The Mainfranken Tour, one of Germany's top U23 stage races, and one of the few UCI ranked stage races remaining in Europe's most populous country, has been cancelled for 2011.
The loss of the UCI 2.2 espoir stage race is yet another disappointment for German cycling. It would have been the 60th running of the tough stage race, but a budget shortfall of some 50,000 euros put paid to the possibility of an edition in 2011.
German U23 National team coach, Patrick Moster, spoke to Rad-Net.de about the disappointing news.
"The dates [of the race] were an integral part in our annual plan. The stage race was optimally placed fourteen days before the European Championship. It's unfortunate that the race will be cancelled, and it's another setback for German cycling."
While Moster is frustrated about the latest race demise to beset the German calendar, he's hopeful that this will only be a one year thing. After all, the situation in Germany has to turn around some time, right?
"For the development team, it's disappointing news, because the Mainfranken Tour was an up and coming race. I hope that this is only a small glitch and that the race will resume in 2012."
One has to wonder just how long the racing depression in Germany will last. Is it something that can be expected to improve soon, or should we settle in for the long haul? One can only hope that the tide will change soon in Germany.