Zberg wins Frankfurt GP

Peloton pursuit: The tour circuit continues

Marcus Zberg of Switzerland won the Frankfurt Grand Prix on Tuesday ahead of Italy's Davide Rebellin and Kurt van de Wouwer of Belgium.

The Swiss champion emulated his brother when he surprised the favourites to win the Round the Henninger Tower race.

Zberg crossed the line in five hours, five minutes and 35 seconds for his victory in the German city, five years after his brother Beat, who took the event in 1996. He finished sixth this time out.

A silver medallist from the 1999 world championships, Marcus Zberg escaped with Italian Davide Rebellin some 70 kilometres from home.

Sibling rivalty: Beat Zberg

He outsprinted Rebellin into second place in the final straight while Belgian Kurt van de Wouwer, who closed in on the leading pair with a few hundred metres remaining, came third five seconds back.

The pack finished 24 seconds after the winner.

Zberg's victory underlined the great form of Dutch stable Robobank after his Dutch team mate Erik Dekker won the Amstel Gold race on Saturday to take the lead in the World Cup standings.

There was disappointment for the Deutsche Telekom team, who had been hoping for their third straight victory in the race after Erik Zabel and Kai Hundertmarck won in 1999 and last year respectively.

The German stable placed only one man in the top 10, Udo Boelts, who came seventh.

Pre-race favourites Zabel and Jan Ullrich ended outside the top 50.