Place Name: Zugasse
Address: Zugasse 45, 50678 Köln, Germany
Details: May 18, 2025
The 181KM route takes the riders East out of Cologne and into the country side. They turn North, following the Sülz River until Wipperfürth where they head back South and into Cologne for a likely sprint finish on the banks of the Rhine and under the shadow of the mighty Kölner Dom.
A relatively large break of seven riders got up the road including Jelle Vermoote of Wagner-Bazin WB, Ben Felix Jochum of Lotto Kern-Haus PSD Bank, Lukas Meiler of Team Vorarlberg, Ole Theiler of REMBE | rad-net, Patrick Reißig of Benotti Berthold, Jean-Loup Fayolle of Arkéa-B&B Hotels Continental, and Jakob Schmidt of MYVELO.
The break was controlled all day and brought back for a bunch sprint. Intermarché-Wanty were in control with 2KM but Lotto and Visma-Lease a Bike organized and sitting just behind. The peloton crossed the Rhine with 1200M to go and Intermarché-Wanty still were at the front and looking strong in their lead out for Biniam Girmay. Hugo Page was the last man in line for Girmay but when Page wound it up, Girmay followed Henri Uhlig of Alpecin-Deceuninck instead. Girmay came off of Uhlig's wheel but so did Matthew Brennan of Visma-Lease a Bike. Brennan had the fastest legs on the day and beat Girmay in drag race to the line to take the win. Girmay finished second with Itamar Einhorn of Israel-Premier Tech in third.
Tags: Rund um Köln, 2025, May, Cologne, Jelle Vermoote, Ben Felix Jochum, Lukas Meiler, Ole Theiler, Patrick Reißig, Jean-Loup Fayolle, Jakob Schmidt, Biniam Girmay, Hugo Page, Henri Uhlig, Matthew Brennan, Itamar Einhorn