The Deutschland Tour 2022 begins tomorrow. The pros will complete five days of racing covering 710 kilometres between the start in Weimar and the grand finale on Sunday in Stuttgart. 20 teams, including 14 teams from the UCI World Tour, compete in Germany’s most important race. In the fight for stage victories and the red jersey for the overall winner, World, European and national champions meet Tour de France stage winners as well as young German talents.
Time trial world champion Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) expects a first face-off in the short opening already: “It’s a really short prologue. It’s unlucky we aren’t using the TT bike but just the road bike, which means other riders can put in strong performances as well. Like the sprinters who also have a chance of a good result. I know with the TT bike it would be better for me, so we will see. Obviously, we’ll go out there and do the best we can. We’re just hoping to have a great race overall.”
Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step – Alpha Vinyl Team) is particularly looking at the first two stages, which are profiled but offer opportunities for the sprinters. The stage winner of the Tour de France presents his new jersey of the European road champion. “I’m really excited to race in Deutschland Tour with my brand new jersey. It’s my first time in Deutschland Tour so I’m happy I can discover the many fans and the beautiful places around here. Having taken the European title here in Germany is very special to me, it’s one of my biggest wins so far. I’m honoured to race in this jersey, and with the team we’ll give our all as always and try go for some nice results.”
The German fans will primarily cheer for BORA – hansgrohe. The team enters the home race with the German champion and defending overall winner Nils Politt: “Racing at home is always something special and even more with the distinctive jersey of the German champion. After the races in Munich and Hamburg I really look forward to the five days of the Deutschland Tour. I’m ready! The preparation went well, and my form is very good. We’ll see whether it’s enough to defend my title – the course is much more difficult this year. But our goal is definitely to keep the title in the team.”
Emanuel Buchmann joined the team’s roster as a late addition: “The infection was a major setback. Nevertheless, I hope to go into the Deutschland Tour with my Vuelta form. My preparation was very good, and the last few days of training were better again. That’s why I’m aiming for a good place in the GC. Especially because there’s a mountain top finish for the first time. The fact that some strong climbers are also racing here motivates even more!”
One of the GC favourites is Romain Bardet (Team DSM), who is also focusing on the first mountain stage of the new Deutschland Tour: “I am happy to be back at the Deutschland Tour for the second time after 2018. This year the course will be slightly different compared to the last editions. The addition of the prologue will give the GC some shape already, but it will be decided at the mountain top finish on the Schauinsland, what I assume to be an exciting stage. As a team we will aim for a nice result in the GC but for stage results, also in the sprints, as well.”
For Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), the five days of racing at the Deutschland Tour are further steps towards his comeback. The 2019 Tour de France winner is looking forward to his first bike race in Germany: “It was fantastic to finally pin on a number again and to ride the Tour of Denmark with my teammates. I felt comfortable in the bunch and I am now looking forward to the Deutschland Tour. The race features a nice mix of stages. That gives me important race kilometres and intensities with a lot of variety. It’s great to be here and to continue my comeback. I am really looking forward to testing my condition over the next five days.”
As captain of the German national team, Simon Geschke will lead five talents such as German U23 champion Jannis Peter. It is not only for this reason that the Freiburg resident sees the Deutschland Tour as another highlight of his season: “The Freiburg stage is of course a very emotional day for me. This is my home race with a lot of support along the course, the profile suits me a lot and I probably know the course better than anyone else in the peloton. That’s the day I’m looking at. Now it’s a question of my form. It won’t be as good as at the Tour de France and there wasn’t much recovery after that either. I’ll see how I start into the Deutschland Tour and then the Freiburg day will definitely release some extra strength.”
Deutschland Tour 2022
August 24th – Prologue: Weimar (2.6 km)
August 25th – 1st stage: Weimar – Meiningen (171.7 km)
August 26th – 2nd stage: Meiningen – Marburg (200.7 km)
August 27th – 3rd stage: Freiburg – Schauinsland (148.9 km)
August 28th – 4th stage: Schiltach – Stuttgart (186.6 km)
More information about the Deutschland Tour at deutschland-tour.com
