Andre Greipel hat seinen Titel als Deutscher Meister verteidigt und wird wie im Vorjahr bei der Tour de France das begehrte Trikot mit dem schwarz-rot-goldenen Brustring tragen. Im nordhessischen Baunatal gewann Greipel vom Team Lotto-Belisol nach 206,4 Kilometern im Massensprint vor John Degenkolb (Frankfurt/Giant) und Phil Bauhaus (Bochholt/Stölting). Top-Favorit Marcel Kittel aus Arnstadt war kurz vor Schluss mit Muskelkrämpfen zurückgefallen.
André Greipel: „There were three small climbs on the lap, so it wasn’t exactly flat. It rained a few times, but luckily mostly the roads were dry. Marcel Sieberg and I didn’t need to do anything. Giant-Shimano controlled the race. We tried to be in every group where they had a guy in as well. That went quite well. Sibi was in front for a while. We were only with two, but still we felt we had control of the situation. In the end it came down to a sprint of a reduced peloton of about fifty riders. Sieberg set me up and I started to sprint in the last 250 meters. I’m happy I could hold off John Degenkolb. It was perfect again, just like last year. It was a special moment.“