The starting gun for the Tour of Bavaria will fire in Vilshofen on May 27th. This year's stage race through Bavaria boasts an impressive field. Eleven of the 22 teams eligible to start the Tour de France this year will be at the starting line in May. WorldTour teams Sky, Trek Factory Racing, Katusha, FDJ.fr, Garmin Sharp, Orica-GreenEdge, Ag2R-La Mondiale, and Giant-Shimano have all registered for the race. They will be joined by the ProContinental teams NetApp-Endura, IAM, and Bretagne-Séché Environnement – all three of which received wildcards for the Tour de France – as well as the South African team MTN-Qhubeka.
Record winner Jens Voigt has his sights set on the tour. The Berlin resident wants to make a strong statement in Bavaria in his final year of active racing. " Of course, we are extremely pleased that Jens Voigt will be at the start of the Bayern Rundfahrt one last time before the end of his career ," said sports director Hartmut Bölts. MTN-Qhubeka will also be starting with high ambitions . "Perhaps Linus Gerdemann will also make a comeback in Bavaria ," Bölts added. The professional cyclist from Münster won the Bayern Rundfahrt in 2009 and is thus the last German overall winner of the race.
This year, the Bayern Rundfahrt leads from Vilshofen via Freilassing, Reit im Winkl, Grassau, Neusäß and Wassertrüdingen am Hesselberg to Nuremberg. A total of 785,6 kilometers are on the program for the five stages from eastern Bavaria via the Chiemgau to Central Franconia. A preliminary decision in the fight for the overall victory of the race, which is held under the patronage of Minister of State Joachim Herrmann, is already expected when the mountain finishes as part of the queen's stage on the Winklmoos-Alm. The individual time trial on the penultimate day of the tour in Wassertrüdingen is of similar importance.