SILVAPLANA, Switzerland, 23 June 2003 — Spaniard Oscar Pereiro won the sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland yesterday following a decisive breakaway.
Phonak rider Pereiro came home one minute and 14 seconds clear of German Jan Ullrich of the Bianchi team after the chasing pack failed to catch him on the 134.7-km stage that started and finished in Silvaplana.
Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo) was third behind Ullrich.
Italian Francesco Casagrande of Lampre retains his 37-second lead over Telekom’s Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan after the pair both came home in the top 10.
Pantani Hospitalized in Clinic
for Nervous Disorders: Report
In Rome, the 1998 Tour de France and Tour of Italy winner Marco Pantani has been admitted to a clinic which specializes in nervous disorders at Teolo near Padua, daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported yesterday.
Pantani was admitted several days ago but neither he nor his Mercato Uno team immediately gave reasons for the hospitalization or details on treatment.
Pantani’s personal press assistant Manuela Ronchi said she did not know where he was. “I don’t know anything,” Ronchi said. “I can only say it must concern something very private to him and that he does not want to talk about it to anybody.”
Pantani is due to go to court on Sept. 19 during a long inquiry over a high hematocrite levels found in his blood before the penultimate stage of the 1999 Tour of Italy which is an indicator but not proof of use of banned blood-boosting drug EPO.
Doping in sports is a criminal offense in Italy.
Rebellin Leads Tour de France
Newcomers Gerolsteiner
In Berlin, Italian rider Davide Rebellin, currently fourth in the UCI world rankings, will lead his Gerolsteiner team in this year’s centenary Tour de France where the German outfit is making its debut.
Gerolsteiner on Friday announced its nine-man team for the July 5-27 event, the 90th edition of the race which was first held in 1903.
Among the group is renowned sprinter Olaf Pollack of Germany, making his Tour debut, and Austrian climber Georg Toschnig, who recently finished fifth in the Tour of Italy.
German riders Michael Rich, the national time trial champion, and speedy Uwe Peschel, the winner of this year’s GP des Nations, are also included.
Gerolsteiner squad for Tour de France:
Udo Bolts, Uwe Peschel, Olaf Pollack, Michael Rich, Torsten Schmidt (all GER), Rene Haselbacher, Georg Totschnig (both AUT), Davide Rebellin (ITA), Markus Zberg (SWI).
