Six Day of Dortmund opens

Favorites Erik Zabel and Bruno Risi won the first night of the Six Days in Dortmund, as expected, but the small German Thüringer Energie Team was proud to report that their rider Chrstian Bach, in his first appearance in Dortmund, finished 12th out of 25 teams. He and partner Roger Kluge hope to finish in the top ten.

The Dortmund track is one of the shortest in Germany. "It takes a while to get used to the tight radius. The straights are not necessarily much shorter than anywhere else, but you really fly high in the corners," said Bach. He and Kluge did not win any rounds, but he rode the fastest lap, in 10.81 seconds.

Thüringer Energie is also represented in Dortmund by Sascha Damrow, who is starting as of Friday evening with partner Michael Arends of Team Wurzener Leipzig in the U-23 UIV Madison Cup.