Germany Tour Review – Day 1
  
  The Germany Tour kicked off today. Whilst, the Stage 1 prologue will probably not affect the final result a great deal, it is still the blue-ribbon event of the Tour. Citizens of Kiel, a city on the Baltic coast of Germany, were out in force to watch the some of the best riders in OCM go ‘contre-la-montre’ in a short, 8km route around the city.
  OCM front page news will be covering Germany in depth this year. Eli, manager of World Number 3 team Equipo Easy On, will be providing his ‘Germany Tour trivia’ which will contain facts and background to the stage venues. This will be supported with the latest news and stats from the racing itself.
  
   Germany Tour trivia
  
  Kiel, a grey city on the Baltic coast, hosts Germany Tour’s Prologue once again. The route stretches along the scenic Kieler Förde (Kiel Fjord), which even locals will gladly admit is most probably the only scenic route Kiel has to offer.
  
  Kiel was mostly built in a quick and dirty fashion at the end of the 19th century as cheap housing for the Kaiser’s sailors was needed. During WWII, 80% of that got destroyed by bombs to be rebuilt in an even dirtier and quicker fashion in the 1950’s.
  
  However, if the weather is not the usual mix of fog and drizzle, the riders could be able to enjoy a ride along the waterfront,

passing the big ferries off to Scandinavia, ending in front of the Landtag, seat of the government of the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein.
  
  Kiel was the starting point of the 1918 German revolution when the Kaiser's sailors refused to sail out for a deadly final clash.
  
  By Eli
  
   Day 1 Racing News
  
  The first day’s racing didn’t disappoint. Fast times, crashes and a bust up kept the crowd interested and journalists furiously penning their daily reports.
  
  Gregory Levis (Equipo Easy On) is quickly building himself a growing reputation as the quickest guy about against the clock. The Caymans Islander has already won two Germany time trials in previous seasons and today set a blistering pace around the city of Kiel to take yet another. Levis will now have the honour of wearing Yellow in tomorrow’s second stage. Levis was ecstatic, ‘Wow. That’s all I can say. I felt good waking up this morning. But 1st? I wasn’t expecting that. The team have lots of experience defending the leader’s Jersey in Tours so I’m hoping to keep it until at least the mountains.’
  
  Focus was slightly diverted from Levis’ win, as tempers flared up in the winner’s enclosure shortly before the end. As Levis set off, Polish rider, Ciechoslaw Dziedzic (Cyklista), was sitting in the enclosure with the fastest time of the day. As Levis crossed the Start line with the new quickest time and entered the enclosure, words were exchanged

between the two, leaving Levis with a confused expression on his face. Rumours have been moving through OCM that Dziedzic was less than enamoured with Soloman Henschel (Team Whalers) being given the nickname ‘Solo Man’ last season and he saw today’s Prologue as the ideal opportunity to prove he is deserving of the name. One can only speculate what goes through the heads of these pressurised riders but we can look forward to more fireworks in the Germany time trial in a few days.
  
  Time gaps were not large, as expected, but last year’s winner, Amadeu Brasil (Bajen Belfast) will be encouraged by his 11th place finish which gives him some breathing space to the rest of the GC contenders. Similarly so for Giovanny Enrico (CCFC) and Jeremy Hollander (skils). The biggest surprise of the day was Jaroslav Brychta (North Shropshire Wheelers) finishing in 3rd place. Whilst the time won’t benefit the Czech very much, the 20 points awarded in the Green Jersey competition will be very handy.
  
  Perhaps the biggest story of the day, though, was the sad news surrounding Matthias Drejbo (Telek@m). Many managers and pundits had stated that seeing Drejbo compete in Germany for the first time was perhaps the highlight of the OCM season. Sadly, the sight of Drejbo in Germany was a short one, as the Danish rider overcooked a corner and fell over the barriers into the crowd. Ambulances took him to hospital but luckily a minor concussion was the worst of his injuries. Team Manager Didier Brunel was downbeat after the race, 'Tour over for us. I had great hopes with Drejbo this year. Maybe Dirk can do something special but I doubt it as he doesn`t have the required support.'