January 21, 2004 – Navigators' Olympic Gold Medalist Marty Nothstein finished up the 21st running of the Stuttgart-6 (Ger) in third place overall. Usually a team of just two riders, this event had a format of three-man “pairings”, which created a lot of crowd excitement, especially in the early going.  The hand-offs required a bit of sorting out as the teams navigated the challenges of having an additional man to contend with.

Throughout the Six-days, Nothstein and his two partners; Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA) and Matthew Gilmore (Bel), were in the hunt for a podium spot and were the victors in the “Italian Pursuit” event (similar to the Olympic Sprint), early in the race.  However, the top-two threesomes were largely in a league by themselves, almost from the opening night, gaining a total of five laps on Nothstein's team by the sixth night of racing, and as many as 36-laps on other teams. In the final night's activities, the crowd was treated to a fierce battle between the two leading teams which were within nine points of each other, and on the same lap. The Nothstein/Van Zyl/Gilmore squad gained an additional lap on their nearest rivals, further solidifying their place on the podium. Nothstein will join his Navigators teammates in Northern Italy early in February, as the team prepares for their road-racing assault on the European peloton.

2004 Stuttgart-6 Final Standings:

1. Andreas Kappes – Andreas Beikirch – Gerd D–rich (Ger), No laps down, 476
points
2. Bruno Risi – Kurt Betschart – Franco Marvulli (Swi), No laps down, 469
3. Marty Nothstein (USA) – Jean-Pierre van Zyjl (RSA) – Matthew Gilmore
(BEL), + five laps, 353