Bad Dürrheim, already a cycling enthusiastic region, demonstrated what cycling in Germany is capable of this weekend. A whole region celebrated the battle for the national title. In every village along the route, the race was greeted euphorically, and at the mountain classifications the mood boiled over completely.
Spectators saw one of the toughest championships in recent years. Even without long climbs, the up and down was an elimination race in the heat, with only a few riders reaching the finish. For the pure sprinters like Pascal Ackermann, the race was too hard at the end and yet the star continued to let himself be celebrated along the course, simply joining the throng of spectators and providing high-level sport you could actually feel.
The Bora-hansgrohe Show was running in front and was able to make the most of its superior numbers, especially on the rollercoaster course in the small village of Aasen. And so the victory went to Emanuel Buchmann.
Of around 200 riders who started, only 34 reached the finish line in the end. Among them was Vinzent Dorn in his first season on the road. With 20th place, he was able to achieve the best result of the German Continental Teams for the team from Saarland. But what underlines his performance above all is that he is the only rider in the ranking who does not already look back on a road career of several years in professional cycling.
The 25-year-old no longer needs to prove his talent. Last week he finished in the top ten overall at the Tour du Pays de Montbéliard, and before that he showed his qualities at the Tour du Doubs and at Rund um Köln.
His teammates Oliver Mattheis and Pirmin Einsenbarth also had a strong race in Bad Dürrheim, but in the end they were among the many riders who could not finish the race, just like the young riders of the team.
Oliver already completed a decent time trial in the elite category on Friday, which he finished in 20th place. Also worth mentioning is the performance of Chiara Beer with 22nd place in the women's race. The athlete of the BIKE AID Women MTB Team was also one of the few athletes to finish in the women's race at her first road championships.
Photos by Stefan Brencher
