Team Milram’s Erik Zabel has said his farewell to German cycling fans sealing his career with a second place in the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro (UCI 1.1). The 38 year-old evergreen was second best to Andre Greipel of Team Columbia. Over the last few years Zabel has had his fair share of second place finishes, but no doubt the 250,000 enthusiastic fans in attendance gave him a proper send off for one of the best sprinters the sport has ever seen.
“I saw in the enthusiasm underway today that cycling in Germany is alive and well,“ said Zabel. “It was a thrilling finale. I oriented myself on Andre Greipel’s rear wheel and tried to pull by him in the last meters. Andre has shown often enough in this season that he has a very high end speed. Unfortunately I couldn’t catch him on the last meters. I want to thank everyone for the many wonderful years and leave as a friend of cycling.“
Zabel’s presence will be missed in the peloton, but one can look to the Six Day Races to enjoy watching him race for a few more months.