Solo victory in the Black Forest: Buchmann heads to the Tour as champion

Felix Schröder and Stefan Tabeling, dpa

Emanuel Buchmann rolled over the finish line with relish and spread his arms wide.

After an impressive solo ride over 70 kilometres, the climbing specialist ended his winless streak after more than three years just in time for the Tour de France. After 215 kilometres from Donaueschingen to Bad Dürrheim, the 2019 Tour runner-up took the German championship title for the second time in front of Jan Ullrich, who himself triumphed in the Black Forest 22 years ago. Second and third place went to Nico Denz and Maximilian Schachmann, completing the triple success for the German Bora-hansgrohe team.

"I never thought I'd have to ride alone for so long," said Buchmann after the podium ceremony. After his team-mate Jonas Koch had dropped back due to cramps, he had "pulled through". Buchmann had had to wait so long for this moment. The 30-year-old won his last race in Mallorca in January 2020. Since then, not much has come together, he has been repeatedly thrown back by crashes, illnesses and corona time-outs.

But in summer temperatures in the Black Forest, the lightweight was completely in his element and won the champion's jersey for the second time since 2015. Buchmann first broke away from a small leading group with team-mate and birthday boy Jonas Koch at the end of the second lap, before going solo with around 70 kilometres to go. In doing so, he also dashed the hopes of last year's winner Nils Politt of becoming the first rider to win the double after his success in the individual time trial on Friday. Before the race, Buchmann emphasised that a Bora rider would definitely have to be at the top.

Ullrich also followed the race

Jan Ullrich also watched the race as a rare spectator. The former Tour winner himself won the title in Bad Dürrheim in 2001. Ullrich had posted pictures on his Instagram account showing him with former Telekom team-mate Erik Zabel, among others. In recent years, Ullrich, who was later banned for doping, had made himself extremely scarce at races.

The demanding course, which was particularly unattractive for sprinters, led the professional cyclists through the Black Forest in a lively up and down course with gentle climbs. Surrounded by enthusiastic spectators in a single cycling party, the field tackled several treacherous climbs on the 26-kilometre circuit.

There was a curious incident at the start when a small leading group of eight riders took a wrong turn because it had followed a camera motorbike. A spokeswoman confirmed this to dpa. As a gesture of goodwill, the race participants were allowed to join the main field at the next possible opportunity without losing time, but with kilometres saved. According to SWR, this involved seven riders, none of whom were part of a World Tour team. However, the competition at the front was huge. In addition to the best German Bora riders such as Lennard Kämna and Politt, Pascal Ackermann, Georg Zimmermann and Phil Bauhaus were also at the start.

On Saturday, Liane Lippert defended her title in the women's race and won the German road cycling championship for the third time. The 25-year-old from Friedrichshafen from Movistar Team Women pulled away early and crossed the finish line as a soloist.

Copyright 2023, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved