Cycling: Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) repeated his victory at Eschborn-Frankfurt. The Norwegian won in the sprint of a very depleted field ahead of Michael Matthews (Sunweb). The one-day race with 146 drivers from 21 teams ended at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. In total, there was no less than 3.500 meters in altitude to climb.
Eschborn-Frankfurt 2018 too hard for Kittel and Zabel
After the Eschborn-Frankfurt one-day race was promoted to the UCI WorldTour last year, numerous top stars were welcomed this season. Next to Last year's winner Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) included Michael Matthews (Sunweb), Marcel Kittel and Rick Zabel (Katusha Alpecin). However, the latter two should not play a role, since they were already distanced 80 and 55 kilometers before the finish. No wonder, because the route profile near Eschborn-Frankfurt was significantly more difficult than the year before. Right at the beginning of the 212,5 kilometers, the oldest German cycling classic was attacked. Seven riders broke away from the peloton: Daniel Teklehaimanot (Cofidis), Alexejs Saramotins (Bora-hansgrohe), Yukiya Arashiro (Bahrain-Merida), Antoine Warnier (WB Aqua Protect), David Tanner (Verandas Willems-Crelan), Floris Gerts (Roompot ) and Aaron Gate (Aqua Blue Sport).
Katusha-Alpecin attacks, Sunweb reacts
On the loops through the Taunus, the face of the race changed around 80 kilometers before the finish. With Michael Gogl (Trek-Segafredo), Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-hansgrohe) and Björn Lambrecht (Lotto Soudal), three drivers were able to catch up with the leaders. The trio then took the sole lead. At the same time, the peloton was greatly thinned out on the Ruppertshain and Mammolshain climbs. The German team Sunweb determined the pace in the peloton for captain Michael Matthews. The Katusha-Alpecin team suddenly changed their strategy after Marcel Kittel and Rick Zabel were distanced. So Simon Spilak and Nils Politt blew the attack. A strong chasing group formed, which comprised seven men. Among others, Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) was there. Particularly strong: Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors) was also up front, although he was only hit in practice a few months ago and Eschborn-Frankfurt was his first race of the season. The Sunweb team, on the other hand, decided not to jump and therefore had to continue to do the tracking work in the main field.
Buchmann gives everything, but Kristoff wins again
40 kilometers before the finish, the mountain in Mammolshain was conquered for the last time. Attacks came again. This time Team Sunweb also went on the offensive with Michael Matthews. This formed a chasing group into which Nils Politt fell back. The remaining main field was also still within striking distance, so that three groups could now fight for victory over the last 40 kilometers. Since there were still two top sprinters in the main field, Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors), they sent their helpers to work on the pace. So the chasing group was caught and the lead of the leading group dwindled kilometer by kilometer. As a result, there was still a sprint in Frankfurt, which was not to be expected throughout the entire race. The group was so small that a coordinated sprint was no longer possible. Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) was in the wind after Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors), but way too early. Therefore, Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) passed. The Norwegian turned out to be the fastest sprinter. With this, Kristoff was able to defend his victory from the previous year in an extremely exciting race.
🇳🇴@Kristoff87 of 🇦🇪@TeamUAEAbuDhabi wins 🇬🇧@DerRadKlassiker #bike classics pic.twitter.com/qAEoMor21I
— World Cycling Stats (@wcstats) 1 Maj 2018