By Susan Westemeyer

"Of course I would have liked to have win. But it's great to be the first German ever to be on the podium of the Giro di Lombardia," said Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann before adding, "One day Iᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ want to win here."

Wegmann was in the final break with wi🐽nner Paolo Bettini. "Fabian showed us a great finale. He fought and never gave up," said Director Sportif Christian Henn. "Fabian rode a great race, as did the whole team." The first Gerolstein rider at the front was Georg Totschnig, riding possibly his last race. He was part of a five-man breakaway from 20km, and was the last♚ of the group to be caught by the peloton, some 50km before the finish.

In the end, Gerolsteiner could boast of three riders under the top fifteen: Wegmann third, 𒁏eight seconds down, Davide Rebellin fifth at 46 seconds, and Andrea Moletta 14th, over four minutes down. "We can be very satisfied," said team manager Hans-Michael Holczer. "We were wel🌃l represented and almost won. That was an incredibly strong performance."