Marco Brenner is one of Germany’s great cycling talents. He showed his potential at the German championships. But he had to watch the Tour.
Before the eyes of Jan Ullrich, one of Germany’s greatest cycling talents has taken the championship jersey. 21-year-old Marco Brenner surprisingly won the title of German road champion, beating well-known competitors such as time trial champion Nils Politt and veteran Simon Geschke.
Brenner took victory after 200.9 kilometers at the championships in Bad Dürrheim ahead of former biathlete Florian Lipowitz from the German Bora-hansgrohe team.
For Brenner, who once won bronze at the World Championships in the juniors, it was the greatest success of his career. The Augsburg native had recently impressed with 19th place overall in the Tour de Suisse, and in March he also achieved his first professional victory in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali tour in Italy. Brenner will have to watch the Tour de France, however, as his Swiss Tudor team has no starting place in the tour.
“That was very special. It took me a while to realise it. It’s a great feeling. I’m glad that it worked out so early,” Brenner told SWR, adding: “I tried everything, risked everything. I joined a group early on. I noticed that I was one of the strongest on the mountain. I waited for the perfect moment on the final lap.”
Youngster in attack mode
A good seven kilometers from the finish, Brenner made the decisive attack on the climb in Aasen when Lipowitz could no longer keep up. Brenner was already very aggressive on the difficult course with 2670 meters of elevation. He repeatedly pushed the pace and played a major role in the leading group steadily shrinking. Only Lipowitz, a newcomer who will also not be starting in the Tour, was able to hold his own against Brenner for long. But it was not enough for the successful Bora racing team to win its eighth championship title in the last ten years. Kim Heiduk took third place, well behind.
Ullrich was also there as a spectator. The only German Tour de France champion lives nearby in Merdingen and was also able to inspect the Jan Ullrich Museum in Bad Dürrheim.
Pogacar helper Politt has no chance
Politt, who is expected to help superstar Tadej Pogacar to his third overall victory at the Tour de France, was unable to make an impact as an individual and missed out on the double after winning the time trial on Friday. Defending champion Emanuel Buchmann did not take part in the German Championships after suffering fractures to his hip and collarbone at the Tour de Suisse.
There had already been a surprise in the women’s race on Saturday, when Franziska Koch beat defending champion Liane Lippert in the final sprint in the pouring rain and won the title for the first time.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
