Germany loses another race

By Susan Westemeyer

Another German regional stage race has called it quits. The Hessen Rundfahrt, also called the 3-Länder Tour, has lost its main sponsor. "So there will be no more 3-Länder Tour," said Wolfgang Treusch, president of the Hessen cycling federation. The Sparkassen Versicherung withdrew its support, estimated to be 200,000 Euros of the total budget of 350,000 Euros.

The end of the race had been expected, since race director Christian Bergemann quit last week, citing personal reasons. According to rad-net.de, the website of the German cycling federation, Bergemann had previously indicated that there were "significant strategic differences" and a "lack of trust" between him and the various regional cycling federations which supported the race.

The race was scheduled to be held September 17 to 21. The last edition of the race was won in September by Rabobank's Thomas Dekker.

The Hessen Rundfahrt is the third German race whose cancellation was announced this week, following Rund um die Hainleite and the Niederschsen Rundfahrt.