg – Erik Weispfennig (GER), 54 p., at 14 laps: 9 Jens Lehmann – Guido Fulst (GER), 72 p., 10 Lars Teutenberg – Ronny Lauke (GER), 65 p., at 15 laps: 11 Gerd Dörich – Mario Vonhof (GER), 87 p., 12 Christian Lademann – Thorsten Rund (GER), 80 p., at 24 laps: 13 Frank Kowatschitsch – Andreas Müller (GER), 57 p., at 37 laps: 14 Josef Zabka – Martin Liska (SVK), 17 p., at 45 laps: 15 Marty Nothstein – James Carney (USA), 106 p.

(HE from Dortmund)
The second evening of the 60^th 6-days in Dortmund became a hard days night, not only for the boys from the United States of America, Marty Nothstein and James Carney, who lost 18 laps during the evening, but also for teams like the young Dutch boys Slippens – Stam, Madsen – Stocher and not least for ex-World Champions Steinweg – Weispfennig. They are now respectively 6, 7 and 8 laps down without any chances for a top-ranking in this event, which is truely considered as one of the most prestigious in the world of 6-days.
  Zabel – Aldag won the first chase of the evening (44 km) but Risi – Betschart took the one hour REWE chase and by passing the 100 points score they also got the bonuslap, which brought them alone in the lead, one lap ahead of Zabel – Aldag, Kappes – Beikirch and Martinello – Villa. The Italians didn’t have one of their greatest days, only their routine saved them from a greater loss in the hour chase.
  Once again the Americans showed Stars and Stribes in the 1 km time-trial, winning in 58,93 sec. ahead of Zabel – Aldag in 59,39 sec. and Kappes – Beikirch in 59,78 sec. The two legs of the Derny Weltpokal (Versatel Cup) went respectively to Erik Zabel and Andreas Beikirch, and Swiss Champion Hanskurt Brand is leading the stayers competition after four legs.

Dortmund 6-days, classement after 2^nd day:
1 Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart (SUI), 107 p., at 1 lap: 2 Erik Zabel – Rolf Aldag (GER), 151 p., 3 Andreas Kappes – Andreas Beikirch (GER), 112 p., 4 Silvio Martinello – Marco Villa (ITA), 104 p., at 6 laps: 5 Robert Slippens – Danny Stam (NED), 51 p., at 7 laps: 6 Jimmi Madsen (DEN) – Franz Stocher (AUT), 38 p., at 8 laps: 7 Stefan Steinweg – Erik Weispfennig (GER), 37 p., 8 Etienne Dewilde – Frank Corvers (BEL), 32 p., at 11 laps: 9 Gerd Dörich – Mario Vonhof (GER), 57 p., 10 Lars Teutenberg – Ronny Lauke (GER), 25 p., at 12 laps: 11 Christian Lademann – Thorsten Rund (GER), 52 p., 12 Jens Lehmann – Guido Fulst (GER), 50 p., at 17 laps: 13 Frank Kowatschitsch – Andreas Müller (GER), 44 p., at 22 laps: 14 Josef Zabka – Martin Liska (SVK), 15 p., at 30 laps: 15 Marty Nothstein – James Carney (USA), 79 p.

International KARSTADT Stayer Championship,
classement after four legs:
1 Hanskurt Brand (SUI)/René Aebi (SUI), 19 p., 2 Stefan Klare (GER)/Christian Dippel (GER), 18 p., 3 Carsten Podlesch (GER)/Bruno Walrave (NED), 17 p., 4 Sabino Cannone (ITA)/Dieter Durst (GER), 13 p., 5 Raymond Rol (NED)/Helmut Baur (GER), 11 p., 6 Jan Richter (GER)/Manfred Schmadtke (GER), 6 p.
 

(HE from Dortmund)
Four teams were dominating the first evening of the 60^th 6-days in Dortmund Westfalenhalle. The race had a very hard kick-start with a 60 minutes chase, ending up with four teams on zero: Kappes – Beikirch, Risi – Betschart, Zabel – Aldag and Martinello – Villa, probably also the four strongest teams in the field. German ex-World Champions Steinweg – Weispfennig had to be content with a position one lap down just as Dutch newcomers Slippens – Stam. The Danish-Austrian team Madsen – Stocher tried very hard to follow the best teams, but halfway Madsen had to realise, that his partner just didn’t had breath enough to do it, and they ended two laps down. Old Etienne Dewilde (42) rides in Dortmund together with Frank Corvers his last 6-days in the Westfalenhalle, and he had to take a loss of three laps. But things went out much worse for the boys from the United States of America, Olympic Champion Marthy Nothstein and partner James Carney: They lost not less than 12 laps during the first hour. But afterwards Nothstein was still confident and showed later in the evening his abilities in the sprints and in the 1 km time trial.
  The opening chase for the REWE Preis was won by Kappes – Beikirch ahead of Risi – Betschart, Zabel – Aldag and Martinello –Villa, but when the first night ended at 01,00 o’clock Zabel – Aldag had taken the lead in the overall classement. Indeed you have to say, that the two talented road-riders had done a very brilliant entré to the track-scene, giving the first evenings enthusiastic crowd value for money. Even in the 1 km timetrial "Supercup von Brinkhoff’s" they realised second best time with 59,89 sec., only beaten by Nothstein – Carney in 59,58 sec.
The first two legs of the Derny Weltpokal (Versatel Cup) were won respectively by Jimmi Madsen and Kurt Betschart.

Dortmund 6-days, classement after 1^st day:
1 Erik Zabel – Rolf Aldag (GER), 55 p., 2 Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart (SUI), 43 p., 3 Andreas Kappes – Andreas Beikirch (GER), 40 p., 4 Silvio Martinello – Marco Villa (ITA), 25 p., at 1 lap: 5 Stefan Steinweg – Erik Weispfennig (GER), 22 p., 6 Robert Slippens – Danny Stam (NED), 20 p., at 2 laps: 7 Jimmi Madsen (DEN) – Franz Stocher (AUT), 10 p., at 3 laps: 8 Etienne Dewilde – Frank Corvers (BEL), 18 p., 9 Lars Teutenberg – Ronny Lauke (GER), 15 p., at 4 laps: 10 Jens Lehmann – Guido Fulst (GER), 25 p., 11 Gerd Dörich – Mario Vonhof (GER), 4 p., at 5 laps: 12 Christian Lademann – Thorsten Rund (GER), 25 p., at 6 laps: 13 Frank Kowatschitsch – Andreas Müller (GER), 9 p., at 9 laps: 14 Josef Zabka – Martin Liska (SVK), 10 p., at 12 laps: 15 Marty Nothstein – James Carney (USA), 42 p.