On the 133-kilometre fourth and final stage from Arnsberg to Winterberg, a seventh-place finish was enough for the German U23 champion to defend his lead in the general classification. The stage victory went to Arno Wallenborn of Luxembourg (Lotto-Kern-Haus-Outlet Montabaur).
The early stages were characterised by a fast pace and constant attacks. It was only after around 30 kilometres that two riders, Mauro Brenner (REMBE® rad-net) and Vincent John (Schwingshandl Intralogistics), managed to break away. Around 15 kilometres later, they were joined by the mountains classification leader Noah Brits (Benediction Banafrica), Lennart Lein (Germany), Alexandre Kess (Lotto-Kern-Haus-Outlet Montabaur) and Nepomuk Roth (Rose Racing Circle). The six riders built up a maximum lead of two and a half minutes over the peloton. Along the way, the riders had to tackle the Hirschberger Wand, the climb in Odin and the ascent to the Rochus Chapel in Eslohe. There, Lein managed to overtake Brits as the leader in the mountains classification. As the race entered the final stretch and gradually climbed towards the mountain finish at the Kahlen Asten, only Kess, Brenner and Roth remained from the breakaway. But even this trio was caught at the foot of the climb, around eight kilometres from the finish, after Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies, led by Fietzke, had increased the pace.
Five kilometres from the finish, Wallenborn launched the decisive attack. He managed to break away from the peloton on his own and won with a four-second lead over Noah Lindholm Møller (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies). Giacomo Ballabio (Vorarlberg) crossed the finish line in third place, ten seconds behind.
“We rode a brilliant stage. At first, we had a rider in the leading group in Alexandre. I’d watched the final section twice over the last few days and thought there was something in it. But of course, that depends on how the race unfolds. I just gave it a go and, thank goodness, it was enough,” said Wallenborn, delighted with his first international victory.
Fietzke crossed the line in seventh place, in the same time as the winner. The 20-year-old thus comfortably defended the pink jersey and won the inaugural Sauerland Tour with a 27-second lead over his team-mate Max Bock. Britain’s Finn O’Brien (Picnic-PostNL Development Team) took third place, 30 seconds behind. Fietzke also claimed the points classification. Lein was the winner of the mountains classification. Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies also came out on top in the team classification.
“It really was a fantastic tour for us. We achieved almost all the goals we’d set ourselves. Today we were able to defend first and second place in the general classification and, with Noah, also finish second again on the final stage. On top of that, we won the team classification. So we can all go home happy,” said Fietzke, who had laid the foundations for his overall victory as early as the first day with a fourth-place finish in the individual time trial. Having finished second on the second stage, he took the lead, defended it yesterday with a fourth-place finish on the third stage, and was able to start the final stage with a comfortable lead.
Five kilometres from the finish, Wallenborn launched the decisive attack. He managed to break away from the peloton on his own and won with a four-second lead over Noah Lindholm Møller (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies). Giacomo Ballabio (Vorarlberg) crossed the finish line in third place, ten seconds behind.
“We rode a brilliant stage. At first, we had a rider in the leading group in Alexandre. I’d watched the final section twice over the last few days and thought there was something in it. But of course, that depends on how the race unfolds. I just gave it a go and, thank goodness, it was enough,” said Wallenborn, delighted with his first international victory.
Fietzke crossed the line in seventh place, in the same time as the winner. The 20-year-old thus comfortably defended the pink jersey and won the inaugural Sauerland Tour with a 27-second lead over his team-mate Max Bock. Britain’s Finn O’Brien (Picnic-PostNL Development Team) took third place, 30 seconds behind. Fietzke also claimed the points classification. Lein was the winner of the mountains classification. Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies also came out on top in the team classification.
“It really was a fantastic tour for us. We achieved almost all the goals we’d set ourselves. Today we were able to defend first and second place in the general classification and, with Noah, also finish second again on the final stage. On top of that, we won the team classification. So we can all go home happy,” said Fietzke, who had laid the foundations for his overall victory as early as the first day with a fourth-place finish in the individual time trial. Having finished second on the second stage, he took the lead, defended it yesterday with a fourth-place finish on the third stage, and was able to start the final stage with a comfortable lead.
Source: Photo by Mario Stiehl
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