Welcome to Frankfurt in the Rhine-Main region of Germany. The race starts and ends in Frankfurt, but it takes the riders in the direction of north towards the hills. There they will tackle 8 categorised climbs and few uncategorised before they head back to Frankfurt, with gently rolling terrain towards the finish. We have beautiful weather today in Frankfurt and we are expecting a beautiful race. Let's begin!
We see the first attacks going and it's Klaris who has started and is followed by Brown.
No one else was interested in joining the breakaway so we join the our front two as they start the first climb of the day. Neither of these two are particulary good climbers, but they have a nice 3 km climb to get warmed up. The gap to the peloton is at 3'48''.
Fast forward a little bit and we see the peloton on the 2nd categorised climb of the day. Not steep, but almost 6 km long. Gjensidige, Philips, Bralirwa are doing the bulk of the pace setting for now, with Centovalli and Strava also staying near the front. The gap is 4'33'' with 180 km still to go.
The two lads in front probably know they have close to zero chances of winning this race from the breakaway, but they look in good spirits as they tackle the 3rd climb. This one is a lot shorter and steeper. Their advantage has settled at that 4 minute mark.
Back in the peloton now and we are on the 4th climb of the day. The pace has slightly increased and the gap is now at 3'35'', but it still looks like a relaxing ride at this point. It's a beautiful day and some very nice roads the riders are riding on. We have seen plently of spectators and even the cows have taken a interest.
The riders are now taking on the biggest climb of the day. 11 km are categorised, but the climbing has started well before that. We have the same teams at the front with BNZ also looking to have a presence near the front of the pack. So far the peloton is still in one piece. 112 km to go, the gap stands at 2'58''.
6th climb now for the two escapees who with not surprise have worked well together and with 80 km left have a 2'15'' gap to the peloton. Two more climbs left.
We get the first splits in the peloton over one of the steep uncategorised hupsers. The top favourites are up front, but some interesting names have been caught behind with the likes of Sbaragli, Colbrelli, Habtom, Modolo and Van der Sanden. The latter being the most surprising as Philips have been one of the more active teams in terms of pace making and Van der Sanden being the main leader.
It's all come back together as the riders are now on the penultimate climb of the day. There have been no big attacks or acceleration on the climbs. The team controlling the front are content with setting a nice stable pace, making this very much an energy conserving race for the sprinters. 59 km to go and the gap to the breakaway has fallen to 1'32''.
The peloton now have the escapees their sights as they prepare to take on the final climb.
Apart from some gently rolling terrain now the riders are done with the climbing and are back to flat roads. The peloton has stayed together. Meanwhile the two escapees are starting to feel the fatigue as they have spent nearly 180 km in the breakaway. 39 km to go.
The catch has been made with 22 km from the finish. Philips and Gjensidige are the two teams setting the pace.
Bralirwa have been controlling the from for the last few kms, but a small dip in tempo and we have a late attack. It's Korosec who strikes out with 8 km to go.
Kuznetsov is also trying his luck now. The peloton are scrambling to catch them. 6 km to go.
3 km left now and Kuznetsov has made it up to Korosec. They have an 18'' gap to the peloton, can they hold on?
No, it seems they will be caught with less than 1 km left. Weber is leading out Wippert at great speed on the left side of the road. Redecker is trying his best on the right side. Lavoine, Mezgec and Coutinho are the only other sprinters near the front and trying to follow the BNZ train.
Mezgec and Coutinho have been blocked off on the right, but Lavoine has made it through and is going after Wippert. Selig has managed to come up and attack from the left.
600 m to go. Weber has done his job and released Wippert. Lavoine is 3rd right now, Redecker still going solo with Selig approaching from behind.
It's a duel between Wippert and Lavoine for the win. Selig in 3rd now, Redecker losing speed. Korosec still has energy on the left, followed by a fast approching Reinhardt. Mezgec is coming through on the right.
Wippert just edges Lavoine for the victory! Fantastic leadout by Weber and the BNZ sprinter delivers the win.
Selig is 3rd but we have a big scrap behind for 4th.
Mezgec is the strongest to finish 4th just infront of a fast finishing Krieger. In a close battle for 6th it's Reinhardt just ahead of Coutinho.
Paprstka manages to save the race for Philips as he steps up to take 8th. Korosec proved how strong he was and makes in two Trans riders in the top 10. Rounding it off is Caruso to make it an even better race for Carrefour.
Frankfurt Eschborn 
