On paper favorites for today are Francesco Ginanni, Yuri Trofimov, Tejay Van Garderen and last year's winner and home favorite, Fabian Wegmann. Almost every team present have riders who excel in the hills, so there will be plenty of competition for the win here.
The winner will also have to excel at riding in the cold and rain as at the start the German skies are grey and the rain is pouring down. Thankfully for the riders the wind is not strong enough to be a big factor today.
We'll begin coverage with just 68k remaining. 11 riders are off the front and they have a lead of just over two minutes back to the pack. Leading the break is Fulsang, and behind him are riders from Sony Ericsson, Nokia Nike, Walmart, AON Global, Vespa-Caffrey's, Santander, Wiggle and 2 from BMC Racing Team. Not one of these would seem to have the pedigree to go all the way and win a race like this though.
Behind them the pack has been driven along mainly by a combination of BMC, Vespa and Sony. To the day's final big climb - and this group of eleven have a lead of around 1 minute 40 seconds.
The pack hit the bottom at speed, driven by Vespa, but the pace is still not high enough to stop Fabian Wegmann becoming the first of the race favorites to attack.
Even with Vespa at the front, Wegmann is able to carve out a gap and as we hit the flat just before the final rise to the summit, Rabon decides to make his move.
Tejay Van Garderen follows, as do Trofimov and Ventoso. Serrano is next and finally Ginanni makes a move, as the Vespa train struggle to keep things under control.
Over the top and it's Trofimov who has carved himself out a gap. It's a 40k run in to the finish and there are three very short, but very steep climbs to come.
Behind him, it's like this.
28k to go, and 33 seconds behind Trofimov a group of 18 have come together. The Sony Ericsson rider drives on through the rain.
Ginanni attacks from the chasing group and he is able to bridge across to Trofimov. Behind him though, he too is being chased.
Tejay Van Garderen is the strongest of the chasers and with just over 20k to go he is now out in front. Behind him is Rabon from NOS, and then Wegmann from BMC. After that, there is a group of 3 - Anza and Trofimov from Sony, and Ginanni from Vespa.
The first of the final 3 hills and Van Garderen is showing his strength.
There are attacks behind him though, sparked by Ginanni and over the top and onto the flat the lead group is now 5.
The second to last hill, and the gap back to the second group - with Wegmann in it - is 30 seconds. Once onto the hill, the likes of Vicioso really step on the gas from this chase group.
They get close, but as we hit the final hill, the lead 5 still have a decent gap. There are just over 7k to go.
Over the top and with another big effort from Vicioso and Wegmann they are up with the lead 5 at the 5k to go mark. The big question now is, was the reason the leaders have been caught because they are tired or are they saving their energy for the final dash?
Present in this elite group are Anza, Wegmann, Trofimov, Rabon, Ginanni, Ventoso, Vicioso and Van Garderen.
Just behind them is Nokia rider Serrano who gives it his all and manages to close the gap. Inside the final 3k and with a tired mind, to go with his tired legs, he touches wheels with Van Garderen and is down.
1.5 k to go and the sprint is off. Ginanni and Rabon power to the front as they try to get the jump on the likes of Wegmann.
1k to go Vicioso has hit the front. Wegmann has found his legs though and is doing his best to come through.
The jump Vicioso has on him is just too much. The Spaniard is the winner of the Rund um den Henninger Turm for this year. Wegmann has to make do with second, and Trofimov comes through for third.
As a footnote, we have yet to hear whether the Spaniard will receive any sanction for the theft of Vespa-Caffrey's footwear.
