Brennan, on the other hand, was one of the strongest throughout the day. The 19-year-old, who had returned to Visma's Devo team for Rund um Köln - which was his regular team until the winter - was always at the centre of the action. When Politt animated the race early in the day and broke away from the peloton, Brennan was there. At Schloss Bensberg 20 kilometres before the finish, he was also one of the first to cross the mountain classification and almost had to be slowed down so as not to leave there and try his luck.
Brennan won the sprint in the Rheinauhafen with relative ease ahead of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché - Wanty) and Itamar Einhorn (Israel - Premier Tech). Henri Uhlig (Alpecin - Deceuninck) was fourth and the best German in the final sprint.
"My team really did a great job of controlling the race today," said Brennan in the winner's interview. "We came to Cologne with a young team and outdid ourselves today. It was impressive how we were able to compete with the WorldTeams," summarised the Briton.
Around Cologne 2025 - Results
Rund um Köln: Cologne - Cologne
Rund um Köln 2025: Rund um Köln, Cologne - Cologne
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development | 03:56:56 |
| 2 | Intermarché - Wanty | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | Israel - Premier Tech | +00:00:00 |
| 4 | Alpecin - Deceuninck | +00:00:00 |
| 5 | Lotto | +00:00:00 |
| 6 | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | +00:00:00 |
How Rund um Köln 2025 went
The German national team was particularly active in the first few kilometres, with the continental teams also fighting for the breakaway group at the start of the day. It took around 30 kilometres before six German KT riders were able to break away. The group gained up to four minutes.
To the annoyance of the front runners, however, one person was not prepared to accept this: Nils Politt (German national team). The man from Cologne increased the pace enormously in Ferrenberg and broke away from the peloton. But the favourites were awake. Girmay, Brennan, Meeus and the whole Tudor team were awake and found themselves in the first part of the peloton. After 45 kilometres, this large group had caught up with the leaders again.
In the light rain, however, the 50 men at the front were unable to keep the large group at bay. Shortly before the sprint in Kürten, everything was back together again. But the KT teams in particular refused to give in and launched the next attacks. Seven men broke away and gained two minutes up to the Agathaberg. On the lap to the second passage of Agathaberg, the lead remained relatively constant.
Politt has no chance against the sprinter teams
On the second Agathaberg, not only did the breakaway's lead shrink to 40 seconds. The peloton also split up again. With 45 kilometres to go, the breakaway was then caught by the first part of the peloton - the second was just under a minute behind and had nothing more to do with the decision for the stage win.
At the mountain classification in Sand, Politt then tried again from the front, but was unable to open up a gap, but was able to reduce the size of the first group. At the top in Bensberg, others continued Politt's work. Brennan was one of the first at the castle, but on the way back to Cologne a lot of things came together again. Politt tried tirelessly with further attacks, but nothing more could be done in the headwind.
Ole Theiler (REMBE | rad-net), who took the mountain classification, also allowed himself and his team a little presence in front of the peloton and rode for several kilometres with a mini gap and always within sight of the peloton up to the 3-kilometre mark before the combined forces of Visma | Lease a Bike and Intermarché - Wanty caught him.
By then at the latest, it was clear that the bunch sprint was inevitable. It was the favoured faces who prevailed: Brennan won ahead of Girmay. Einhorn beat Uhlig to the podium.
