After a long scan, the Eschborn-Frankfurt 2025 bike race will find a furious finale. In front of the old opera, veteran Michael Matthews prevails in the sprint. The cheers are huge.
Michael Matthews tore his arms up, briefly enjoyed the great moment: Jayco Alula’s veteran had just won the 62nd edition of the prestigious bike race Eschborn-Frankfurt in front of an impressive backdrop at the Alte Oper with a strong finish. Ultimately, a sovereign victory of the former winner of the Green Track of the Tour de France. It was his first success at the seventh start at the Hessian bike classic – and one that he had previously announced. “I like the race, I am in good shape and want to win,” he had announced beforehand. No sooner said than done!
After 4:38:34 hours and around 200 kilometers by Taunus and Frankfurt’s surrounding area, around 35 drivers arrived in the heart of the main metropolis on May 1st, the 34-year-old Matthews ultimately had the best timing, the freshest legs and simply the greatest class. Magnus Cort Nielsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Jon Barrenetxea (Moviestar) followed two and three in the ranks. The best German was Nico Denz (Red Bull – Bora Hansgrohe) as ninth.
Outlier duo without a chance of winning
But from the front: The first half of the race was still extremely leisurely in summer spring weather, the favorites stayed in the main field. A long scan began. The large group rushed up early in the race early, the New Zealander Laurence Pithie and the Frenchman Pierre Thierry. In the meantime, the duo cycled a lead of more than six minutes, but they were never real victory candidates. “The race will only get really fast in the back,” predicts the former world-class printer and today’s HR expert Marcel Kittel. He should be right, logical.
Because at the second crossing of the Mammolshain Stich (out of a total of their three), the atmospheric heart of the wheel classic, the field was reunited, the race began 97 kilometers before the finish. For a while, however, the team captains were still lurking and made their helpers at the top.
Schachmann sets an exclamation mark
It was only at the second field of Feldberg of the day, around 80 kilometers before the finish, that the pace increased in the main field. It slowly started the excretion – with the preliminary climax at the Mammolshain stitch around 35 kilometers before the end when the 40 best professionals of the day together started the steep climbing of up to 23 percent. The top group finally arrived in the top group – Andreas Lekness and, Gregor Mühlberger and especially Maximilian Schachmann, the two -time German champion. A hard fight, no question.
It now started a wild Hatz towards Frankfurt, towards the finish line in front of the old opera in the city center, in which the group around Schachmann worked poorly. The Berliner even tried it on his own at times, but 18 kilometers before the finish the trial was ended, the trio caught. The exciting final phase began and culminated in a furious finale in front of thousands of fans – with Matthews as a radiant premiere winner of Eschborn -Frankfurt.
