The early sun makes the colours glow in the cold autumn air, music booms out of the speakers, the last party of the road cycling year begins. One of the riders in an aero helmet at the front of the B block in the 95-kilometre race is already bent over at the side of the road a few metres further on. Sebastian Olbrich from Halle in Westphalia had been looking forward to a wonderful end to the season, was in good shape and had travelled with his caravan, had supposedly prepared everything perfectly. But his chain snapped with the first few turns of the pedals. "It can't fail because of the material!" pleads Olbrich, but he can't get any further with his tools. Disappointed, he runs back while the next starting block takes to the track. It's a stark contrast in the soft morning light.
It is actually a day of celebration. The 3rd of October is not only a public festive day in autumn, but also offers the established final point for road cycling in Germany. The Sparkasse Münsterland-Giro gives world stars, amateurs, everyone and newcomers the opportunity to compete at the highest level once again on closed roads. "This is definitely the finale," says Fabian Wegmann, a former world-class rider who is the sporting director of the professional race in Münster - and as a Münster resident, the most prominent face of the event. Since 2006, the Giro has attracted athletes on Unity Day. This is where they finish - just like sprint star André Greipel, who ended his career in Münster in 2021.
Münster is considered one of the most bike-friendly cities in Germany, and the local authority itself organises the race. The event was created in times of crisis in professional cycling, but has survived with aplomb to this day. Fabian Wegmann reports great support from the surrounding districts. "The whole region is involved and acceptance among the population has continued to grow," he says. The Münsterland Giro is a "beacon project", as Wegmann describes it, and this also sends a clear signal to the amateur cycling scene. Crossing the finish line once again, raising their arms in the air once more - that is the wish of the 3,000 or so people who have registered for the three amateur races this year.
Münsterland Giro - Photographer's Hour
While individual participants are still putting on their starting gear in their cars, a group of men and women gather in the car park next to the professional team hotel, many with cameras around their necks. It is seven o'clock in the morning when Alexander Reder starts his 17th race of the year. Reder manages the Sportograf team as a side job and coordinates the other twelve photographers who will be capturing the emotions from motorbikes, along the track and on the home straight over the next few hours. "Münster is difficult for us as photographers because the track is so flat and the riders ride in the slipstream so much," says Reder.
The sports photographers have to deliver a considerable performance and concentrate for hours on end in order to be able to sell as many sharp images of starters in action as possible. It's all part of the job if the athletes want to remember the end of the season. Once the pictures have been uploaded, it's time for a break. Reder, who usually takes on 30 races a year, is looking forward to a holiday with his family.
No time to celebrate
Anyone looking for a nice finish can rely on a well-functioning concept on this Monday morning. The processes at the Münsterland Giro are in place. "It's a collaboration with top people," says Dieter Buchal, for whom today also marks the end of a stressful season. He is a passionate two-wheeler rider, but he needs a motor for his hobby. Buchal heads the Cologne motorbike squadron, which rides along at bike races to secure the route or transport photographers during the race. The squadron rides with the amateur athletes and later with the professionals.
An energy-sapping day, and once again it was an exhausting year. Eschborn-Frankfurt, Rund um Köln, the German Championship in Sauerland, Buchal was there with his team. He managed ten races in 2022, which sounds like less than it is. That's because Buchal has to coordinate his team for weeks before each of these races, agreeing the procedures with the organisers.
Buchal does it for fun, but at the same time the man from Unna is responsible for the 29 people in the field. "You have to get it all under one roof, it's a lot of work," he says. There will be no time for a big celebration after the finish.
Münsterland Giro - childhood memories
There will be a short feedback session, then everyone will go home - and Buchal will start preparing for next year. For many in the field, the end of the season is a date for which they have prepared meticulously - although the goals of the preparation differ greatly. Youngster Michel Heßmann from Team Jumbo-Visma will be racing the pros for the first time.
Although he comes from Münster, he is at the breakfast buffet in the team hotel in the morning. Of course, there's a lot at stake - and in the end, his team-mate Olav Kooij even sprints to victory. "I used to watch this race as a child," says Heßmann, who is happy to be here today. The race had an impact on him. "It was always a big deal."
This is also the Giro for the many people who are starting a race with a number for the first time. At just before eight in the morning, a number of them roll up to the back of the starting block before the shortest of the three cyclo-cross races. This is also where Hanka Kupfernagel, the eight-time world champion, greets her fellow riders in the "fun block" at the very back, before the start of the 65 flat kilometres. Kupfernagel held a workshop in the summer to prepare women for the special situations of a road bike race. She does this every year for the organiser, and Fabian Wegmann also runs such workshops.
The aim is to teach the sport of road cycling to those who have not learnt it through the youth clubs. Kupfernagel offers her programme specifically for women and receives a lot of feedback from the group. "It's good for me too, because I can really give them something," says the former world-class athlete. Access to such a race with a female perspective in particular is something that conveys openness and confidence to the female starters. Amongst women, beginners are more likely to ask supposedly stupid questions, says Kupfernagel. A group feeling was created in the workshop - and now the women are simply going into the race together.
Münsterland Giro - pure emotion!
At the finish line in front of the large square, not far from the baroque Münster Castle, the emotions are hard to hide. "Mega!" shouts Jennifer Terinde as she crosses the finish line with Hanka Kupfernagel. The "fun block" reached the finish line in 2:14 hours. A milestone for everyone who rode in Kupfernagel's slipstream. Terinde is the smallest and the only woman in her club, RSV Steinfurt, so she was glad that there is this special programme for female racing cyclists in Münster.
"For many, it wasn't possible to ride in a group before," she says. But she and her fellow athletes have gained confidence. Beatrix Overmann, who is standing right next to Terinde, is also raving. It was her first race and she felt, says the Münster native, how she outgrew herself in the group: "Now I'm just happy that I made it."
She heads straight to the camper van she has parked nearby, changes her clothes and joins her husband Sven to round off the day on the Schlossplatz, where there will also be Münster currywurst and draught pilsner to accompany the music and thoroughly questionable presentations on stage. It's a sunny Sunday lunchtime, relatives and racers are standing together, long leather boots next to red racing bike shoes.
Battle for the front row
Of course, cycling is fun, but the race day in Münster also means constraints for some participants. Bruce Steinkirchner put it this way in the morning as his Team Münsterland set up at the front of the 95-kilometre race: "The race is our goal all year round." At other events, his athletes promote the local event, from the summer onwards they meticulously ride the course, at the end they work on team tactics and at the same time help the organisers with the set-up and the children's races.
In terms of the range of participants in the Münsterland Giro, Steinkirchner and his team colleagues operate at the opposite end of the spectrum to the fun block. Sure, the riders are not professionals, but there are sponsors, paid equipment and the expectation that a good result will ultimately be achieved at the home race.
And so it is a little annoying that another elite amateur team from Steinfurt not only pushes over the barrier at the front shortly before the start, but also neutralises the tactics of the home team. Christoph Wisse, a sales representative in his main job and the designated podium rider for the Münster team on this day, has to make do with 9th place in the end. He doesn't want to call his condition "disappointed", but he had certainly hoped for the podium.
But Wisse makes peace with the day and clinks glasses with friends. Just like Juliane Matzke, who has brought lots of cake, several crates and a keg of beer to the stage to give something back to her fellow members of the German Childhood Cancer Foundation team. The young woman from Münster is one of the very best in the field, having won the keg of beer at the Riderman in Bad Dürrheim the previous week. Since then, it had also been clear that Matzke would be crowned the winner of the 2022 German Cycling Cup in her home town.
And while a 64-minute ceremony with award ceremonies heads towards a final sexist quote from the presenter, Matzke's friends and fellow riders celebrate their joint achievements. The season is over and Matzke reaches for the sparkling wine. "It's all about: How heavy am I? How many watts can I pedal? How is my FTP right now? I can't get sick from April to October. We invest a lot of time and money in this hobby," she says, explaining how things work at the top end of the everyman scene. Now it's just a break, the rush comes, the mood rises. You can celebrate, like Jennifer Terinde does, or English teacher Kathrin Jahn from Wolfsburg. She queued for around half an hour to take home an engraved medal from her first race.
The sun is shining and the party atmosphere lasts well into the evening, long after the professionals have crossed the finish line. And Sebastian Olbrich, the man with the broken chain, actually made it to the finish.
