Germany Tour Review – Day 3
Day 3 of the Germany Tour is the first day that the GC contenders will want to be in contention as Stage 4 hits the mountains. Stage 4 has been won by Vernon Kings (Fairfield Flyers Cycling) and Amadeu Brasil (Bajen Belfast) in the previous two seasons, who are incidentally also the winners of those two editions of the Tour. All the favourites will therefore want to perform well. Day 3’s afternoon stage, Stage 5, is a more hilly affair but will most likely end in a mass sprint. Day 3 is therefore one for both Yellow and Green.
Germany Tour trivia
Stage 4: Köln – Frankfurt
This stage takes a route through hilly terrain and mostly rural areas. The riders will see plenty of forests, fields and small town Germany. Before the riders reach Frankfurt, the low mountain range of the Taunus has to be passed. Here, the Germany Tour becomes slightly selective for the first time and many riders will not be able to follow. First attacks can be expected.
Frankfurt is known Germany-wide as you find Germany’s most important airport and stock exchange here. Likewise, Frankfurt is known for the Bundesbank and European Central Bank, which both reside there.
The first freely elected German parliament after the 1848 revolution had its seat in Frankfurt – it turned out to be a very brief episode though and Germans had to wait another 70 years for their next unsuccessful experiment with democracy.
Stage 5: Frankfurt - Heidelberg
Well-known as the “tourist stage”, this stage starts at the feet of Frankfurt’s skyscrapers in which the very bankers who caused the global financial crisis still earn indecent amounts of money after their jobs got saved by billions of Euros from the taxpayers’ | | pockets.
This is the first stage that does not take a direct route but instead quite a detour through the low mountains and hills of the Spessart and Odenwald. The riders take the “scenic route”. However, they will not be able to enjoy that as some pretty rough hills are encountered on the way.
The stage ends in scenic Heidelberg, better known to millions of tourists from Japan and the U.S. than to most Germans. Heidelberg survived the war nearly unscathed and it shows - the old town is extremely picturesque.
Heidelberg is the city Mark Twain lived in during the summer of 1878. He wrote “A Tramp Abroad” here. He was also inspired to write the nice little essay “The Awful German language”, which can be found on the web.
By Eli
Day 3 Racing News
Day 3’s morning stage to Frankfurt saw big surprises as the favourites missed out and time gaps were large. A group contending some notable climbers broke away from the main pack on the penultimate climb and ultimately the peleton were unable to bring them back. Radek Lukaszewski (Legia) took the victory on the line from Domenico De Assis (Team airik) and Isaak Papadimitriou (Club Ciclista Riaza), all of whom were propelled up the GC rankings as a result.
The peleton finished some time after the front group. Viggo Monsen (31st), Yasunari Yamauchi (33rd), Dirk Herman (34th), Christoph Frisch (43rd) and Amadeu Brasil (51st) all finished some four minutes down and hopes of competing for the GC now look diminished.
Lukaszewski’s victory was his second in major tours this season after his impressive win in Perm. With this stage being won by the overall GC winner in the last two seasons, the omens are good for the Pole and certainly one would not deny he has the calibre to take Yellow. However, he has some strong competition about with Giovanny Enrico (CCFC), Isaak Papadimitriou,
| | Jeremy Hollander (skils), Aksana Putin (Bajen Belfast) and a host of other talented riders all well-placed. Also well-placed in 2nd is the all round sprinter Susumu Miyazaki (Hommerts Cycling Team) whose all-round consistency is paying off in Tours once again. However, seeing Miyazaki compete so well does leave spectators thinking how well Matthias Drejbo (Telek@m), who has a similar racing profile, would have performed.
We will not be seeing a Pole in Yellow for tomorrow morning’s Stage 6. Instead that honour will be bestowed on home favourite, Pauli Michielsen. The German took an outstanding 4th in this morning stage and then backed it up with a 3rd this afternoon. He now stands at the top of the GC with a gap of 45 seconds to Giovanny Enrico. One doubts that he will hang on to this beyond tomorrow but Germany has a habit of surprising us.
After the morning’s surprise, it was back to normal as Kyle Abston took the afternoon Stage 5, a hilly sprint to Heidelberg. This victory now means the Englishman has won five stages in Germany in the last two years and it is unlikely that it will stop here. This stage was a vital one for the Green Jersey competition as Broderick Rimmer’s 6th place now means Abston has a 19 point lead. Not insurmountable by any means but it certainly looks like the new ‘Mr Germany’ has it in the bag.
Yellow Jersey standings after Day 3
1. Pauli Michielsen (skils)
2. Giovanny Enrico (CCFC) at 45’
3. Susumu Miyazaki (Hommerts Cycling Team) at 46’
4. Radek Lukaszewski, (Legia) at 54’
5. Domenico De Assis (Team airik) at 57’
For the latest standings and Tour info, please click here
|