Jasper Philipsen has won the 60th edition of the Eschborn-Frankfurt classic bike.
The 23-year-old Belgian prevailed on Sunday after 187.5 kilometers ahead of John Degenkolb and the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff.
Defending champion Pascal Ackermann went away empty-handed, as did veteran John Degenkolb, who immediately came to tears of disappointment after second place.
“That means a lot to me.
This is a super important race, ”said the winner of the day after 187.5 kilometers, which he finished as the winner at the grand finale in downtown Frankfurt.
With Degenkolb in second place, the emotional situation was different. The 2011 winner hit the road with his front wheel, let himself be comforted by his mother in the finish area, seriously disappointed, and only wanted to speak after a short break. “The pressure was great. But having proven to everyone that you can still do it is worthy of all honor. But the emotions were right there, that it is only second place in quotation marks, ”said“ Dege ”. It is justified to "shed a tear". Even for sprint star Ackermann, it was not enough to win this time, only to fifth place. Two years ago, Ackermann had won before Degenkolb.
“We gambled heavily with the large group. In the end it didn't turn out to be the result we wanted, ”said Bora-hansgrohe team-mate Nils Politt, who was the driver for the 27-year-old Ackermann. For the man from Palatinate, it would have been the seventh success since the beginning of July. Third place went to the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff, who won the race in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The 23-year-old Belgian, on the other hand, mastered the difficult race, which this year differed in two respects from his previous editions: Instead of May 1, this time, due to the pandemic, was driven in September and thus before the Road World Championships in Flanders or the classic Paris -Roubaix rising in two weeks. As a result, the field of riders was more prominent than before, and many professional cyclists used the day to get in the mood for the upcoming races. In addition, people were encouraged to watch the race on TV and not come to the track in large numbers. In the finish area there were always volunteers with signs on which it was written: “Please keep your distance. Please wear masks. ”Despite all the requests, a lot of people gathered on the home straight.
In terms of sport, a year after the corona-related cancellation, a lot was as usual again.
The start in Eschborn, once over the Feldberg, four times over the Mammolshainer Stich and twice over the Ruppertshainer climb and then off to Frankfurt: That meant at least 3200 vertical meters, which made sprinters like Ackermann and Degenkolb really hard.
A breakaway group of 17 had been in the lead for a long time, but was then gradually overtaken by the field.
On the last ten kilometers the pace in the peloton was so high that there were no more individual attacks.