The breakaway made it for the smallest of margins at Germany’s first World Tour race of the season.
The first day of May brought the last major one-day race of the spring, Eschborn-Frankfurt. Won by the likes of Jean Stablinski, Barry Hoban, Eddy Merckx, or Freddy Maertens, the race was again an exciting one until the very last meter, when the escapees prevailed despite a raging peloton breathing down their necks.
The same Mammolshain was the centerpiece of the parcours, as on the third and final ascent there a dozen riders managed to get away and build a maximum lead of 40 seconds. Behind, the teams aiming for a bunch sprint joined hands to erase the deficit, and going under the flamme rouge, only ten seconds separated them from the attackers. The escapees were the first to launch the sprint, and despite the chasers coming at a different speed and almost catching them, the group held them off and Georg Zimmermann (Lotto-Intermarche) took the win.
Andrea Raccagni showcased again his speed after a hard race and concluded Eschborn-Frankfurt as the first Soudal Quick-Step rider home, in 14th place.
Germany will now have to wait until August for its next World Tour race, the Hamburg Cyclassics, an event where our team has triumphed a total of four times so far.
Photo credit: ©Szymon Gruchalski / Getty Images
