The 55th edition of the Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt (UCI 1.HC) race will see the return of John Degenkolb to his home race for the first time since his serious accident near Calpe, Spain in January and his Giant-Alpecin team is extremely pleased to have him back in the line-up.
“It has been a challenging few months but we saw in the Ardennes classics that the results started to get better and I hope we will continue in the same direction,” said team coach Mattias Reck. “It’s great to have John back in the team since the training accident.”
“It ‘s been a long period of recovery and working hard on his comeback. For Sunday, it’s just about regaining the feeling of racing again with no immediate pressure on him for results.”
“I expect it to be a tough race and the weather can be a factor throughout the day so we will have to be vigilant. The last time the riders tackle the Mammolshainer Berg will be a key moment so we need to be in a good position before it begins.”
“If the race becomes really hard and uncontrolled, we have Simon and Sam who are able to follow the attacks. If the riders are still all together then we will prepare the sprint for Ramon and we can aim for a top 10 result.”
The 55th edition of Germany’s one-day race is 206km long and features a steep climb, the Mammolshainer Berg with a 26% ramp in sections. The peloton has to climb it four times before hitting the finishing circuit in Frankfurt, which will make it a lot harder compared to previous editions.
