Cycling: John Degenkolb just missed out on winning the classic Eschborn – Frankfurt cycling event. The German was only defeated by the Belgian Jasper Philipsen in the sprint. At the finish, Dege even shed tears because, as a Frankfurter, he would have loved to have won here again.
Degenkolb narrowly missed victory
A pity! almost had John Degenkolb (Lotto – Soudal) achieved great success in his hometown of Frankfurt. In the mass sprint after 187,4 kilometers he only lost to the Belgian Jasper Phillipsen (Alpecin-Fenix). 10 years ago he managed to win here in his first professional year. With a very early start, he tried to showcase his power, but shortly before the finish line he was sprinted over by the eventual winner. In the meantime, this has already been dropped when the pace on the climbs was pushed hard. The podium completes alexander kristoff (UAE), who won here four times in a row between 2014 and 2018. Pascal Ackermann (Bora – hansgrohe) finished fifth.
First breakaway without a chance
On the 187,4-kilometre course from Eschborn to Frankfurt, a five-man lead group initially dominated the racing action. Matthew Jorgenson (movistar), Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange), Eric Resell (Uno-X), Simone Velasco (Gazprom – RusVelo) and Boris Valley (Bingoal - Wallonie Bruxelles) had a few minutes advantage. In the peloton, it was Alpecin – Fenix in particular who set the pace at first. Despite the climbs in Mammolshain, Ruppertshain, the Billtalhöhe and the Feldberg, the Belgian team believed in a mass sprint and the chance for Jasper Phillipsen (Alpecin-Fenix).
Matthews uses the Mammolshain Sting to attack
However, it became difficult for the pure sprinters when Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) launched his attack at the penultimate crossing of the Mammolshainer Stich. As a result, a group of 16 men broke away, which became smaller again at the last crossing of the executioner and had a lead of about 40 seconds on the main field with the sprinters. However, with George Zimmerman (Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux) and Christian Scaroni (Gazprom – RusVelo) caught the last two fugitives 9 kilometers from the finish.
Jasper Philipsen s'est impose au sprint sur la #bike classics devant John Degenkolb and Alexander Kristoff
#EschbornFrankfurt #cycling #likelrenne pic.twitter.com/vhC8eZkPFo
— Les Rois du Peloton (@LRoisDuPeloton) September 19, 2021