Sunday, September 19, 2021
Degenkolb loses the final sprint
“Winner of Hearts” weeps from mother
It’s just barely enough for John Degenkolb: At the home game Eschborn-Frankfurt, the German professional cyclist finished second, then has to be comforted by his mother – and calls himself the “winner of hearts”.
John Degenkolb called himself the “winner of the hearts” on the TV microphone, and the cycling veteran at the finish provided the appropriate pictures: Degenkolb at Eschborn-Frankfurt wept disappointed and overwhelmed, the 32-year-old local hero let himself be comforted by his mom . “Second place is the first loser. That has always been the case. We are racing drivers through and through,” said Degenkolb, who was second in 2019, on Hessischer Rundfunk. At that time compatriot Pascal Ackermann defeated him, this time it was Belgian Jasper Philipsen.
“That means a lot to me. It’s a super important race,” said the day’s winner after 187.5 kilometers. With Degenkolb in second place, the emotional situation was different. The 2011 winner hit the road angrily with his front wheel and only wanted to speak after a short break. “The pressure was great. But to have proven to everyone that you can still do it is worthy of all honor. But the emotions were right there that it is only second place in quotation marks,” said “Dege”. It is justified to “shed a tear”. Even for sprint star and defending champion Ackermann, it was not enough to win this time, despite laborious preparation, but only to fifth place.
“We gambled heavily with the large group. In the end it didn’t turn out to be the result we wanted,” said Bora-hansgrohe team-mate Nils Politt, who was supposed to act as the starter for the 27-year-old Ackermann. For the man from Palatinate, it would have been the seventh success since the beginning of July. Third place behind Philipsen and Degenkolb went to the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff, who won the race in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The sprinters manage to climb 3200 meters
The 23-year-old Belgian mastered the difficult race, which this year differed in two respects from his previous editions: instead of May 1, this time it was driven in September due to the pandemic. In addition, people were encouraged to watch the race on television and not to come to the track in large numbers. In the finish area there were always volunteers with signs that said: “Please keep your distance. Please wear masks.” Despite all the requests, a lot of people gathered on the home straight.
In terms of sport, a year after the corona-related cancellation, a lot was as usual again. The start in Eschborn, once over the Feldberg, four times over the Mammolshainer Stich and twice over the Ruppertshainer climb and then off to Frankfurt: That meant at least 3200 vertical meters, which made sprinters like Ackermann and Degenkolb really hard.
As in previous years, the top teams ensured that there was a mass finale at the Alte Oper in the Main metropolis. “My big dream has always been to win the race once. I achieved that, and now I have nothing more to lose,” said Ackermann before the race.
Before that, there had been the usual runaway attacks. Several classic specialists also tried to get rid of the fast sprinters on the climbs and to reduce the peloton. The most promising was the attack by a group of 17 around the Australian Michael Matthews and Simon Geschke, who pulled away on the penultimate ascent to Mammolshainer Stich. The group stayed around 40 seconds in front of the field for a long time, but there was so much pressure at the back that it came back to the big joint finish.