ANSBACH, Germany, 6 June 2003 — Dutchman Leon van Bon resisted a chasing pack to claim yesterday’s third stage of the Tour of Germany cycle race. Van Bon, Frenchman Christophe Agnolutto and another Dutch rider, Remco Van der Ven, escaped 55 km into the day’s relatively undemanding 191.7-km ride from Coburg to Ansbach.
The trio built a lead of up to six minutes on the main bunch and reached the finish narrowly ahead of the pack, Van Bon beating Agnolutto and Van der Ven into second and third. The peloton finished just behind, German Erik Zabel winning the sprint for fourth place in the same time as the leading trio.
Switzerland’s Gregory Rast came in with the pack to retain the overall lead. German Jan Ullrich, testing his Tour de France credentials with his new Bianchi team, also crossed the line with the peloton.
The stage was marred by the heavy fall of German champion Danilo Hondo, who was taken to hospital with cuts and grazes after crashing into a barrier 50 km into the stage. The seven-day event had been rocked by the death of French rider Fabrice Salanson on the eve of the race.
Salanson’s body was found in his hotel room in the eastern German city of Dresden on Tuesday morning, shortly before the start of the first stage. He was 23.
German state prosecutors said that a post-mortem had revealed no trace of injury or drugs.
