The Rund um den Finanzplatz was taken out by the Norwegian, Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha), he came in ahead of John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) and Jerome Baugnies (Wanty Groupe – Gobert). Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung had Gerald Ciolek and Jaco Venter finish in 14th and 15th respectively. These results though were not a true reflection of the team performance on the day.
9 riders would go clear early on in the rain soaked race but under the control of Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung and Giant-Shimano the escapees were reeled in with 40km still to race. The tough parcours had taken it’s toll on most of the peloton by this point though and only 60 riders were left, Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung were clearly the strongest team on the day though as they still had 6 riders to contest the final hour of racing.
A dangerous group of 12 riders would forge clear through the undulating and technical streets of Eschborn but Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung were not to miss a trick and Jacques Janse van Rensburg would police the break while the rest of the team successfully chased the moved down with less than 10km to go. The final 30km’s had really seemed to be the Team MTN-Qhubeka show but a fairy tale ending was not to be.
Coming into the final 2km’s Ciolek was being piloted to the line by Venter when a late attack forced Venter to close it down, which he was able to do with apparent ease. Ciolek though would have to jostle for position and unfortunately got swamped with less than a km to go. The frustration on his face was evident as a wall of riders prevented him even starting his sprint.
Directeur Sportif – Jens Zemke
Everything worked out pretty well and we riding like a big team. The only thing that did not go well all race was the final kilometer. Gerald got boxed in and he was really sorry after the great work all the boys did. Everybody followed the strategy perfectly and we were the team getting the most attention on the television because of the way we were riding. It was a very nice race and had more than 5hrs of live coverage. The atmosphere showed Germany still loves cycling and our team especially got huge support. We would like to thank the media and crowd who followed our team and became fans today.
Race Results
Profile Overview
Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt (Germany) – (1 May/UCI 1.HC) Team Lineup
Staff: Jens Zemke (Directuer Sport), Bastian Buffel (Soigneur), Daniele Nieri (Mechanic), Werrner Lenk (Mechanic), Stevie Christaens (Mechanic)
