Erlangen: crash spoils top 15 result

ERLANGEN - After spending 12 days in the Far East I played the jetlag to my advantage and took the start at the next German Cycling Cup in Erlangen (Bayern) only 15 hours after my landing in Frankfurt. The 72km race had always been on my schedule as a solid exercise to get back into the rhythm after the holiday, but being ranked 3rd overall and 1st in the AK slightly amended my perspective of course. The race, which was very well organised, went great but ended on a very sour note.

Six laps of 12 km containing an irregular climb that felt different each time we hit it. The first lap went smooth, the second was downright painful and another lap later it was as if it were nothing. Choosing a gear was not easy. The legs felt good and apart from the climb on lap 5, when the pace increased due to several attacks, I had little difficulty staying up front. Eventually we were heading towards the finish line on the final lap with a group of about 35 riders. Michael McManus, second in the standings, made a superb attack and managed to bring his advantage home for a stunning solo victory. A double win, as McManus also grabbed the German Cycling Cup's leader's jersey! The defending leader, Andreas Bollessen, unfortunately got entangled in a spectacular crash 150 metres before the line that also took me down hard. In full sprint, a Strassacker-rider collided with someone causing both to go down. Bollessen, myself and another guy or two had nowhere to escape and flew over them. As the dust settled, it appeared that nobody got seriously hurt apart from bumps and bruises and bike parts that require checking or substituting. I was groggy for a minute but crossed the line three minutes later and got ranked 57th, which at least still gave me some good points. I am still fourth in the overall, and held on to my lead in the AK by 2 points.

For a day or two I had pain in my left calf muscle and the bump on the left side of my hip is quite impressive, but all in all I can consider myself lucky. Rebecca, Britta and other people who saw it happening all said the crash looked scary. My Red Bull racebike seems to have survived the shock relatively well. It does not look as if any part needs to be written off. So, the biggest consequence of the experience is that I will need to participate in Bochum on 3 August as well. Otherwise retaining a top five position in the final GCC ranking at the end of the season is unlikely.

It was a hot and humid day in Erlangen, which left Rebecca chanceless as her asthma prevented her from scoring a good result. My teammate Alexander Nikolopoulos on the other hand had a solid race and crossed the line in 22nd spot.

RESULT:
1. Michael McManus
2. Thomas Kapuste
3. Nico Wernicke

GCC Ranking:
1. M. McManus 1237 pts
2. A. Bollessen 1187 pts
3. N. Wernicke 1162 pts
4. K. Van de Velde 1145 pts
5. H. Barkmann 1088 pts