It's quite a tight little circuit used for the German championships with three short hills in the last 5km of a 10km circuit. We finish on a one kilometre climb which seems to scream of a favourable finish for a punchaer of which we have a decent number of riders that could feasibly take it from a bunch gallop.
Here is the complete startlist:
Spoiler
UBS
1. S. Schumacher
Spyker
11. P. Sinkewitz
12. M. Reimer
Trilux
21. M. Kessler
22. M. Eichler
23. M. Fahnert
24. T. Fothen
25. H. Haussler
26. A. Schillenger
27. R. Scholz
28. P. Walsleben
29. F. Wegmann
B&O
31. N. Keinath
32. D. Klemme
Team VW
41. A. Flügel
42. R. Förster
43. A. Klier
44. C. Müller
45. K. Predatsch
46. L. Schädlich
47. R. Zabel
Bacardi
51. M. Burghardt
Festina
61. M. Fothen
62. P. Voss
Vesuvio
71. D. Mehr-Wenige
72. M. Barth
73. M. Kittel
74. A. Stauff
Cyclevox
81. C. Knees
Jack Wolfskin
91. M. Sieberg
92. P. Martens
Pokerstars
101. R. Kluge
102. J. Degenkolb
103. E. Mohs
Vespa
111. N. Arndt
Puma
121. T. Martin
122. M. Egger
123. D. Klemme
124. J. Sütterlin
125. M. Vogt
Eurovision
131. R. Retschke
132. A. Klöden
133. H. Kruskopf
134. C. Roth
135. P. Schachtner
136. S. Siedler
137. T. Thömel
Rothaus
141. H. Blank
142. E. Baumann
143. A. Gajek
144. T. Koep
145. A. Krieger
146. M. Schachmann
147. N. Schoch
148. C. Von Kleinsorgen
149. C. Westphal
Wikipedia
151. C. Mai
WWE
161. A. Gottfried
162. S. Damrow
163. A. Greipel
Koppert
171. J. Dieteren
Bianchi
181. G. Ciolek
182. F. Odebrecht
Milka
191. T. Reinhardt
Aker Solutions
201. O. Hirschlein
Export
211. T. Ziegler
Sony
221. S. Lang
There has been a great deal of media interest in German cycling this year with a number of new teams starting and the riders scattered across the Protour. That said there hasn't been a great deal of landmark moments for the German riders with grand tour and classic wins mainly going to other European riders.
Ambitions were high going into the worlds. Three silver medals can be looked at either way. It really was a big chance for a clutch of golds given the parcours in Belgium, you fancy a hilly course next time out so this should prove a good test for that. Importantly though with two silvers in the Under 23's the depth is most certainly there now.
Trilux look to control the gap keeping it under four minute for the first 7 or 8 laps.
With 11 laps (110km) left Roger Kluge and defending RR champion Paul Martens make a bridging move.
This adds some much needed power to the breakaway swelling its numbers up to 12 riders, the gap starts to drift towards four minutes with 100km to go.
Young punchaer Dietmar Mehr-Wenige decides to slip clear to attempt to bridge.
It takes him a couple of laps but the Vesuvio mans hooks up with teammate Stauff to join the breakaway with the led group now looking like a mini pack of its own.
With 8 laps to go (80km) the lead is now nudging its way up to six minutes it is beginning to look like Trilux have lost the will to control this. Two more riders in Marcus Burghardt and Nikias Arndt slip clear.
In the break Mehr-Wenige is really driving it particularly up the steep finishing straight climb allowing others to come through on the flatter sections.
They go through with 7 laps (70km) to go with a gap of two minutes over Burghardt and Arndt and over six minutes on the pack.
VolksWagen strain themselves taking over from a clearly disgusted and disheartened Trilux sqaud.
However all VolksWagen can do is keep the gap pinned at six minutes and as we go past with 5 laps to go that gap is beginning to look unbridgable. In between Burghardt surprisingly cannot get across with Arndt, the hammer seems to have really gone down.
Stauff and Mehr-Wenige are working well with the likes of Martens and Kluge to keep their advantage.
We get to the penultimate lap and the situation is unchanged. We have 13 leaders with the two chasers unable to get any closer than 90 seconds. The pack is back at six minutes and some of the big names are trying to attack clear. But it is far too late.
Up front eager to keep clear of Burghardt, Mehr-Wenige increases the pace on the three hills. Only Martens and Kluge can go with him.
These three hills in the second half of the circuit are going to make Mehr-Wenige difficult to handle. He has done a phenominal amount of work though. However clearly he is full of Protour winning type of confidence as he attacks clear at the beginning of the last lap. Concerned perhaps about the sprint speed of Kluge.
He gets a 30 second gap as Kluge and Martens look at each other a bit.
Behind Burghardt having dropped Arndt romps past the now shattered former breakaways. It's too little too late from him.
Martens makes one last effort from the bottom of the final hill.
However Mehr-Wenige whilst finally beginning to tire has done more than enough to take his national title.
Martens is second in a gutsy defence of his title ahead of Kluge.
Way back Schumacher wins the sprint out of the favourites group perhaps making the VolksWagen and Trilux managers feel a bit better.
Perhaps in anticipation of a hilly worlds route next year the Germans have designed a fairly demanding time trial route. It gives us an interesting contrast with the punchaers who can time trial like
Basque country stage winner Stefan Schumacher
Unlucky stage racer Markus Fothen
33 year old Trilux man Matthias Kessler
Continental Tour doomed Patrik Sinkewitz
and stage race hopeful Nico Keinath
into competition with the more usual specialists such as the aging Sebastian Lang
young pair Lucas Schädlich
and Marcel Kittel
It is no surprise that the Germans have a very strong team time trial squad, that really should have penetrated the medals at the worlds denied by an inspired Belgian squad.
The first check reveals that the pure chrono men are finding this circuit a little bit tough. The fastest through is Schumacher by four seconds over Keinath. With Sinkewitz, Fothen and Kessler all quicker than Schladlich, Kittel and Lang.
Indeed by the finish it is UBS who are perhaps surprisingly celebrating as Schumacher takes the German TT title by ten seconds ahead of Keinath. The specialists had a hard day finishing a minute or so off the pace.
