Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) has won the HEW Cyclassics Cup. Bettini outsprinted Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) and Jan Ullrich (Bianchi) to take Round 6 of the World Cup, a 253.2-km ride across northern Germany, in 5:58:20. Peter Van Petegem (Lotto) still leads the World Cup, but Bettini has narrowed the gap between them.

The racing began early. At five km, Stephane Auge (Credit Agricole) and Roberto Lochowski (Wiesenhof) sallied off of the front. The peloton did not chase them immediately, and the pair built a 16-minute lead before U.S. Postal Service, Rabobank, and Lotto began to pursue them. With 50 km left, the bunch reeled in the break.

On the second ascent of the Waseberg, Matthew White and George Hincapie (both from U.S. Postal Service), Paolo Bettini, Van Petegem, Stefano Zanini (Saeco), Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Matthias Kessler (Telekom), Paolo Bossoni (Vini Caldirola), Andy Flickinger (Ag2r), Bram De Groot (Rabobank), Cristian Moreni (Alessio), Raphael Schweda (Bianchi) attacked. The group forged a 30-second lead over the peloton, but the bunch reeled them in. Bettini and Hincapie made a second attempt to stay clear, but the peloton was having none of it.

On the final climb of the Waseberg, Igor Astarloa (Saeco) attacked. Ullrich, Bettini, Mirko Celestino (Saeco), and Rebellin joined the Spaniard. The quintet forged a 30-second lead when the peloton was slow organizing a chase. With five km left, the break led the bunch by 0:20. Hincapie and Magnus Backstedt (Fakta) attempted unsuccessfully to bridge up to the break.

In the final km, Ullrich attacked. Celestino took Ullrich's wheel, and Bettini took Celestino's. The Saeco rider piled into a motorcycle cameraman, but Bettini came around Ullrich for the win, with Rebellin finishing second.

In the World Cup, Peter Van Petegem stayed in first place with three points for his 23rd-place finish. He has 203 points. Bettini moved up to second with 100 points for his victory and has 200. Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) is in third place with 140 points. He finished in 66th place, out of the points.

Round 7 of the World Cup will be the Clasica San Sebastian on August 9. Many of today's combatants will be at the start line. Who will prevail? Check in at http://www.roadcycling.com/ and find out!

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