Göttingen: great race results in first podium

Göttingen - All the open questions have been answered. The German cyclo racing season finally got underway last Sunday in Göttingen with a splendid organisation in the Lower-Saxony university town. General conclusion: the expected - and for some - feared increase in quality level due to the influx of former Bundesliga and professional riders did not fully materialise. Personal conclusion: I am on the pace and scored my first podium (MS1). Overall, I finished 22nd in the sprint of the first group containing 33 riders.

After a long series of wet cyclotours and training rides during the past number of weeks, the sun finally greeted the 1800 cycling enthusiasts again. It was the fourth edition of the Tour d' Energie, but this year it was organised independently and not in the context of the LOTTO-Rundfahrt for pros, which got cancelled due to lack of sponsorship. The jedermann circuit in Germany is booming, while the pro scene has hit rock bottom.

Team Agapedia-Münsterland had based itself in Dransfeld at the foot of the last and major climbing difficulty of the race: Hoher Hagen. A 2km irregular and in parts steep hill, 20 km before the finish. As we already got together with the team on Saturday, I grabbed the opportunity to check out the Hoher Hagen climb in peace while a few others engaged themselves in the "prologue" time trial. (Team Agapedia scored the first win of the season straightaway with Julia in the women's time trial. Alexander came third in the men's). After a big plate of pasta on Saturday night we hit the sack and woke up under a blue sky and mild temperatures the following morning. The morale was high!

The first 3 km of the race through the city centre were neutralised, followed by a flying start. The pace increased and I positioned myself in the front of the peloton. The first big attack came after 12 km from my teammate Jürgen, a former professional rider. He took 25 seconds easily. Ingo and myself were playing the team card and were keeping an eye out for potential counter attacks. However, on a steep climb in a village Jürgen faded away, got caught and would no longer have a say in the debates at the front of the race.

Meanwhile, after 40km I still hardly felt the effort. I even took the lead as we entered the long climb to Bramswald. I trust my climbing ability and wanted to keep the pace sufficiently high, while awaiting the next attack from the likes of, for example, Nino Ackermann. A local rider accelerated instead and from that point on the race never fell silent again. We hit the top of the Bramwald hill with only a small group, and many would never return to us. After a rollercoaster ride of some 10-12 kilometres, we arrived in Dransfeld and at the Hoher Hagen Strasse. I entered the first steep section in about tenth place when Nino - as expected - made his move. He couldn't get away at all, but he did kill some dangerous sprinters, in particular the Strassacker guys. Hoher Hagen is suffering at maximum pulse rate, that is beyond doubt. But contrary to last year I did not lose touch with the front runners and found myself in the descent with some 20 riders around me. No Strassacker and, in fact, no Agapedia teammate neither. As usual, it was a bit of a struggle at first to get people working together to safeguard the breakaway. Still, only a few riders managed to come back to us after Hoher Hagen.

In the final five kilometres, several people attacked but no one got away. The wind blew quite strongly. I sat in the group knowing I don't have the explosivity for a finisher's move, so I bet my money on sneaking away with someone else or simply on a solid sprint. Neither of the two materialised as we were in the final straight before I realised it. Too far back, it was impossible to still make up a lot of ground and hence I didn't have a chance to get in the top 10 at the line.

The only minus point in what has otherwise been my best German race ever. Based on nettozeit, I did manage get on the podium, though. Insomma, there was no better way to kick off my season. Looking forward to the Henninger Turm next Thursday.

Link to Results