Robert Wagner in Germany and Matthias Krizek in Austria the other winners in German-speaking countries
Fabian Cancellara of the Leopard Trek team beat his breakaway companion Steve Morabito (BMC) to take his second Swiss road title, after 2009. The duo had a minute and a half on a nine-man group that fell apart in the end. Morabito's BMC teammate Martin Kohler, who is the new time trial champion, secured himself the bronze medal by outsprinting Oliver Zaugg (Leopard Trek). Robert Wagner beat Gerald Ciolek and John Degenkolb in Germany and Matthias Krizek prevailed over Riccardo Zoidl and Andreas Hofer in Austria.
The national title is special. "It fills me with pride to wear the Swiss jersey," said Cancellara. "This is the second time I have won it, and I must say that I got attached to it the first time around."
Cancellara animated the race in Kirchdorf, 15 kilometers from his hometown, on the course’s only climb, causing a split in the field. The front group was brought down to 12 riders and eventually to five.
"On the second to last time up the climb, I launched again and only Steve Morabito could follow," recalled Cancellara. "We rode into the final lap together, and because I wasn’t too sure about how strong Morabito felt, I preferred to let him set the pace on the last climb. I knew that I was faster, so I could rely on my sprint."
In Germany, Wagner surprised all the top sprinters, who had their wish of a bunch finish. "This is the best moment on a bicycle, since I started in 1993," Wagner said according to Radsportnews. "The champion jersey is huge for me. I have always dreamt of it." Wagner had a bad season where nothing seemed to go right. "Most of the time I spent lying on the street," he recalled his crashes. "Today, my legs didn't feel great in the beginning." But they felt fine when it counted and beating Ciolek was a great result for Wagner.
Ciolek, who had become a surprise champion in a sprint against Robert Förster and Erik Zabel in 2005 as an 18-year-old, was ok with second. "The test was good. I wasn't concentrating on the final sprint, I also tried to attack earlier," he said. André Greipel was very disappointed with his fourth place.
The Austrian championships suffered from the absence of Bernhard Eisel, who would have been the only HTC rider. Eisel said on Austrian TV that all the Continetal teams would just be out to beat him. He had no desire to race against an entire peloton.
Results Switzerland - 162km
1. CANCELLARA Fabian LEO 4h08'56"
2. MORABITO Steve BMC
3. KOHLER Martin BMC 01'29"
4. ZAUGG Oliver LEO 01'29"
5. ELMIGER Martin ALM 01'32"
6. BEURET Laurent ARH 01'34"
7. ALBASINI Michael THR 01'42"
8. RAST Grégory RSH 01'42"
9. SAGGIORATO Mirco - 01'42"
10. NAF Ralph - 01'42"
Results Germany - 210 km
1. WAGNER Robert LEO
2. CIOLEK Gerald QST
3. DEGENKOLB John THR
4. GREIPEL Andre OLO
5. KLUGE Roger SKS
6. SCHULZE André CCC
7. SIEBERG Marcel OLO
8. BAUMANN Eric APP
9. SELIG Rüdiger -
10. FIEDLER Jacob NSP
Results Austria - 170km
1. KRIZEK Matthias - 4h06'09"
2. ZOIDL Riccardo RAD 20"
3. HOFER Andreas TYR 01'06"
4. KONRAD Patrick TYR 01'06"
5. PREIDLER Georg TYR 01'06"