May 1, 2026
The first of May is Tag der Arbeit in Germany and everyone has off of work. What better way to spend your day than sitting out on the road side to watch some of the best riders in the world come by with a picnic and some friends. When the riders leave Eschborn, they head North and West towards the heavily forested Taunus Mountains. The first climb tops out after just 39 km of racing on the Sandplacken, an 8 km climb at 4.5%. Two passages of the steep Burgweg and the Feldberg come before a brief 20 km intermission on flatter roads through Kelkheim before things kick off again. With 110 km to go, the riders will reach the Mammolshain, a 2.2 km rise at nearly 8% which leads directly into the Feldberg to continue climbing for another 7.7 km at 6%. A fast descent off the Feldberg will take the bunch back to the Burgweg then the Rotes Kreuz, a 2 km stretch that averages over 8%. There is another passage through Kelkheim before two more ascents of Mammolshain. The last time up comes 35 km from the finish, back in the urban center of Frankfurt. There is one passage of the finish line before a 6 km city circuit and the finish. Eschborn-Frankfurt is a long, attritional race which has recently finished in a reduced bunch sprint since the inclusion of more climbing towards the end of the race in 2023.
Highlighted Riders
Magnus Cort, Natnael Tesfatsion, Frits Biesterbos, Pascal Ackermann, Anders Foldager, Tim Wellens, Tom Pidcock, Emiel Verstrynge, Laurence Pithie, Michael Valgren, Ben Tulett, Axel Laurance, Ben Turner, Edoardo Zambanini, Ion Izagirre, Georg Zimmermann, Tobias Lund Andresen, Paul Lapeira, Corbin Strong, Clément Venturini, Mathieu Burgaudeau, Emilien Jeannière
Race Summary
The weather was gorgeous and forecasted to be so for the entire day with blue skies and temperatures around 21C (70F). It looked like a stage of the Tour de France through the neutral zone with thousands of people packed in to see the riders off. The first 15 km were ridden like a crit as the race left Eschborn and entered the city streets of Frankfurt. When they turned onto more open roads towards the hills, Samuel Leroux and Thomas Gachignard of TotalEnergies attacked together and got a gap. Jonas Rutsch of Lotto Intermarché and Matyáš Kopecký of Unibet Rose Rockets bridged up with 193 km to go with a 1 minute lead back to the peloton. One more rider broke free from the bunch before it shut down. Aivaras Mikutis of Tudor Pro Cycling went off alone in search of making the break and, through the timbered houses of Oberursel at 183 km to go, he had closed to within 30 seconds of the lead group. Mikutis was rocking and rolling but he finally made it to the break right at the start of the Sandplacken with 178 km to go.
The gap was 6 minutes by the top of the Sandplacken which is higher than just about any break has had the entire season. Pinarello Q36.5, Uno-X Mobility, and Ineos started to ride in the peloton but the gap grew to over 7 minutes by the start of the Burgweg with 165 km to go. The crowds were huge at the top as the break tipped back down for just a moment before the start of the Feldberg.
The chase had closed 90 seconds by the top of the Feldberg at 158 km remaining but the race moved into a holding pattern and locked in around 5 minutes 50 seconds. The break passed through Kelkheim, Sulzbach, and Schwalbach before starting to climb again on the first passage of Mammolshain with 111 km to go and gap of 6 minutes. Rutsch took the points at the top, as he had for all the previous climbs, in front of massive home crowds which all but sealed his ownership of the classification at the end of the day.
Over the Mammolshain, the peloton started moving visibly quicker. Riders were getting shed off the back and the gap was down to 4 minutes 45 seconds just 5 km later at the start of the Feldberg. Bahrain Victorious came to the front and ripped the pace up the Feldberg putting nearly everyone in the peloton into single file. By the time Rutsch took the points at the top with 99 km to go, the gap was down to just 2 minutes. The gap continued to drop with another 30 seconds chopped off by the start of the Burgweg. Mikutis paid for his effort to get in the break and was the first one dropped as the gradients went to 11% and only Rutsch and Gachignard were left by the top.
Riders started to move from the peloton on a short hill partway down the descent. Jamie Meehan of Cofidis was first to go. He was joined by Emiel Verstrynge of Alpecin-Premier Tech and Tim Wellens of UAE-XRG and the trio started to build a gap as the descent tipped back down. Kopecký and Leroux latched back on to the lead group on the fast downhill run towards Kelkheim with 77 km to go to make four leaders. The Wellens group was 40 seconds back at this point but Pinarello Q36.5 and Uno-X Mobility were pulling the peloton quickly just 20 seconds further back.
Four became seven with 67.5 km to go when the Wellens group made contact with the original break. The peloton had settled back into more of a controlling pace and were sitting at 1 minute along the flatter section of road heading back to the final two ascents of the Mammolshain. Through the feed zone with 61 km to go, a gap formed to Wellens and Verstrynge who went away from everyone else.
When Wellens and Verstrynge reached the base of the penultimate ascent of the Mammolshain with 52 km to go, they had forced open a 1 minute 25 second lead over the peloton. Bahrain Victorious led the peloton up and over the Mammolshain and cut the gap to 30 seconds with at least 50 riders still connected to the main body of the bunch. Visma-Lease a Bike came to front for the first time all day and were riding on the flat roads leading back to the Mammolshain. Verstrynge was suffering on Wellens' wheel and was forced to pull the plug with 38.5 km to go, leaving just Wellens alone to hold off the peloton.
The gap was 50 seconds when the Belgian Road Champion started the final ascent of the Mammolshain. Ben Tulett of Visma-Lease a Bike was the first to attack, making his acceleration on the steep section through town before entering the forest. He caught and passed Wellens in the process and had Alex Baudin of EF-Education EasyPost with him for company. They immediately worked together but a group of 10 riders joined the duo just before the descent. In the front group at this point was Tulett, Baudin and his teammate Michael Valgren, Ion Izagirre of Cofidis, Tom Pidcock of Pinarello Q36.5, Georg Zimmermann and Simone Gualdi of Lotto Intermarché, Florian Stork of Tudor Pro Cycling, Pello Bilbao of Bahrain Victorious, Natnael Tesfatsion of Movistar, Adrià Pericas of UAE-XRG, and Felix Engelhardt of Jayco AlUla.
The group worked surprisingly well and quickly built a gap of 30 seconds to the chase group. The group entered the streets of Frankfurt with 16 km to go still with 30 seconds. Ineos was leading the chase of at least 50 riders along with Decathlon CMA CGM and Uno-X Mobility but they were struggling to make any inroads into the void. Large crowds had gathered along the banks of Main River as the attackers entered the city after crossing the Alte Brücke. Everyone in the front group was taking turns and they hit the finish line for one 6 km circuit remaining with 25 seconds.
Under 2 km to go, riders were taking good pulls but the bunch were closing. Zimmermann was constantly looking backwards, and for good reason. The time gap disappeared from the screen and when the helicopter shot pulled back, the gap was no more than 12 seconds. Pidcock led the group through 1 km to go and there was hesitation to pull through for the first time. The bunch were no more than 20 meters behind but Valgren went to the front and put down the remaining power in his legs. At 250 meters, Zimmermann started a long sprint and from halfway down the group. Bilbao tried to match the German Champion but didn't have the raw watts required to hold pace. Behind Zimmermann was Pidcock who tried to find space to come around. It looked like the Brit was going to be able to get out of the slip stream but he ran out of road. Zimmermann hit the line first in front of a roaring home crowd to take the victory. Pidcock was a disappointed second place with Tulett, maker of the winning move, taking third place. The peloton had caught the group right on the line but all 12 attackers finished before the first rider of the peloton, Tobias Lund Andresen of Decathlon CMA CGM. It was a phenomenal finale as the best possible outcome came to fruition for the organizers.