sutty68 wrote:
Looks like a Great series to follow, Good Luck
Thank you, Sutty. I will give my best.
07.04.2013
GP Buchholz (Cat. 1.2) – 84km
Because of a political demonstration in Solingen the race had to change its date with the GP Buchholz which meant that the riders first rode the 84km long Circuit race.
As in Rund um Düren Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) was one of the protagonists of the day. After nine kilometers he escaped from the bunch together with Julian Hellmann (Quantec-Indeland) and Maarten de Jonge (Vorarlberg) who were joined by Edward King (Cannondale), Max Merk (Heizomat) und Tom Thill (Leopard-Trek) only five kilometers later.
The six leaders could build an advantage of three minutes which of course was not enough on this flat course. With 20 kilometers to go their lead had gone down to just over a minute.
In the finale it started to rain but that didn`t change the race. With 5 kilometer to go Herklotz and Co. were caught by the bunch which prepared the expected bunch sprint.
In the end a rider from NetApp-Endura won, but it wasn`t Matzka nor Kluge but Paul Voß who surprisingly won the bunch sprint and finally took the victory after some close calls in the last few races.
Voß took the win with Rick Zabel (National team) finishing second and his teammate Andreas Schillinger coming home in third position.
Paul Voß (NetApp-Endura/ stage winner): Finally!! The last few weeks have been quite frustrating with fourth places. This win gives me a lot of morale and motivation back. Now I really believe I can win this series. To win a bunch sprint was also new to me but the short distance of only 84 kilometers made the final a lottery because all guys felt fresh and wanted to take a shot at the win.
Silvio Herklotz (Stölting/ part of the breakaway): Since I knew that I couldn´t win this race because I am not a fast guy I at least wanted to use this short race as an intensive training session. The race helped me a lot to build up my shape for the upcoming races which will sit me more because there will be more climbs.
With Rund um Solingen it was time for one of the hardest one day races in the series. The circuit contained a lot of climbing with gradients up to 12 per cent.
Although the riders knew that a tough day was waiting for them, some guys attacked at the very first climb. Jacob Fiedler (NSP Ghost), Vytautas Kaupas (Differdange) und Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale) made a successful move and gained a maximum advantage of almost six minutes after 65 kilometer.
With 45 kilometers to go, the three escapees only held an advantage of 2:30 and it should go down even more when Andreas Stauff (MTN Qhubeka), Julian Kern (Ag2r) and Dmitri Vasilyiev (LKT Brandenburg) attacked.
Soon the three leaders only had an advantage of 90 seconds over the three chasers whereas the difference between chasing group and bunch was 30 seconds. In the chasing group Kern turned out to be the strongest and could ride away from Stauff and Vasilyiev. Kern went solo and already had the three leaders in sight while Stauff and Vasilyiev were caught by the bunch.
With 17 kilometers to go – heavy rainfall had started – Kern was always at the wheel of Fiedler and his two companions but in the end he couldn`t close the gap and was surpassed by a small group of attackers which included Eugenio Alafaci (Leopard-Trek) and Paul Voß (NetApp-Endura).
In the meantime Kaupas couldn`t follow his two companions anymore which left only two riders at the front. And also Boivin was struggling uphill but could close the small gap on the downhill. But with 9 kilometers to go, Fiedler and Boivin were finally caught and left behind by six riders – Alafaci, Voß, Silvio Herklotz (Stölting), Pieter Serry (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) as well as Reto Hollenstein and Jonathan Fumeaux (both IAM Cycling).
In the last five kilometers Voß and Herklotzt attacked and were short time later joined by Serry. The three leaders reached the final kilometer which also led uphill, with gradients of 5%. Here again, Voß and Herklotz tried to get rid of Serry but they didn`t have any success. So it came down to a sprint with three which was won – as expected by Serry. Voß was second and Herklotz third.
Since Kristof Vandewalle (Omega-Pharma-Quick-Step) didn`t score any points Voß became the new leader in the German Cycling Cup.
Classification:
1. Pieter Serry (Omega-Pharma-Quick-Step)
2. Paul Voß (NetApp-Endura) st
3. Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) st
4. Reto Hollenstein (IAM) +0:09
5. Eugenio Alafaci (Leopard-Trek) +0:22
6. Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM) st
7. Dirk Müller (Nutrixxion) +0:43
8. Natnael Berhane (Europcar) st
9. Cristian Salerno (Cannondale) st
10. Nikodemus Holler (Thüringer Energie Team) st
11. Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol) st
12. Gregor Gazvoda (Champion System) +1:17
13. Matthias Bertling (Quantec-Indeland) +1:40
14. Diego Milan (Vorarlberg) +1:55
15. Jasha Sütterlin (Thüringer Energie Team) +2:14
Paul Voß (NetApp-Endura/ leader German Cycling Cup): Although I didn`t win the race it was a perfect day for me. I had no problems in the climbs and I only regret that I didn`t attack more often. But there will be a next time, for sure.
Pieter Serry (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step/ winner): I knew that I would win if it came to a sprint with three. I totally believed in my sprinting skills and gave everything I had in order not to lose contact with Voß and Herklotz. If that last climb had been 500 meters longer I don`t know if I had made it.
With the Tour d`Energie another one day race took place. With 100 kilometers the race was quite short but especially the first half of the race was very demanding. So this day offered chances for both escape groups and sprinters.
The classic was - at least for the first part - dominated by three young German riders - Jan-Niklas Droste (Heizomat), Dimitry Vasiliev (LKT Brandenburg) and Daniel Westmattelmann (Quantec-Indeland) who attacked after just four kilometers of racing and were soon joined by Carlos Verona (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) and Pit Schlechter (Leopard-Trek).
The five leaders gained an advantage of one minute with 80 kilometers to go but in the steep parts of the climbs with up to 15% they lost a lot of time and were caught after 27km of racing.
In the following, attacks were followed by attacks. But neither Andreas Schillinger (NetApp-Endura) and Ruben Zepuntke (National team) as well as Jay Robert Thomson (MTN Qhubeka) were successful.
With his second attack at halftime of the race Thomsom seemed to be have more success. Together with Patrick Gretsch (Argos-Shimano), Frank Dressler-Lehnhoff (Differdange) and Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM) he broke free from the bunch and gained an advantage of about 25 seconds. This attack at a steep climbing section with again 15% was the beginning of a very interesting race. Silvio Herklotz (Stölting) took responsibility and created a chasing group with just a few seconds behind the leaders.
But this situation didn`t last forever. The four leaders were caught by the first chasing group out of which Herklotz attacked. Together with Dirk Bellemakers (Lotto-Belisol), Thierry Hupond (Argos-Shimano), Ruben Zepuntke (National team) and Cristian Salerno (Cannondale), the German talent gained an advantage of 45 seconds over the bunch.
The peloton, however, didn`t want to accept this race situation and chased down the five leaders and finally caught them right before the last climb of the day with 29 kilometers to go. In the very last climb the pace was very high with a lot of riders losing contact to the main group. But this also meant that no attack at the front was possible.
When everyone expected a bunch sprint, Pieter Serry (Omega-Pharma-Quick-Step) who had just won Rund um Solingen, attacked on the last 15km and got an advantage of 40 seconds.
In the pouring rain - yeah it again rained in the final - this was a very clever move because on the decent the peloton had to be more careful on the wet roads than just one single guy. That is why Serry could hold his advantage up to seven kilometers to go. Only from this time on, the reduced peloton consisting of 80 riders started to gain ground and finally caught Serry in the flat finale with 1300m to the finish line.
In the finale Anthony Ravard (Ag2r) was the fastest who but Dirk Müller (Nutrixxion) in a close call. Gediminas Bagdonas (Ag2r) finished third.
Anthony Ravard (Ag2r): This was a tough day. Especially the first two/thirds of the race were very demanding and I lost contact with the main group several time. But fortunately I had a very strong team that brought me back to the front making it possible to steal away with the victory.
Paul Voß (NetApp-Endura): When Herklotz attacked in the middle part of the race I didn`t panic. I knew that today there weren`t so many points to take and if he had won it would not have been a problem for me. I personally decided to save some energy for the upcoming Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt.
The Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt started with a typical sprinter stage. The 154 kilometers which had to be covered were mainly flat consisting only one KOM at the very beginning.
Since the riders from the smaller teams had an eye on this KOM we saw a lot of attacks right after the start with Manuel Straub (Heizomat), Maximilian Schachmann (Thüringer Energie Team) and Felix Baur (Atlas Personal) finally getting away from the bunch just before the categorie-3 climb.
On the climb Schachmann turned out to be the strongest and took the six points. The bunch seemed to be quite happy with this race situation - having three young riders at the front - and gave them an advantage of eight minutes with 100km to go.
In the bunch it was mainly Team LKT Brandenburg which made the pace and reduced the gap to four minutes with 60 kilometers to go. At the same time Schachmann and Straub weren`t happy about the work of Baur and attacked him. The fact that Baur couldn`t follow showed that it wasn`t tactics but that the guy had nothing left to give.
But leaving Baur behind didn`t bring the win for the two leaders. With 20 kilometers to go the bunch was only 1:20min behind them. An desperate Straub tried to solo to the win by attacking Schachmann.
But soon after Schachmann was caught the escape was also over for Straub. The last nine kilometers of the race were dominated by team Euskaltel which rode at the front with five riders.
Manuel Straub (Heizomat/ part of the breakaway): I really wanted to present myself in such a big stage race. And even without having won a special jersey I think that I have completed my personal mission. Now I feel really tired and I have no expectations for the next stages.
The second stage of the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt had a similar profile as the previous one. For most of the part there weren`t any climbs except for the finale where two categorie-3 climbs had to be climbed.
The race was very nervous at the beginning with a lot of attacks but none of them was successful. Only after 30km some riders finally made the decisive move. Alex Schmitt (Abus Nutrixxion), Johannes Weber (Heizomat) and Nikodemus Holler (Thüringer Energie Team) - three young German talents - attacked and soon gained an advantage of 7min over the peloton.
At the first climb of the day with 70km to go it was a surprise that Holler had some problems and lost contact. While Schmitt took the 6 points Holler passed the KOM with more than 30 seconds delay.
On the following descent, however, Holler took some risks and could soon re-join Schmitt and Weber. The three worked together very well until the last KOM was in sight with 36km to go. This time it was Schmitt who had some problems and couldn`t follow the pace of his two escape companions while Holler scored six points as the winner of the KOM.
In that climb there was also a major split in the bunch - with guys like Jonathan Fumeaux, Reto Hollenstein (bothIAM), Frantisek Rabon, Bert Grabsch (both Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) and Rick Zabel (National team) being in the second group that should never again made it to the front.
With the bunch coming closer Holler got rid of Weber and went solo in the last 30 kilometer with a gap of two minutes.
The peloton set up a very high pace in order to catch Holler but for some riders it didn`t seem high enough. So Kristof Vandewalle (Omega-Pharma-Quick-Step), who won the Tour de Berlin at the beginning of the season, went on the attack and tried the close the gap to Holler.
With 23 kilometers to go, however, Vandewalle`s mission had come to an end and only Holler remained at the front, still having an advantage of two minutes over the peloton. When Holler reached the last 10km and still held an advantage of over a minute, the young German started to believe in the victory. But apparently he was more thinking than cycling and finally was caught by the bunch of 60 riders with 5km to go.
Nikodemus Holler (Thüringer Energie Team/ part of the breakaway): Too damn that I missed this great opportunity. To be honest: I really thought that I could make it to the finish line. But then I got cramps and also ran out of power because I forgot to eat in the finale. Next time, this will not happen again!
Again the profile was really flat except for two KOM in the first part of the stage. This should make this stage quite predictable with a bunch sprint at the end.
And the group got even more threatening when time trialist Jasha Sütterlin (Thüringer Energie Team) closed the gap and could join the three escapees.
After 65km the gap between the leaders and the peloton was 7:30min which meant that Schröder was the virtual leader of the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt. In the bunch it was mainly Euskaltel-Euskadi making the pace which lead to a decline of the escapees` lead. With 40km to go, they only held an advantage of five minutes.
But then Euskaltel-Euskadi seemed to be out of power or they wanted to have other teams working at the front as well. No matter what the reason was, with 25km to go the gap was still 4min and 10km later the four leaders still had an advantage of 3:20. That meant that Schröder had good chances to be the new leader of the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt.
Being motivated by this fact he tried to break away from his three companions with 13km to go. But this move didn`t work out and Schröder was caught only two kilometers later which lead to the next attack - this time by Pliuschin. With the gap being already 25 seconds, Sütterlin decided to follow him on his own with 5km to go.
Pliuschin, however, turned out to be a great fighter keeping Sütterlin away from him. Sütterlin couldn`t reach Pliuschin first but was then joined by Timmer who in turn rode away from Schröder. Pliuschin entered the last kilometer with an advantage of 24 seconds.
And this should turn out to be enough of advantage. Sütterlin and Timmer, even Schröder came close on the final meters but couldn`t reach him. So Pliuschin took the stage victory with Timmer and Sütterlin coming home second and third. Schröder finished fourth and had to wait till the bunch came in. With a gap of 2:19min he would be the new leader of the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt. The bunch entered the last kilometer and one minute was already over, the sprinters started to fight for the fifth position, they came closer to the finish line and finally crossed it 2:15min later than stage winner Pliuschin. This meant that Schulze could defend his leading position by a margin of 4sec.
Björn Schröder (Stölting/ 4th of the day/ 2nd GC): Although it was a great day I am quite disappointed. My played the wrong tactics in the finale. It would have been better not to attack with 13km to go. Otherwise I had more power for the finale sprint and could have finished second which would have brought me the lead in the GC. The most demanding stages are still to come, however. And I will try everything to win this race.
With a total of four KOM the fourth stage of the Niedersachsen Rundfahrt shouldn`t only be demanding for the sprinters but for most of the bunch. This stage could not only bring a change in the GC but also in the mountain classification.
The longest stage of the race was dominated by a group of 11 riders. Remco Broers (Vorarlberg) who was the best gc rider being 2:12min behind Schulze rode away together with Frank Dressler-Lehnhoff (Differdange), Maximilian Schachmann (Thüringer Energie Team), Daniel Westmattelmann (Quantec-Indeland), Luke Roberts (Stölting), Federico Canuti (Cannondale), Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r), Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step), Jesus Ezquerra (Leopard-Trek), Franck Bouyer (Europcar) and Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM) after ten kilometers of racing.
This large group gained a maximum advantage of seven minutes after 50km. When the leaders reached the middle part of the race facing the two first climbs of the day, their advantage had been reduced by the bunch to 5 minutes. In the climbs Bonnafond turned out to be the strongest taking six points two times which made him the virtual leader in the mountain ranking.
With twenty kilometers to go the race entered crunch time. The chances for the escapes weren`t that good at all only having an advantage of 90seconds. In the last climb, however, the leaders set up a high pace reducing their group to only five riders namely Roberts, Canuti, Ezquerra, Vermote and Fumeaux who had won the third KOM of the day.
And it was also Fumeaux who took the last KOM bringing him the lead in the mountains ranking with 20 points on his account. At this time the bunch surprisingly lost ground and passed the last KOM with a gap of almost three minutes. Obviously the sprinter teams feared that if the speed was too high their captains could lose contact and also their good position in the GC. But this didn`t count for race leader Schulze who covered an attack by Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Belisol) in the climb. Sieberg, however, decided not to continue his move and waited for the bunch, together with Schulze.
At the very front five riders fought for the victory and Fumeaux did not only turn out to be the strongest in the climbs but also on the downhill. Because there he launched his decisive attack with 5km to go and no one could follow him. In the last few kilometers he rode in his world gaining an advantage of almost one minute over the obviously tired chasers.
Since Fumeaux didn`t crack in the finale kilometers it meant IAM`s second win in a row. Roberts won the sprint for second place with Canuti finishing third. The bunch came in with a gap of 2:40min.
In the GC Schulze was still the leader with 4sec on Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol) and Björn Schröder (Stölting). New on fifth position is Bonnafond who was part of the breakaway and could re-join the chasing group in the final kilometers finishing sixth in the stage gaining 2:05min.
Classification:
1. Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM)
2. Luke Roberts (Stölting) +0:54
3. Federico Canuti (Cannondale)
4. Jesus Ezquerra (Leopard-Trek)
5. Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step)
6. Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r)
7. Remco Broers (Vorarlberg) +2:07
8. Maximilian Schachmann (Thüringer Energie Team)
9. Franck Bouyer (Europcar)
10. Daniel Westmattelmann (Quantec-Indeland)
Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM/ stage winner + leader KOM): Today everything went according to plan. I am very satisfied with this stage win but I also want to win the mountain jersey which means that I will have to be in a good condition tomorrow because there are two cat-2 climbs on the menu.
With two category-2 climbs and two category-3 climbs in the finale the ultimate stage of the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt offered great opportunities to make changes in the GC.
In the first climb of the day seven riders attacked and gained some ground. In the front group there were Matthias Bertling (Quantec-Indeland), Cristian Salerno (Cannondale), Cesare Benedetti (NetApp-Endura), Pit Schlechter (Leopard-Trek), Julian Kern (Ag2r), Andreas Hofer (Vorarlberg) and Luke Roberts (Stölting). Especially Roberts who was already part of the breakaway on stage 4 was an interesting rider because he had already scored some mountain points and was a threat to Jonathan Fumeaux`s mountain jersey.
Nevertheless Fumeaux`s IAM-team let Roberts and his six companion go. The leading group gained a maximum advantage of six minutes with 120km to go. In the first two climbs Roberts scored some points so that he had a total of 16 point being 4 points behind Fumeaux. With two cat.3-climbs and a total of 12 possible points this should be an interesting scenario.
In the penultimate climb 46 to the finish line Roberts finished second gaining another 4 points which made it a tie between the Australian guy and Fumeaux. Since the gap between the leaders and the bunch was still over 3minutes it was improbable that Fumeaux could fight for the mountain points in the very last climb. So he really had to hope that the other riders in the front group would take away the points.
With 28km to go the front group hit the last climb and Benedetti, Schlechter and Hofer were soon in real trouble leaving just four riders at the front.
In this climb also Roberts had some problems always riding in fourth position. At the top of the hill Roberts gave everything he had but it was Bertling who took the six points with Salerno being second. Would Roberts pass the KOM as third? Long time it didn`t look good but just before the line he could pass Kern and therefore got the two points he needed to get the mountain jersey.
In the descent Schlechter, Benedetti and Hofer could re-join the four leaders so that seven riders entered the last ten kilometers - still with an advantage of one minute.
In the bunch we could see Schulze`s Euskaltel-teammates at the front but they didn`t ride full gas. Obviously their aim was not to bring the escapees back in order not to risk a loss of the leading position in the GC. And they were successful. Although Lotto-Belisol set up an incredibly high pace in the last 5000 meters they couldn`t catch the escapees. The bunch arrived with the same time as the escapees but the first seven places of the day went to the breakaway riders. The fastest in a sprint of seven was Bertling who could beat Salerno and Roberts.
Since Schulze also arrived with the bunch he didn`t lose any time and thus won the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt. Additionally he could also win the sprinters classification although his main rival Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol) crossed the finish line on eights position scoring some points. In the end both riders had 49 points but Schulze had the better stage results. Furthermore, Schulze was also the new leader of the German Cycling Cup
Classification:
1. Matthias Bertling (Quantec-Indeland)
2. Cristian Salerno (Cannondale)
3. Luke Roberts (Stölting)
4. Andreas Hofer (Vorarlberg)
5. Cesare Benedetti (NetApp-Endura)
6. Pit Schlechter (Leopard-Trek)
7. Julian Kern (Ag2r)
8. Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol)
9. Jacob Fiedler (NSP Ghost)
10. Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale)
Luke Roberts (Stölting/ winner mountain jersey): That was a close one. I was really suffering on that very last climb. First I thought that I hadn`t scored any points there but luckily I was third just some centimeter ahead of Kern which gave me this jersey.
After the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt the peloton moved on to Thüringen doing the one day race Rund um die Hainleite. With the Kyffhäuser-climb in the first part of the race and the Arnstädter Höhe which had to be climbed several times in the finale the race wasn`t really made for the sprinters.
Nevertheless the fast guys wanted to prove their skills and at least present themselves in a breakaway groups. So after several attacks a group of eight riders formed after 25km. With Fabian Schnaidt (Champion System), Michael Schweizer (NSP GHost), Frederique Robert (Lotto-Belisol) three sprinters were part of the group which was completed by Reto Hollenstein (IAM), Vytautas Kaupas (Differdange), Joel Zangerle (Leopard-Trek), Andreas Hofer (Vorarlberg) and Hugo Houle (Ag2r),
The eight riders worked together really well gaining an advantage of six minutes after 55km of racing. When the front group hit the Kyffhäuser climb after 75km they still held an advantage of 5:40min.
In the bunch it was Europcar and the National team making the pace which had an influence on the gap between the leading group and the peloton. With 40km to go, the eight escapees only had an advantage of 2:30 and when they entered the final circuit it went further down to 1:45 with 25km to go. In the Arnstädter Höhe, four riders tried to bridge the gap to the front by attacking the bunch. Eugenio Alafaci (Leopard-Trek), Rick Zabel (National team), Kevyn Ista (IAM) and Sebastian Minard (Ag2r) soon gained an advantage of 30seconds over the peloton and were only 50seconds behind the eight leaders.
But instead of coming closer to the escapees the chasers and the bunch lost ground and with 10km to go Zabel and co were caught by the bunch which was still 1:40min behind the leaders. At the very front Hollenstein used the last climb of the Arnstädter Höhe for his attack and was successful.
While Hollenstein won the race finishing solo, his former fellow escapees were arguing how to work together in the finale. That meant that they were caught right on the finish line with Stefan Schäfer (NSP Ghost) finishing second and Natnael Berhande (Europcar) third. Having a look at the top ten, we could see that five Ag2r and three Europcar riders were among the ten best riders of the day. Quite unusual.
Classification:
1. Reto Hollenstein (IAM)
2. Stefan Schäfer (NSP GHost) +1:14
3. Natnael Berhane (Europcar)
4. Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r)
5. Angelo Tulik (Europcar)
6. Sebastien Minard (Ag2r)
7. Hugo Houle (Ag2r)
8. Björn Thurau (Europcar)
9. Gediminas Bagdonas (Ag2r)
10. Ben Gastauer (Ag2r)
11. Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol)
12. Kevyn Ista (IAM)
13. Rick Zabel (National team)
14. Christoph Pfingsten (National team)
15. Michael Schweizer (NSP Ghost)
Reto Hollenstein (IAM/ race winner): Nice to take my second win in the series. With 40km to I actually didn`t believe in the victory because the gap was too small. But sometimes things don`t go as expected and today I benefited from this fact. Since I do not know the reason why the bunch didn`t catch me I have to believe that I was just too strong.
@Sutty and Selwink: Thanks for your comments. Let`s see what will happen today.
01.05.2013
Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn - Frankfurt (Cat. 1.HC) 201km
With Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt it was time for one of the most prestigious one day races in the German Cycling Cup. A race with a long history which - because of its profile - offered opportunities for climbers as well as sprinters.
From the very beginning there were a lot of attacks. The first rider who could really gain an advantage over the bunch was Sander Cordeel (Lotto Belisol) after eight kilometers. Some kilometers later he was joined by Julian Hellmann (Quantec Indeland), Pit Schlechter (Leopard-Trek), Christian Helmig (Differdange) and Cristian Salerno (Cannondale). These five riders soon gained an advantage of 3min entering the Feldberg, the longest climb of the race, with a comfortable lead.
In this climb which led to the highest point of the race the five leaders increased their lead reaching the top of the mountain after 50km with an advantage of eight minutes.
In the kilometers to come the gap between breakaway group and peloton remained stable until they reached the next climb, the Billtalhöhe at halftime of the race. At this point the five leaders only had an advantage of six minutes and this gap was further reduced when the riders hit the Mammolshainer Berg which had to be climbed twice. In the last climb with 45km to go the five leaders only kept an advantage of 2:20min on a reduced peloton which only consisted of 100 riders.
The last part of the race mainly led over flat roads but pouring rain made it difficult for the chasers. The five leaders took some risks on the wet roads and could keep an advantage of 50sec when they entered the last 15km.
Although the pace was very high in the bunch, five riders tried to make a move. Kevyn Ista (IAM), Tom Stamsnijder (Argos-Shimano), Ryan Roth (Champion System), Frantisek Rabon (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) and Juan Oroz (Euskaltel) attacked and started to chase down the five leaders on their own.
With 2,5km to go the five chasers reached the five leaders so that the new leading group consisted of ten riders. This group had an advantage of 35sec on the peloton which was further reduced to 60 riders because of some crashes on the slippery roads through Frankfurt.
While the bunch came closer and closer, Ista attacked out of the front group and went solo with 1,5km to go.
And this move turned out to be successful. While his former breakaway companions were caught on the very last meters by the small peloton Ista made it to the finish line scoring another win for IAM. Robert Förster (National team) finished second, Frantisek Rabon was third.
Classification:
1. Kevyn Ista (IAM)
2. Robert Förster (National team)
3. Frantisek Rabon (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step)
4. Tom Stamsnijder (Argos-Shimano)
5. Juan Oroz (Euskaltel)
6. Julian Hellmann (Quantec-Indeland)
7. Roger Kluge (NetApp-Endura)
8. Kristian Sbaragli (MTN Qhubeka)
9. Pit Schlechter (Leopard-Trek)
10. Rick Zabel (National team)
11. Willi Willwohl (LKT Brandenburg)
12. Tino Thömel (NSP Ghost)
13. Dominik Klemme (IAM)
14. Cristian Salerno (Cannondale)
15. Ryan Roth (Champion System)
16. Stefan Schäfer (NSP Ghost)
17. Christian Helmig (Differdange)
18. Sander Cordeel (Lotto-Belisol)
19. Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Belisol)
20. Zachary Bell (Champion System)
Kevyn Ista (IAM/ winner): This German cycling Cup turns to be out the Swiss cycling cup (laughing). I am very proud of the team. We have been riding perfectly throughout the last weeks. The races just have to end with a win by an IAM rider. That is just a logical consequence. And I am happy to be part of this team.
Robert Förster (National team/ second): That was a close one. One the one hand this second place gives me a morale boost because this was the proof I needed to see that I am still a fast guy. On the other hand I am quite disappointed because it was so close. The weather conditions were in favour of the small front group and some crashes in the bunch actually cost us the 50m which were missing in the end.
