Georg Zimmermann can call himself overall winners of a racing last in his professional career for the first time. The German cyclist won the Giro d’Abruzzo.
Zimmermann did not take the overall victory on the fourth and last stage over 167 kilometers from Corropoli to Isola del Gran Sasso when the Portuguese Ivo Oliveira was victory, twelve seconds behind the winner. The four-time Tour-de-France participant was eleven seconds in front of the Spaniard David de la Cruz, the overall German champion Marco Brenner was 50 seconds behind.
Zimmermann: important milestone in my career
Zimmermann had headed the field the day before at the royal stage. In the pouring rain, the 27-year-old drove over 160 kilometers at the mountain arrival at 1650 meters in Roccaraso in second place and thus gave himself the decisive lead over the competition. “It is only the second time in my career that I wear the leadership jersey. I have never won a stage race before, so I have the chance to achieve an important milestone in my career”said Zimmermann afterwards.
For the professional from the Intermarché team – Wanty, it is the greatest victory of his career. So far, Zimmermann was able to collect two stage victories at the Tour de L’Ain and the Du Dauphiné criterion. At the Tour de France 2023, Zimmermann once missed a day victory as second on the stage to Issoire.