Archiv für den Tag: 28. Juli 2020

Felix Großschartner gewinnt nach starker Attacke die Auftaktetappe der Vuelta a Burgos


Foto: Gerhard Plomitzer
Burgos – Burgos/Alto del Castillo (157 km)
1 Felix Großschartner (AUT) Bora – Hansgrohe 3:40:21
2 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck – Quick Step 0:00:08
3 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team 0:00:08
4 Alex Aranburu Deba (Esp) Astana Pro Team 0:00:08
5 Mikel Landa Meana (Esp) Bahrain – McLaren 0:00:10
6 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama – FDJ 0:00:10
7 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Esp) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:00:10
8 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora – Hansgrohe 0:00:10
9 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team 0:00:10
10 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick Step 0:00:10
11 Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton – Scott 0:00:10
12 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos 0:00:10
13 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo – Visma 0:00:10
14 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Team Ineos 0:00:10
15 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Team Ineos 0:00:10

Felix Großschartner gewinnt nach starker Attacke die Auftaktetappe der Vuelta a Burgos

Hügeliges Terrain, starker Wind und ein schwieriges Finale mit einem steilen Anstieg auf dem letzten Kilometer – die heutige Auftaktetappe der Vuelta a Burgos 2020 war alles andere als ein einfacher Start in das fünftägige Etappenrennen im Norden Spaniens. Nach einem verhältnismäßig ruhigen Beginn dominierte eine vierköpfige Ausreißergruppe weite Teile der 157 Kilometer langen Etappe. Als der Wind in der zweiten Tageshälfte merklich auffrischte, reagierte das Peloton jedoch und reduzierte den zwischenzeitlich auf bis zu vier Minuten angewachsenen Vorsprung rasch. Mehrere Stürze sorgten für zusätzliche Nervosität im Feld, mit Rafal Majka war leider auch ein Fahrer aus den Reihen von BORA-hansgrohe betroffen. Er konnte seine Fahrt nach seinem Fall 53 Kilometer vor dem Ziel allerdings fortsetzen. Nachdem die Ausreißer gestellt wurden, brachte BORA-hansgrohe auf den letzten Kilometern Jay McCarthy in Position. Am Ende war es allerdings Felix Großschartner, der mit einer unwiderstehlichen Attacke das gesamte Peloton überraschte. Der Österreicher setzte sich am Schlussanstieg zum Mirador del Castillo schnell von den anderen Favoriten ab und holte mit acht Sekunden Vorsprung einen überragenden Auftaktsieg. Jay McCarthy komplettierte das perfekte Teamergebnis mit einem achten Platz.

Reaktionen im Ziel
„Ich freue mich riesig über diesen Sieg. Wir haben das Finale bereits gestern während des Trainings inspiziert, daher wusste ich schon vor dem Etappenstart, dass es ein guter Tag für mich werden könnte. Das Team hat mich dann auf den letzten Kilometern in eine perfekte Position gebracht. Als die anderen Fahrer für einen kurzen Moment das Tempo herausnahmen, habe ich nicht gezögert, sondern direkt attackiert und durchgezogen. Von da an habe ich alles auf eine Karte gesetzt. Glücklicherweise hat mich niemand mehr eingeholt und ich konnte die Ziellinie sogar mit einigen Sekunden Vorsprung überqueren.“ – Felix Großschartner

„Während unseres heutigen Teammeetings habe ich den Jungs gesagt, dass wir durchziehen müssen, wenn wir eine Chance auf dem letzten Kilometer bekommen. Unser eigentlicher Plan war, für Jay McCarthy zu fahren, dem solche Zielankünfte ja liegen. Zudem wollten wir mit Felix Großschartner, Lennard Kämna und Rafal Majka keine Zeit in der Gesamtwertung verlieren. Auf dem letzten Kilometer war Felix schließlich in einer sehr guten Position und hat seine Chance genutzt. Er hat wirklich einen fantastischen Job gemacht und wir sind sehr glücklich über seine Leistung. Auch Jay hat seine gute Form mit Platz acht unter Beweis gestellt. Morgen ist nun ein Tag für die Sprinter, danach geht es wieder in die Berge. Wir werden versuchen, das Leadertrikot so lange wie möglich zu verteidigen.“ – Steffen Radochla, Sportlicher Leiter

Deutschland Tour 2021 kommt zurück nach Thüringen – Ilmenau wird Etappenort

DT_Logo
Die Deutschland Tour und Thüringen verbindet die Begeisterung für den Radsport. Bei der letzten Ausgabe boten der Thüringer Wald, die Wartburgstadt Eisenach und die Landeshauptstadt Erfurt eine eindrucksvolle Final-Kulisse für Deutschlands größtes Radsportfestival. Grund genug für eine Rückkehr in den Freistaat. Im August 2021 begrüßt Ilmenau die Profis der Deutschland Tour. Die Goethe- und Universitätsstadt wird Gastgeber für den Zieleinlauf der zweiten Etappe und den Start der dritten Etappe, die in Erlangen endet.

Von Mecklenburg-Vorpommern über Thüringen nach Bayern – die Deutschland Tour 2021 verbindet den Norden mit dem Süden und verläuft über vier Etappen von der Hansestadt Stralsund nach Nürnberg. Das Mittelstück der Rundfahrt ist voller Höhepunkte: historische Momente, sehenswerte Durchfahrtsorte, wie die Kulturstadt Weimar, und ein Etappenprofil, das erneut Spannung bis zum Schluss verspricht. Ein ständiges rauf und runter auf dem Weg nach Ilmenau sowie zwei knackige Runden mit ansteigender Zielgerade werden den Sprintern den Freitag der Deutschland Tour schwer machen.
Dass Ilmenau am Fuße des Thüringer Waldes liegt, bekommen die Profis auch am Samstagmorgen zu spüren. Direkt nach dem Start im Ilmenauer Zentrum sind Kletterbeine gefragt. Es geht hinauf in den Ortsteil Frauenwald zum Rennsteig – dem höchsten Punkt der Deutschland Tour 2021. Ein würdiger Auftakt für das Finalwochenende, das die Profis von Thüringen nach Franken führt.

„Es waren beeindruckende Bilder, wie sich die Radprofis bei der letzten Tour durch den Thüringer Wald kämpften oder sich das Feld durch die vielfältige Landschaft und Städte wie Erfurt, Oberhof oder Eisenach bewegte. Die Tour zeigte Thüringen nicht nur medial in vielen seiner wunderbaren Facetten, sondern sorgte auch für zahlreiche Fahrrad-Festivals in den Etappenorten. Umso mehr freut es mich, dass die Deutschland Tour 2021 wieder durch den Freistaat Thüringen führen und mit Ilmenau als Etappenort einmal mehr für unsere Region werben wird. Ich drücke nach der Corona-bedingten Absage in diesem Jahr die Daumen für eine umso bessere Tour in 2021“, betont Wolfgang Tiefensee, Minister für Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Digitale Gesellschaft des Freistaates Thüringen.

„Bei uns ist die Vorfreude auf die Deutschland Tour sehr groß, denn wir können unsere Goethe- und Universitätsstadt weltweit in Szene setzen. Von der idyllischen Natur des Thüringer Waldes, die neben den Profis auch unsere vielen aktiven Gäste zu schätzen wissen, bis zu unseren kulturellen Höhepunkten, wie dem weltberühmten Goethehäuschen. Wir sehen uns im nächsten Sommer!“, sagt Dr. Daniel Schultheiß, Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Ilmenau.

„Wir haben sehr schöne Erinnerungen an das vergangene Jahr in Thüringen – es war eine perfekte Kulisse. Die Bilder der Topstars, die sich im Thüringer Wald spannende Duelle liefern und von den Fans gefeiert wurden, gingen um die Welt. Es ist diese Begeisterung, auf die wir uns in Ilmenau freuen. Und auf dem Weg nach Ilmenau wird die Deutschland Tour einen weiteren Teil Thüringens entdecken“, sagt Claude Rach, Geschäftsführer der Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Radsports.

Mit Stralsund, Schwerin, Ilmenau, Erlangen und Nürnberg sind fünf der sechs Etappenorte der Deutschland Tour 2021 bekannt. Auch im kommenden Jahr wird die Rundfahrt in der zweiten Augusthälfte über vier Etappen von Donnerstag bis Sonntag stattfinden. Das genaue Datum wird vom Welt-Radsportverband voraussichtlich im Herbst bekanntgegeben.

DEIN RIDE – STRECKENABFAHRT FÜR FANS
Bereits ein Jahr, bevor die Topstars die Straßen Thüringens erleben, können Hobby-Radsportler bereits in wenigen Wochen die Strecke der Deutschland Tour abfahren. Gemeinsam mit ehemaligen Profis um Fabian Wegmann, Jens Voigt und Johannes Fröhlinger erleben Fans die vier Etappen der Deutschland Tour. Am 21. August 2020 führt der Weg von „Dein Ride.“ nach Ilmenau und am Samstag, den 22. August, fahren die Fans das Teilstück von Ilmenau nach Erlangen. Die Anmeldung für die stark limitierten Plätze ist unter DeinRide.deutschland-tour.com möglich.
Pressebüro Deutschland Tour | Sandra Schmitz | sandra@flessnerschmitz.com | www.cycling-pr.com

The Tour to the power of 10

1940: The Tour that wasn’t (4/10)

At the turn of each decade, the Tour de France has gone through organisational changes and backstage struggles that have variously turned out to be decisive or utterly inconsequential. The journey back in time proposed by letour.fr continues in 1940: when the country entered the war, Henri Desgrange tried to keep the 34th edition of the Tour alive until spring, but had to resign himself to its cancellation. Before July France was already under German occupation, and Desgrange left the Tour orphaned in August.

According to the tautological principle that you can’t suppress something that doesn’t exist, the 1940 edition of the Tour de France is the only one in history to have been cancelled. Although its detailed route was never published and its dates were not officially announced, its organisation was well thought out, envisaged and programmed in the offices of the organising newspaper, in a France that was nevertheless at war and whose youth had been drafted in September 1939. It would be far-fetched to suspect L’Auto of existing naively in a sports bubble ignoring the major issues in the balance on the battlefield, quite the contrary. From mid-September, the newspaper even assumed a total commitment by changing its title to L’Auto-Soldat, and its editorial line then split between news of the world conflict, analysis of the competitions that continued to take place and news of the champions called up to serve in the armed forces. On 16 September, the headline was accompanied by an unequivocal quote from Voltaire: „Every man is a soldier against tyranny“. It is in this line that Henri Desgrange, who, although seriously ill, did not let go of his pen but distanced himself from sport, multiplied patriotic editorials and caricatures, for example Hitler, whom he described as a „house painter“.

In its services, all the assistants were active and strove to give shape from the very beginning of winter to a cycling season that could also sustain the idea that France continued to live on. In December, discussions began with the heads of the bicycle manufacturers to try to come up with a calendar and invent a new formula. How can a bunch of riders of at the same skill level be formed when most of the riders in the 1939 Tour were fighting? Were foreign cyclists from non-belligerent countries going to be accepted? Who would therefore have their best people available? Where can we get bicycles when the entire industry is focused on the war effort? The debate was launched, and even initiated in the columns of the newspaper, which transcribed the content of the negotiations like a soap opera. Alcyon’s boss was optimistic, but not as determined as Colibri’s: „I’ve come, like all my colleagues, to put a white ball in to get unanimous congratulations,“ read the 16 January edition of L’Auto. On the other hand, Genial-Lucifer had more misgivings („Maurice Evrard felt that in his own opinion the uselessness of certain road races was obvious“, L’Auto of 13 January), and the tone was also very cautious from the head of Dilecta. However, we manage to get everyone to agree year after year on a formula published on 6 February which, among other measures, only admits riders who are not yet old enough to carry weapons and limits the number of foreigners to 33% of the peloton.

On 11 July, on the BBC, an anonymous columnist chose sport to make the voice of London heard. „Today, if Mr. Hitler had agreed to let Europe live in peace, the 34th Tour de France would have set off joyfully.”

Everything seemed more or less in place, but while it was business as usual at the velodromes throughout the winter, there were great difficulties at the start of the road racing season. Paris-Roubaix, whose route was initially validated by military authorities, was transformed into Roubaix-Paris and finally saved in-extremis as Le Mans-Paris! It looked like there was also going to be course reversal for Paris-Tours, and the clouds were particularly threatening on the Race to the Sun, which L’Auto was exceptionally associated with the Le Petit Niçois newspaper in an attempt to save the organisation. Above all, Henri Desgrange published a paper with a very pessimistic tone for the future of the 1940 Tour de France. He evoked a course in the form of a „deflated bladder“, listed all the constraints he faced, and concluded as follows: „It would be enough, wouldn’t it, for you to expect this article to end with the announcement that the 1940 Tour de France will not take place? Well! It is not enough for us and we still have one last hope of being able to triumph over all these difficulties, and we want to give it a try“. The sentence was not long in coming. Four days later, the announcement was posted on the front page: „The Tour de France will not take place this year. It is postponed to 1941. See the explanations provided by its creator, Henri Desgrange, in the 13 and 14 April issues.”

Events then precipitated the country into the dark sequence of the German occupation following the signing of the armistice of 22 June 1940 by Philippe Pétain. Meanwhile, Charles De Gaulle launched his 18 June appeal on the BBC, the Free France timidly structured itself behind the „Leader of the French who continue the war“. It so happened that from London, the following 11 July, a small French enclave decided to act as if the Tour de France had started. The programme „Ici la France“ was broadcast daily for half an hour on the BBC. That day, an anonymous columnist whose name remains unknown chose sport to make the voice of London heard. „Today, if Mr. Hitler had agreed to let Europe live in peace, he would have set off joyfully on the 34th Tour de France*. A completely fictitious story began, as a way to reunite the divided country and to find itself in a shared and happy wistfulness. This was far from reality, but in the legend of the Tour, the story is as important as the race.

It is unlikely that Henri Desgrange could have heard this report, which would have certainly given him chills, perhaps even drawn a few tears. For the 1940 Tour de France, even if it had been able to take place, would also have been the first without him. Operated on a few months earlier and seriously weakened, the father of the Tour de France died on 16 August, at the age of 75. His successor and spiritual son, Jacques Goddet, took over the reins of the newspaper and the following year he opposed the organisation of a Tour de France whose prestige would be claimed by the Vichy regime. The return of the real Tour de France had to wait until 1947.
@ASO

The Tour to the power of 10

1930: The Tour revolutionizes (3/10)

At the turn of each decade, the Tour de France has gone through organisational changes and backstage struggles that have variously turned out to be decisive or utterly inconsequential. The journey back in time proposed by letour.fr continues in 1930, the year of a major revolution when, Tour boss and editor-in-chief of L’Auto, Henri Desgrange decided riders would compete in national teams and no longer for bicycle manufacturers. To pay for this costly reform, the newspaper also found a new source of income with the creation of the advertising caravan.

Tensions between the bicycle brands and the organisers were a common thread that followed and forged the history of the nascent Tour de France and then the interwar period. Henri Desgrange, who was a purist and uncompromising in his conception of sporting competition, despised and fought against any form of agreement likely to contaminate the simple athletic confrontation between the heroes of the Grande Boucle. Since the resumption in 1919, following the First World War, the Tour de France boss introduced regulations to reduce the influence of the most powerful manufacturers in the industry, which had a tendency to dictate race scenarios. The situation even began to disgust Desgrange following the 1929 Tour, won by Maurice De Waele, a Belgian champion who was certainly solid and exemplary, but in the end wasn’t challenged nearly enough by the competition on his victorious ride to Paris.

For the 1930 edition, Desgrange decided to radically change the format. Teams were no longer formed by bicycle manufacturers, but were made up of national selections whose composition was also decided by L’Auto. In order to be in complete control, he committed to supplying the bikes to the Tour riders, at least those entered in the Aces category, even if it meant making the “tourists-routiers” wait a few years. The great project quickly developed in the mind of Desgrange, who announced precisely his plans and objectives in L’Auto on 25 September 1929: „The major change is the suppression of commercial rivalries that have been significantly shattering the success of the race every year since 1903. With only one brand available for the Aces, we can say that there is no longer a commercial battle, and that the race will be able to take place in a sporting manner. From now on, nothing will prevent the best from winning“.

The change to national teams must not be considered as a declaration of war, as the brands retain their riders in all other competitions throughout the year and could, for example, require them to boycott the Tour.

The transformation wanted by the organizing newspaper implied major constraints since the bicycles, accommodations and provisions were fully taken care of. The financial expenditures to be made were significant and had to be paid for by some income if the reform was to be feasible. This is where a genius idea was born to balance the accounts. Desgrange was assisted by an advertising director, Robert Desmarets, who had noticed that for several years, brands had taken advantage of the exceptional crowds around the peloton to set up commercial ventures. Vehicles in the colours of Menier chocolates, for example, were already handing out thousands of bars to the public in 1929. “Grand Bob”, as he was nicknamed, decided to officially accept them at the opening of the race, in return for a fee covering most of the extra expenses for the year. Menier, Fromagerie Bell (Vache Qui Rit), Biscottes Delft and Montres Noveltex formed the Tour’s first publicity caravan.

The power struggle between Desgrange and the bicycle manufacturers can, however, be put into perspective, as the co-dependent relationship remained very real. The move to the national teams should not have been seen as a declaration of war, as the brands retained their riders all year round on all other the competitions, on the roads of France as well as on the velodromes, and could for example require them to boycott the Tour. This context of more or less harmonious cohabitation partially explained the tone adopted by Desgrange in his opening article on the day of the race’s start: „It will be the honour of the bicycle manufacturers to have accepted this experience, which may seem to deprive this or that of a profitable advertisement, but which must benefit the entire bicycle industry. (…) They did not accept this experience passively; they followed it and will follow it, for a month, with great interest. (…) Yes, we owe André Leducq and Delannoy to Alcyon, Marcel Bidot to La Française, Demuysère to Génial-Lucifer, Bonduel to Dilecta, and the Magne Brothers to the Société Française de Cycles. Our great brands have lent them to us, or better said… they gave them to us without any restrictions. What a guarantee of success that such a gift, and what recognition for such a gesture do we not owe to our major cycle manufacturers?”. The recognition was also that of a businessman, well aware that these firms were also huge advertisers who contributed to the financial health of the newspaper throughout the year.

In any case, in the Aces category there were five national teams of eight riders at the start. Belgium’s black jerseys, Italy’s green, Spain’s red, Germany’s yellow and France’s blue-white-red were about to spark phenomenal enthusiasm among the public… and among the readers. Desgrange naturally found that the patriotic fibre was working to full effect with the French Tennis Musketeers, who were taking the entire country by storm in their matches with the Australians and Americans in the Davis Cup. He found his Musketeers on wheels with André Leducq, Antonin Magne and Charles Pélissier. As if by magic, while the French were generally outclassed during the 1920s by the Belgians, Luxembourgers and Italians, the collective force of the French squad was impressive. Pélissier won a total of eight stages, a record that still stands, while „Dédé gueule d’amour“ won the general classification after a hard-fought battle with Alfredo Binda and Learco Guerra among others. The success of the French clan was also a tremendous victory for Henri Desgrange, who concluded the Tour with these words: „This is now, indisputably, the National Bicycle Holiday. From now on, we will celebrate it every year under the same conditions, to the greatest glory of this divine machine and to the glory of our great cycling industry. (…) Thus the Tour de France will henceforth be a great international and peaceful competition where cycling nations will come every year to measure the value of their champions“.
@ASO