analysis
The second stage of the Deutschland Tour ends in Marburg with a mass sprint. Alberto Bettiol takes over the overall lead. The Ineos Grenadiers team positions itself for the third stage.
The last 50 kilometers were tough: At the end of the second stage from Meiningen to Marburg, three steep climbs awaited, which demanded everything from the drivers. The decision finally came in a mass sprint. Last year’s third place Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) sat down on the last few meters Florian Senechal (Quick Step alpha vinyl) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education EasyPost) through.
The best German was once again Max Kanter from the team Movistar, who after a good fourth place on the 1st stage on Thursday (08/26/22) took fifth place this time. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) and Simon Geschke (national team) also crossed the finish line with the main field, while Nils Politt (Bora-hansgrohe) had to accept a strong deficit of almost three minutes. Jakob Gessner (Team Lotto – Kern Haus) defended the mountain jersey.
The pure sprinters have a hard time
At 200 kilometers, the longest stage of the Deutschland Tour whirls up the overall standings – especially to the detriment of Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). The Italian not only had to say goodbye to the red jersey of the current leader, he also got rid of the green jersey of the best sprinter. The latter went to day winner Kristoff, while his compatriot grabbed the overall lead Bettiol. However lie GannaKristoff and Bettiol simultaneously in the first three places.
The route profile of this year’s Deutschland Tour is really no picnic for pure sprinters. Drivers like Marco Haller, who still had the last week, had to do that Cyclassics could win in Hamburg, or Fabio Jakobsen as well as the winner of the previous day, caleb ewan, experienced firsthand. They had nothing to do with the decision. The same was true for the breakaway group, in the middle of which was the young German Jan Hugger from the Continental Team Lotto – Kern Haus, who was caught by the peloton with almost 38 kilometers to go.
Kristoff pushed his limit
But winner Kristoff also went to his limit. “I fell behind a couple of times but my team kept getting me back in the race. And with 200 meters to go I felt like I was in control.”said Kristoff after the race.
Alberto Bettiol would also have liked to have grabbed the victory, but the good pace work of his team EF Education-EasyPost was rewarded with the red jersey. “We wanted to make the race fast towards the end, because after all we are not here to admire the beautiful landscape of Germany”said Bettiol. “I’m happy to have gained a few seconds ahead of tomorrow’s tough stage.” The leadership jersey will give the entire team self-confidence, and he himself will fight to get it over the top of the Schauinsland.
Ineos Grenadiers with big names at the start
Ineos Grenadiers, nominally the strongest team on this year’s Deutschland Tour, also want to win back the red jersey. For a long time, the team determined cycling events at will and decided seven times between 2012 and 2019 Tour de France for themselves. The last tour winner for Ineos, Egan Bernal, is just as much at the start of the German tour as the current time trial world champion Filippo Ganna and Adam Yateswhose heyday as a mountain specialist could come on the 4th stage.
The Briton Yates, currently sixth overall, just a few seconds behind, can count on Kim Heiduk for help. The German only joined this season Ineos Grenadiersbefore that the 22-year-old drove for a Continental team. Riding with established cyclists like Bernal and Co. is very special. “I was very nervous at first, but I quickly realized that they’re only human. And now it’s just my team-mates.”
Bernal sacrifices himself for the team
Egan Bernal in particular had to painfully learn that cyclists are only human. At the beginning of the year, the Colombian was so badly injured in a training accident that it was even feared that he might suffer from paraplegia. Bernal was out for a long time, fought his way back and is now driving his second race of the season on the Deutschland Tour.
The Colombian puts himself at the service of his team. Already on the 1st stage he sacrificed himself for the tracking work, it was no different on Friday. The prize: Bernal is third from bottom in the overall standings, almost 20 minutes behind. Still, Kim Heiduk has nothing but admiration for his teammate: “We all can’t even imagine what he went through. And to see him like this now is just super nice. But he hasn’t reached his performance limit yet.”
Kim Heiduk himself lost his top ten position in the overall standings on the second stage. But Ineos Grenadiers still has with him Yates and Ganna but two top drivers far ahead. The goal is clear: “Of course we want to win the big mountain stage”according to Heiduk.