Zimmermann thus secured the 14th German victory in the 63rd edition of the race. The last time Pascal Ackermann achieved this was in 2019, when the cycling classic on 1 May was still a race for the sprinters. With now 3300 metres of elevation gain over 211 kilometres and a further increase in difficulty compared to the previous year, certain climbing skills are required alongside a portion of finishing speed.

German champion Zimmermann was part of a twelve-man group that broke away from the field on the third and final crossing of the Mammolshainer Stich. Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco AlUla) were also part of the group, finishing the race in ninth and eleventh place, thus ensuring the best German result across the board in years, even apart from the victory.

"This is the biggest victory of my career," said Zimmermann at the finish, his fifth overall as a professional. And it came as more than a surprise. After all, the 28-year-old had not been able to put himself in the limelight at all during the course of the season. He had not managed a top 15 result in 23 race days to date. "My plan was to go into the last corner from the back and then attack. However, the pace was very high and I feared that I had miscalculated. At 300 metres I set off with momentum and rode the last 150 metres from the front. I threw everything I had into the pedalling and hoped that no-one else would catch me. Fortunately, that's what happened. I really wanted to win a race in this beautiful jersey. All the better that it worked out here in Frankfurt."

Eschborn-Frankfurt 2026 - Results

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How Eschborn-Frankfurt 2026 went

The German riders were keen to attack right from the start in their home race. Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) and Lennard Kämna (Lidl - Trek) failed with their early attacks. However, Jonas Rutsch (Lotto Intermarché) then managed to form the group of the day with Tudor's Aivaras Mikutis, Matyas Kopecky (Unibet Rose Rockets) and the TotalEnergies duo Samuel Leroux and Thomas Garchignard, who were the first to open up a small gap.

And the gap was huge. Over the Sandplacken on the way to the first Feldberg climb, the quintet built up a lead of more than seven minutes. On the way to the second passage of the highest point of the race, the gap initially decreased before it was back up to six minutes by the first crossing of the Mammolshainer Stich. Over the Feldberg, however, Rutsch and Co. only managed to save just under 300 minutes. There were still 100 kilometres to go at this point.

The leading group split up for the second time in Mammolshain. Rutsch and Garchignard left their fellow breakaway riders behind, while Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Jamie Meehan (Cofidis) attacked from the peloton. With 66 kilometres to go, the trio had docked at the front and Leroux and Kopecky were also back in the race. The lead over the peloton was just under a minute.

Preliminary decision in Mammolshain: Group of twelve breaks away on the last pass

Before crossing Mammolshain for the third time, Wellens and Verstrynge, with their fresh legs, broke away from the rest, who then disappeared back into the field. Verstrynge was no longer able to follow Wellens at the stitch itself. But he too was quickly caught by a twelve-man group that broke away from the peloton. Among them were the three Germans Zimmermann, Engelhardt and Stork as well as Pidcock and Tulett and also Pello Bilbao (Bahrain - Victorious), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Michael Valgren (EF Education EasyPost).

Over the remaining 30 kilometres or so, the group kept the peloton relatively constant with a gap of around 30 seconds. It was only in the urban canyons of Frankfurt that there was trouble at the front, so that four kilometres before the finish everything smelled of a break-up. The breakaway only had a few metres to go, but that should be enough. At the finish, the group sprinted for victory just ahead of the peloton. Stork was in a good starting position, but was unable to maintain his speed. Instead, Zimmermann shot past everyone else from the back of the group - including Pidcock, who was very annoyed as a result - and was able to celebrate at the Alte Oper.