Markus Eichler gave his Milram another win and a strong argument in its sponsor search for next year. The German, usually riding as a domestique for others, managed to outsprint Bram Schmitz in the Batavus ProRace in Latvia. Wouter Mol of Vacansoleil was third in the 1.1 race.
Eichler made the right moves in the end, after a difficult start to the race. "I am totally exhausted but unbelievably happy," the classics specialist said. "I really had to push myself today. I was pretty tired, especially in the first 120 kilometers, and I still noticed the Four Days of Dunkirk in my legs."
But Eichler pushed on to obtain his first season victory. "During the race things got better, though. In the finale I was able to react to the decisive attack and still had enough strength to follow." It was Schmitz who took the initiative and looked like he had the race in his bags. But Eichler made a strong comeback. "In the end, I won by maybe two meters."
His directeur sportif, Raoul Liebregts, was quite pleased, of course. "That was an unbelievably thrilling finale, in which Markus Eichler did everything right," said Liebregts. "It was a very hard race, with a cold temperature of five degrees Celsius and lots of rain."
Milram rode an aggressive race and had a prominent rider in the long break of the day. "Gerald Ciolek was in the first escape group for the first 100 kilometers, which was then caught again. In the last three laps of the circuit course, there were constant attacks."
Liebregts added that Eichler did everything right. "He fought his way back at the decisive moment, at the last curve about 50 meters before the finish, and won at the finish line."
Eichler had a breakout season in 2006 when he raced for the German Continental team Regiostrom - Senges. This led to a contract with Unibet.com, but the team was caught in the middle of the fight between the International Cycling Union UCI and the French race organizer Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO).
He has been a happy domestique at Milram since 2008, but this win surely will give him some liberty to race on his own account once in a while.