He comes as the favorite – and lives up to this role completely. Mads Pedersen wins the professional cyclists’ Tour of Germany with ease.
Mads Pedersen looked around once more and celebrated the perfect week for his Lidl-Trek team before he even crossed the finish line. The Danish ex-world champion not only won the final stage in Saarbrücken but also the overall ranking of the Deutschland Tour. His team, with Pedersen and the Italian Jonathan Milan, won all of the stages – something that had never happened before.
“It was very hard. It was a real bike race. We are very proud that we were able to win every stage and the overall ranking,” said Pedersen. His team, whose main sponsor is also the namesake of the tour, had arrived with an extremely strong squad. “It was the plan when we came here. One stage was not enough. We wanted to win everything. We delivered.”
Stork best German
In the end, two-time stage winner Pedersen was 22 seconds ahead of Dutchman Danny van Poppel from the German team Red Bull. Norwegian Tobias Johannessen finished third, another second behind. The best German in the end was Florian Stork, who secured fifth place with a strong final stage. The last German overall victory to date was in 2021 by Nils Politt.
Simon Geschke made his last appearance at the most important German race. The 38-year-old is ending his career in the autumn and launched another – ultimately unsuccessful – attack on the final lap in the capital of Saarland. “That was perhaps my last race on German soil,” said Geschke on ARD. “It was fun. Racing in Germany is a rarity these days, and it’s always fun with the national team.”
Racing boss Wegmann satisfied
Former professional Fabian Wegmann, who is the sports director of the Deutschland Tour, was also satisfied. “It was positive throughout, we are very happy. Everything worked – and Lidl won,” said the 44-year-old. In the future, the race could reportedly be extended to a whole week; currently it is five days.
Second place in the final act went to van Poppel ahead of the American Luke Lamperti. Van Poppel overtook Johannessen thanks to the bonus seconds he received. The day was dominated for a long time by a five-man breakaway group led by Maximilian Walscheid. Although the group had a maximum lead of almost five minutes, the top teams’ pace work meant that the escape ended a good six kilometers from the finish.
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.
