Degenkolb labors to victory in Frankfurt
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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Degenkolb labors to victory in Frankfurt

by Bjorn Haake at 11:32 AM EST   comments
Categories: Pro Cycling, Race Reports and Results
 
HTC neo-pro takes third season win, ties on bet with Michael Matthews

john degenkolbJohn Degenkolb of the HTC-Highroad team sprinted to victory in the traditional race in Frankfurt on German Labor Day. Degenkolb outwitted Jerome Baugnies (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) and Michael Matthews (Rabobank) on a perfectly sunny day in the banker's capital, setting of the "Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt", as the race is offically known now.

It was Degenkolb's third victory of the season. "This is undescribable," he said after the race. "It was the 50th edition of the race, perfect weather and a great atmosphere. It is one of the best events in Germany and that I was able to win it is the absolute crowning."

Degenkolb was boxed in on the left hand side for a long time, but Baugnies made a crucial mistake. "With 50 meters to go I saw that I could win it, because Baugnies moved to the left." Degenkolb didn't do the same mistake, stayed in his line next to the barrier and prevented Matthews from passing. The two battled hard in Geelong for the U23 road title, with Matthews besting Degenkolb then. They have a bet going on on who would win more races this season. With his victory today, Degenkolb tied the score; both have won three races so far. Matthews was the first one to congratulate Degenkolb.

Another person to congratulate Degenkolb very early was Laura Lange, who is involved with the race - and also Degenkolb's girlfriend. "I am part of the organizing committee and this is just amazing," she said.

For Degenkolb, the believe of victory came late in the race. "When we went up the final hill, I didn't feel very good. I think I was the next to last rider coming up the Mammolshainer Berg. When I rolled back up to the peloton I realized that only two riders were gone and they only had 20 seconds," Degenkolb said. He was confident that his team could bring it back to a sprint.

Due to the timing, the German was a bit surprised with his victory at home. "I am coming off a break and I only trained three, four or five times," he explained. This may have given him the mental and physical freshness needed to win a bike race.

The junior race was was won by Rik Zabel, son of former sprint star Erik. Zabel coaches the HTC sprinters and was thus overjoyed with the double victory. He had won the race three times in his career, but his son already did something that Erik Zabel never achieved. "I never won Frankfurt and Köln in the same year," Zabel said after the junior's race. Rik Zabel took the win in Cologne on Easter Monday. Unlike his father's sprints, Rik won today's race solo.

Ten KOMs in the way before the sprint

Attacks started early, with Lars Boom going from the gun. But the teams were very attentive and subsequent moves from other riders were reeled in as quickly as Boom. A four-man break built after 28 kilometers, just ahead of the first (of ten) KOMs. Markus Fothen (NSP) was in that group, which never gained more than a handful of seconds.

That led to several counters and a new six-man group at kilometer 48. Dominik Nerz (Liguigas, but riding for a German National team), Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Michael Matthews (Rabobank) were in that group. But it didn't take long for the peloton top bring them back and a new moved to develop: Pieter Serry (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator), Hubert Dupont (Ag2r), Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil), Carlos Alberto Betancurt (Aqua & Sapone) and Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Lotto) built a 30-second gap by km 60.

Leopard-Trek missed the move and was forced to chase hard behind. As the group went over the Ruppertshainer hill, the break had 1'20 over the peloton. With Fabian Wegmann making the pace ahead, the gap dropped down to 30 seconds at kilometer 82.

As the group was caught, Hoogerland escaped off the front and continued solo. He was caught on the Mammolshainer hill, with Johan Lebon (Bretagne Schuller) the next to jump. The Frenchman made his move on the Billtalhöhe (km 122). The 21-year-old gained 25 seconds maximum. He was caught by a group of eight that included Wegmann (km 141).

A new bad development for Leopard Trek was the catching of the Wegmann group and a new 12-man move developing. A six-man chase merged up to make it an 18-man front group. The break contained four Vacansoleil riders - and only Jens Voigt for Leopard-Trek.

On the second time up the Mammolshainer hill, the final KOM of the day, the very active Hoogerland attacked again, followed by Paul Martens (Rabobank). The two joined forces with 35km to go. Ten kilometers later, the duo was caught by a large group that was led by Voigt.

Tom Jelte Slagter of Rabobank countered but was brought back well before the final four-kilometer loop, to be done three times, was reached. Mostly German riders tried to attack in the end, but while a good bid for TV time, their gaps never became very large and the sprinters fought it out in the end.

 

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Rund Um Den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt, Germany (1.HC) Results: Frankfurt to Frankfurt (202.7 km):

  Click on the arrowsat the top of the column to sort the race results.
Country Result Name Team Time
ger GER 1 John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad) 04:50:49
bel BEL 2 Jerome Baugnies (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
aus AUS 3 Michael Matthews (Rabobank) s.t.
bel BEL 4 Davy Commeijne (Landbouwkrediet) s.t.
fra FRA 5 Laurent Pichon (Bretagne Schuller) s.t.
ita ITA 6 Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
fra FRA 7 Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
ger GER 8 Simon Geschke (Skil-Shimano) s.t.
sui SUI 9 Andreas Dietziker (Team Netapp) s.t.
ger GER 10 Danilo Hondo (Lampre-ISD) s.t.
bel BEL 11 Bert De Waele (Landbouwkrediet) s.t.
sui SUI 12 Martin Elmiger (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
ger GER 13 Stefan Schafer (LKT Team Brandenburg) s.t.
ita ITA 14 Fabio Taborre (Acqua E Sapone) s.t.
bel BEL 15 Bert Scheirlinckx (Landbouwkrediet) s.t.
ger GER 16 Robert Retschke (Team Netapp) s.t.
bel BEL 17 Staf Scheirlinckx (Veranda's Willems - Accent) s.t.
ger GER 18 Alexander Gottfried (Team Netapp) s.t.
ger GER 19 Dirk Muller (Team Nutrixxion Sparkasse) s.t.
col COL 20 Carlo Alberto Betancurt (Acqua E Sapone) s.t.
bel BEL 21 Geert Steurs (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
fra FRA 22 Romain Lemarchand (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
ger GER 23 Philipp Ries (Team Heizomat Mapei) s.t.
bel BEL 24 Geert Verheyen (Landbouwkrediet) s.t.
bel BEL 25 Sebastien Delfosse (Landbouwkrediet) s.t.
pol POL 26 Marek Rutkiewicz (Ccc - Polsat - Polkowice) s.t.
ned NED 27 Dirk Bellemakers (Landbouwkrediet) s.t.
ger GER 28 Markus Eichler (Team Nsp) s.t.
ger GER 29 Stefan Ganser (Eddy Merckx - Indeland ) s.t.
ger GER 30 Bjorn Thurau (Team Nsp) s.t.
bel BEL 31 Pieter Jacobs (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
bel BEL 32 Pieter Serry (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
ita ITA 33 Alessandro Proni (Acqua E Sapone) s.t.
bel BEL 34 Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
bel BEL 35 Thomas Degand (Veranda's Willems - Accent) s.t.
fra FRA 36 Tristan Valentin (Cofidis) s.t.
ita ITA 37 Ruggero Marzoli (Acqua E Sapone) s.t.
fra FRA 38 Jean-lou Paiani (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
pol POL 39 Jacek Morajko (Ccc - Polsat - Polkowice) s.t.
bel BEL 40 Johan Coenen (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
ger GER 41 Johannes Frohlinger (Skil-Shimano) s.t.
lux LUX 42 Ben Gastauer (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
fra FRA 43 Sébastien Joly (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
fra FRA 44 Cyril Dessel (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
fra FRA 45 Hubert Dupont (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
pol POL 46 Mariusz Witecki (Ccc - Polsat - Polkowice) s.t.
pol POL 47 Michal Golas (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
pol POL 48 Dariusz Batek (Ccc - Polsat - Polkowice) s.t.
ita ITA 49 Alessandro Donati (Acqua E Sapone) s.t.
fra FRA 50 Jean-marc Marino (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
ita ITA 51 Cesare Benedetti (Team Netapp) s.t.
ger GER 52 Julian Kern (Seven Stones) s.t.
bel BEL 53 Sander Armee (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
bel BEL 54 Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
fra FRA 55 Jean Marc Bideau (Bretagne Schuller) s.t.
ger GER 56 Mathias Belka (Test Team Raiko - Argon 18) s.t.
col COL 57 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Cofidis) s.t.
bel BEL 58 Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
ger GER 59 Grischa Niermann (Rabobank) s.t.
ger GER 60 Jens Voigt (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
ned NED 61 Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank) s.t.
aut AUT 62 Stefan Denifl (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
ger GER 63 Paul Martens (Rabobank) s.t.
fra FRA 64 Florian Guillou (Bretagne Schuller) s.t.
fra FRA 65 Johan Le Bon (Bretagne Schuller) s.t.
ned NED 66 Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
fra FRA 67 David Moncoutié (Cofidis) s.t.
bel BEL 68 Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
fra FRA 69 Florian Vachon (Bretagne Schuller) 00:00:15
rus RUS 70 Maxim Belkov (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:00:25
ita ITA 71 Francesco Di Paolo (Acqua E Sapone) 00:00:27
ger GER 72 Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:00:38
ger GER 73 Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing) s.t.
sui SUI 74 Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) 00:00:43
den DEN 75 Lars Ytting Bak (HTC-Highroad) s.t.

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