Key points:
 It will be a high-profile anniversary. Big names have announced themselves for September 19th to celebrate the 60th edition of the German classic.
 For the first time, 13 teams from the WorldTour will start at Eschborn-Frankfurt and the start list promises a great race.

 The complete podium of the last edition will be there – a reunion of the still active winners: Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe, winner 2019), John Degenkolb (Lotto Soudal, winner 2011) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE-Team Emirates, winner 2014-2018).

In addition, the fans can look forward to Deutschland Tour winner Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe). Besides Politt, two other stage winners of this year’s Tour de France will be taking part: Politt’s teammate Patrick Konrad as well as Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) want to shine at the WorldTour event.

The German classic unites Tour de France and classic stars
The list of illustrious names becomes even more extensive with the addition of many classic stars. With former Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën Team) and former world champion Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal), two more Paris-Roubaix winners will meet local hero John Degenkolb at his home race. With Vincenzo Nibali and Mads Pedersen, Trek-Segafredo will bring a Tour de France winner and the 2019 world champion to the Taunus hills. Among others, they will compete with Italian national champion Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious), Grand Tours stage winner Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) and two-time stage winner of this year’s Vuelta a Espana Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix).
For the German fans, many home stars will be lining-up: besides Ackermann and Politt, Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation) and the winner of the white jersey of the Deutschland Tour Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) have announced their participation.

Dress rehearsal for the World Championships
The impressive start list underlines the special date of this years‘ race, as it has been postponed from its traditional date on May 1 to September 19. Eschborn-Frankfurt will be a dress rehearsal for the World Championships, as the race takes place exactly one week before the UCI Road World Championships. Many riders use the Taunus for a last test before they head to Flanders or their preparation for the upcoming monuments, like Paris-Roubaix. On 187.4 kilometres they ride from the start in Eschborn first to the city centre of Frankfurt and on to the ascent of the Feldberg. Afterwards they the iconic Taunus circuit is on the program: four times over the Mammolshainer Stich, twice over the Ruppertshainer Anstieg and once over the Billtalhöhe. The pros already have more than 3,200 metres of altitude in their legs when they enter the finish lap and head for the win in front of the Alte Oper in the heart of Frankfurt.

6,000 participants in the ŠKODA Velotour
On September 19th, a double anniversary will be celebrated, because the ŠKODA Velotour also has an anniversary. For the 20th time, amateur cyclists will experience a true sportive classic. 6,000 participants are registered for the two routes. The ŠKODA Velotour Classic (100 kilometres) starts in the morning before the pros and includes all the legendary Taunus climbs. In the afternoon, the ŠKODA Velotour Skyline leads over 40 almost completely flat kilometres to the city of Frankfurt and back to Eschborn. This year, both distances will start with smaller starting blocks, which are sent into the race with a time lag. All participants either must be vaccinated, recovered, or tested.