They had hoped for a lot from the Feldberg. As the highest elevation on the 203.8-kilometre route, it was to be crossed twice this year at the Eschborn-Frankfurt cycle race in order to make life much more difficult, especially for the sprinters who had dominated the race, which has always been held on 1962 May since 1, in recent years. The mountain, with its approximately 860 meters of altitude, put a lot of strain on the men with the thick thighs and actually became the hoped-for tip of the scales. Twice the most sprinting racers had to be torn off: first at the aforementioned second Feldberg crossing, then again at the Mammolshainer Stich, when the legs were already tired from the many meters of altitude.
David Lindenfeld
Sports Editor
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It was thanks to the change of course that the finale turned into a sprint for a group of ten, in which one of the remaining riders seemed predestined for victory: Sören Kragh Andersen from Team Alpecin-Deceuninck started unusually early for a final sprint, rode from the front about one kilometer before the finish line and won ahead of Austria's Patrick Konrad and Italy's Alessandro Fedeli. The best German was Georg Steinhauser from the EF Education-Easypost team in sixth place. Local heroes John Degenkolb (18th) and Jonas Rutsch (39th) finished outside the top ten.
For the 28-year-old Andersen, it was the first win of the season. The two-time 2020 Tour de France stage winner had already demonstrated his qualities before the finish line at the Milan-Sanremo spring classic, when he won the final sprint of the peloton and finished fifth. "It was a very strong group that formed at Mammolshainer," said Andersen: "When we got the first times, I knew we had a good chance. I gambled a bit and then took the lead before the last corner. From then on, all I had to do was start the sprint from the front." The key to victory? "I lost touch on the second Feldberg crossing, but I never gave up and fought my way back almost on my own."
That's what every race organizer likes to see
Long before the finish, it was clear that the route planners' idea of initiating a more exciting race with more dynamics, more attacks and more imponderables with a second Feldberg crossing from the steeper southwestern side would work. "The change of track has played its part in making the race more attractive," said an exhausted Degenkolb at the finish, who was "really dead" after the long mountain crossings. "It was a thrilling race. Exactly what we wanted," said sporting director Fabian Wegmann, who announced that there would be a similar profile next year.
Shortly after the start of the 62nd edition of the race, a six-man breakaway group had formed with the German Max Walscheid. The sprinter and his comrades-in-arms had an eight-minute lead in the meantime before they were caught up in the second Feldberg crossing. Then a group of 30 was formed, which was caught up shortly before the last climb at the Mammolshainer Stich, before the peloton tore apart again and the ten-member group formed, which in the end headed for the Alte Oper.
What came next, every race organizer likes to see: The breakaway group had its chance of victory, drove on the last final lap in downtown Frankfurt only 20 seconds ahead of the peloton, in which there were still some sprinters, including the four-time winner Alexander Kristoff. For a short time it looked as if the group around the more mountainous riders would still be caught up. But in the end it wasn't enough – it was a heart-stopping finale that was also thanks to the Feldberg.