At the end of the season we had another 120 flat kilometers through the Münsterland
Program. Dennis, Tim, Matze, Jörg and Heinz-Dieter started the long distance. On the day of German unity, the Münsterland had plenty of sun and wind ready for us. Unfortunately, the temperatures weren't kind to us, so waiting for the start at well below 10 degrees Celsius became a chilly affair.
As already mentioned, the wind was the only significant obstacle that the route had to offer. It was therefore to be assumed that groups would form on the edge of the wind. Especially Dennis and Alex tried to get into the group of the day at the beginning of the race. Unfortunately, they ultimately failed to do so. After about 30 kilometers driven, a leading group of about 10-15 men broke away. At first it looked as if this should already be the preliminary decision. Since all the big teams were represented by at least one driver in the group, it took a while before a team was found in the field to organize the tracking work. Together with the Merkur-Druck team, Dennis, Tim and Alex tried to get back to the top. 50 kilometers from the finish they succeeded. At the moment of the merger, however, there was the decisive attack. Christian Müller, once again very strong, was able to break away together with Friedrich Schweizer. Tim tried to catch up, but after a few kilometers in the headwind, he had to realize that he couldn't come up against the two strong front runners.
Müller and Schweizer eventually got through and we hoped to play a good role again with Dennis in the peloton sprint. Unfortunately, there were no signs of the remaining kilometers on the way to the final until just before the finish. Suddenly a 2km mark appeared, immediately followed by a 300m sign and the finish line in sight. Since hardly anyone knew the track, a hot finale was out of the question. Dennis ended up 10th. Surely more would have been possible. The rest of the troupe rolled to the finish with the peloton. The poor signage in the final was the only criticism of an otherwise well organized event.
The livewelt test team drivers were also represented on the short lap over 70 kilometers. Cosima, Patrick, Pascal, Thomas and Stefan wanted to do well again in the last race of the season. At 7:30 a.m. they rolled to the start at 3 degrees Celsius. The first attack took place shortly after take-off. Stefan was able to fend them off, but realized that he probably should have stayed in bed because he had a cold. After that, too, the race was characterized by many attacks and as a result remained nervous the whole time. There was a mass crash seven kilometers from the finish, in which Pascal and Stefan also fell. However, both were able to continue quickly and stand by Patrick in the final. He confidently won the sprint of the field, but had to settle for second place in the end. A rider secured victory alone.
For the livewelt test team, the Münsterland Giro ends the first season in the GCC. We are very satisfied with our first season and will come back next year! We have learned a lot and will work hard over the winter to be able to present the black, white and orange jerseys even better in the coming year!
//Photos
Markus Stera, Andreas Lischka, and Thomas Frost
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