NUERNBERG - Newcomers to the annual Rund um die Nuernberger Altstadt event were warned: this one has crash festival potential. A 13km flat loop around the scenic old town to be taken 8 times with over excited 800 riders. All I wanted is to come through the race with the first group and score points to delete my Erlangen result from the GCC ranking.
It was very cold at the start with merely six degrees, but at least the skies were blue and cloudless for a change. I didn't mix with the breakaway attempts up front and concentrated on staying in touch with the leading group, which would always remain a good 100 riders' strong. My teammate Alexander set the pace for most of the race in fact. He was just as afraid as me of getting involved in a silly incident with his Hawai IronMan goal now just around the corner. I came out of my shell on the penultimate lap when we approached the 300 metre long "hill" - about the only option to try and get away from the bunch. Another guy had the same idea as me and as we took off, Thomas Kapuste and two other riders in our wake. But the hill was just not long enough and our advantage over the peloton was rapidly gone. Then, I just hung in there to finish at the back of the first group, avoiding a big crash in the process.
I had seen a few, others saw plenty more: Nuernberg lived up to its questionable reputation again. A pity really as it is one of the best organised races on the German cyclo calendar and also one of the cheapest!
As expected, I lost my third place in the overall ranking to Thomas Kapuste, who finished third in the race this time. I am fourth now, but can expect to lose at least one more spot after the Muensterlandgiro on 3 October. That's alright, I'm not a sprinter and the GCC is a points-based system. I could finish third in my age category, however.
The race was won by Thomas Wickles, who clearly beat Nico Wernicke in the sprint.
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