Emanuel Buchmann from the Bora-hansgrohe team won the road race at the German championships in Bad Dürrheim and Donaueschingen.
The 30-year-old from Ravensburg broke away early and couldn’t be caught in front of a group of pursuers. Buchmann’s teammates Nico Denz and Maximilian Schachmann came in second and third. For Buchmann it is the second title in the road race of the German Championships, he had already prevailed in Bensheim in Hesse in 2015.
Buchmann wins in “extremely difficult race”
The challenging course led the pros through the Black Forest with a few treacherous climbs. In a small leading group, Buchmann first broke away with his teammate Jonas Koch at the end of the second lap, before he set off as a soloist with around 70 kilometers to go.
“It was an extremely difficult race. It wasn’t actually planned that I would be alone for so long,” said a visibly exhausted Buchmann in an interview with SWR after the race. But success was already there. “I’ve been feeling really good for the last few days and thought: something could work today,” continued Buchmann, who is now hoping for a successful Tour de France (starting on July 1). The shape is definitely right.
Minute of silence after Mäder’s death
Before the race, the professional cyclists held a minute’s silence for the Swiss Gino Mäder, who recently died after a fall. The drivers took off their helmets before the start in Donaueschingen, with Phil Bauhaus, Nikias Arndt and Jasha Sütterlin, three of Mäder’s teammates from the Bahrain Victorious racing team were also there.
In the middle of the month, Mäder fell into a ravine at high speed on the last kilometers of the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse on the descent from the Albula Pass to the destination of La Punt and had to be resuscitated. A day later, the seriously injured Swiss died in hospital.
Liane Lippert triumphed in the women
On Saturday, Liane Lippert defended her women’s title and won the German road cycling championship for the third timen. The 25-year-old from Friedrichshafen from the Movistar Team women left early and crossed the finish line as a soloist.