New route, proven emotions: The Eschborn-Frankfurt cycle race on May 1 is set to be more exciting than in previous years. The Feldberg takes center stage on this cycling holiday.
“A race like it used to be – only a bit bigger, more emotional,” enthuses Eschborn’s Mayor Adnan Shaikh (CDU).
“I find it emotionally great to see the great pictures of the skyline or the Old Opera. These are pictures that are imperishable,” says Angelika Strötz, head of the Frankfurt sports department.
“We gave the riders a new playground. It’s up to them what they make of it,” says Fabian Wegmann, a former professional cyclist and now the sports director of the Eschborn-Frankfurt cycle race.
Three statements, one core message: the anticipation of the Frankfurt cycle race on May 1st (from 12 p.m. live on hr television and in the stream and in the ticker on hessenschau.de) rises and rises. Without Corona requirements and with a new route, the organizers hope for a cycling festival, as it has been celebrated many times in Frankfurt and in the Taunus.
Cycle race Eschborn-Frankfurt: Twice over the Feldberg
The highlight of the party should be on the Feldberg, at least according to the idea of Wegmann’s route planners. To make the course of the race more exciting, challenging and unpredictable, the highest Taunus elevation will be driven twice this year between the start in Eschborn and the finish at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. The second passage over the southwestern driveway is considered to be particularly tricky.
“This also offers other drivers the opportunity to make the race more difficult and to attack,” explains Wegmann in an interview with hr-sport, why the loop through the Taunus was adjusted at (possibly) crucial points. The legendary climb in Mammolshain is still part of the profile, but this year’s final will be different in one way or another: The final round in the city of Frankfurt will only be completed twice and no longer three times.
The race has a total length of 202 kilometers, peppered with around 3,000 meters of altitude difference. A sprint final at the Alte Oper is of course not out of the question, but the new route could also benefit a mountain-proof puncher with a high top speed.
In any case, the teams are not really letting themselves be looked at in the cards, whether they are in the composition of their teams for Eschborn-Frankfurt really prepare for a sprint: around a week before the race, the start list is still unusually empty. The final line-up must be in place no later than 24 hours before the starting gun is fired.
Frankfurt cycle race: decision already in the Taunus?
“There are one or two sprinters who don’t think it’s that good,” says Wegmann with a grin, explaining the reactions he has received to the new course of the Frankfurt cycle race. “But they also have other races in Germany that they can drive that are a bit flatter. I don’t want it to be a sprint at all – I want it to be an exciting race in the final. Ours German drivers if the track suits me, I expect something from them. You have to drive it apart in the Taunus.”
Apart from sprinter Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates), Wegmann, who won the cycling classic when he was a professional in 2009 and 2010, mainly relies on Oberurseler John Degenkolb (Team DSM), Max Walscheid (Cofidis), Maximilian Schachmann and Nils Politt (both Bora-hansgrohe) – as well as on the second local hero in the field: Jonasrutsch.
Slip expects better chances
“My chances of getting a really good result here are increasing,” says the 25-year-old from the US team EF Education-EasyPost, referring to the new profile of his home race. The specialist for one-day races was born in Erbach in the Odenwald and lived in Idstein and Wiesbaden for a time.
“Of course, one dream is to win the race,” saysuzz. “But you also have to be realistic: I weigh 80 kilos, I’m 1.97 meters tall – so I’m not a born climber.” But he is definitely someone who can come back to the mountains: “If I use an attack correctly, everything can be possible here. My team knows that the race is very important to me.”
In addition to the competition of the professionals from the World Tour, there will be numerous other races and events at the cycling classic on May 1st: starting with the almost iconic and legendary balance bike race for the little ones and various young talent competitions between under 11s and U23 through to the handbike race and the Frankfurt inclusion race. On May 1st, cycling is all the rage in Frankfurt and the surrounding area – and you can see that above all on the so-called Velotour.
A total of 8,000 amateur cyclists have registered for the amateur race over three different distances (40, 92 and 103 kilometers), which has been popular for years. A record that resulted in a premature registration stop. However: The hr is giving away a total of five starting places for the bike tour. Find out how to get a ticket at this point.
“A cycling classic festival for everyone”
“It’s supposed to be a classic bike festival for everyone, the races are extremely important for all of us,” says project manager Nathanel Bank, summing up the ongoing boom. Nor his statement, which has this one core message: The anticipation of the Frankfurt cycle race on May 1st is increasing and increasing.
