Haselbacher considering his future

By Susan Westemeyer

Rene Haselbacher recovered from a beesting in the throat well enough to start in the Austrian national race on Sunday, but didn't ride it to the end, dropping out in the sixth of nine laps. "As a single competitor, it's very hard in such a race against the strong Austrian teams. Actually it went very well, but unfortunately I missed the right break in the fifth round. After that nobody rode in the field, the race was over," he wrote on his website, www.haselbacher.com. "You ride the championship race to get the jersey. Today there was no chance of that, so I dropped out."

The Austrian criticised the race organizers, saying, "In some of the descents, cars came toward us. That shouldn't happen."

For the second year in a row, Haselbacher was not selected to Gerolsteiner's Tour de France team, a fact which "makes me sick," he told www.sport1.at. His contract with the team expires this year, and, he said, "in this current situation, I have my doubts as to whether it would make sense" to stay with the team. "Fortunately I have drawn attention to myself with some good results. I already have some offers. But I won't deal with that for until the next few weeks. First comes vacation."