Buchmann, Bernal, Jakobsen: Tour of Germany attracts stars
DPA
· 24.08.2022
A prologue to kick things off, a mountain finish as a decisive spectacle: the Deutschland Tour, which has been significantly revamped once again, starts today, Wednesday, not only with a different concept, but with more stars than ever before. A former Tour winner, the European champion and the time trial world champion will be at the start in Weimar.
The route
The race has been extended by one day, but the prologue in Weimar is nothing more than a high-speed warm-up programme. The pros only have to cover 2.6 kilometres through the city of culture, using normal road bikes. The gaps will be small and not decisive. After quite demanding stages through Thuringia and Hesse, the showdown will take place on the way to the Schauinsland, which is over 1200 metres high. Whoever wears the red jersey after this stage will probably also wear it after the finale in Stuttgart on Sunday.
The outlook for the Germans
The chances of a successful title defence are not ideal for Nils Politt. The mountain finish near Freiburg is likely to be too difficult for the German champion. Instead, his Bora team-mate Emanuel Buchmann could console himself with a home win after missing the Tour of Spain due to an infection.
You also have to reckon with Simon Geschke, through whose training area the queen stage leads. However, the 36-year-old is not riding for his team Cofidis, but for the German national team.
Tour winner and European champion
The first two stages offer opportunities for sprinters, which is perfect for Fabio Jakobsen. The newly crowned European champion, who was still fighting for his life after a serious crash in 2020, has had a strong season so far, including a stage win at the Tour de France.
Egan Bernal is using the tour purely as racing practice. The 2019 Tour winner is competing in only his second race after suffering more than 20 broken bones in a serious crash in January. Other stars of the race are time trial world champion Filippo Ganna and Frenchman Romain Bardet, who has already finished on the Tour de France podium twice.
Copyright 2022, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
