Deutschland Tour 2024 | Prologue | Wednesday, 21 August | Schweinfurt - Schweinfurt | 2.9 kilometres
Sporting assessment of the route
It will be a fast-paced introductory round in Schweinfurt: instead of a team presentation, there will be a prologue on 21 August, including a short introduction on the start ramp on the market square. Afterwards, the 120 professional cyclists who are expected to take part in the Deutschland Tour will have to prove their performance with maximum heart rate. There are three sharp bends on the way, which should be optimised at an average speed of 60 if you want to be in contention for the stage win and the first blue jersey of the tour. Last year, the British rider Ethan Vernon completed the then somewhat more winding prologue in St. Wendel as the day's winner at an average speed of 57.7 km/h.
Given the 2.9-kilometre route through the centre of the "ball bearing city" of Schweinfurt, the opening stage is unlikely to play a decisive role in the battle for overall victory - it tends to come down to fractions of a second. However, anyone who loses more than a few seconds to their rivals on the first day of the race is unlikely to have a chance of winning the Deutschland Tour 2024 in the final standings.
Incidentally, the city of Schweinfurt has a cycling tradition and plays a role in the history of bicycle technology. The company Fichtel & Sachs was once founded here and played an important role in the development of bicycle gears and hubs. In 1997, the US company SRAM took over the company's bicycle division and has had its German headquarters in Schweinfurt ever since.
Prologue of the Deutschland Tour 2024 - schedule, TV coverage and live stream
- Wednesday, 21 August 2024
- Start: Schweinfurt, Marktplatz; Finish: Schweinfurt, Niederwerrner Straße
- Start first rider: 13:48; Start last rider: 15:50
- Journey time: approx. three minutes
- Live broadcast: 14:10-16:00 (TV: BR; live stream: sportschau.de and Discovery Plus)
- The start list for the Deutschland Tour 2024
This is the Deutschland Tour 2024
The Deutschland Tour is entering its sixth round since its relaunch in 2018. This time, a total of 748 kilometres will be covered. In addition to the blue jersey for the overall winner (red last year, won by Ilan van Wilder), there is the green jersey for the best points scorer (2023 Ethan Vernon), the dotted jersey for the best climber (2023 Harm Vanhoucke) and a newly introduced white community jersey for the best rider of the day, which is voted for by fans via Instagram. The leading team in the team classification will also receive yellow back numbers.
The Deutschland Tour is organised by the Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Radsports (GFR), a subsidiary of the Amaury Sports Organisation (A.S.O.), which organises the Tour de France every year.
All stages at a glance
- Wednesday, 21 August, Prologue: Schweinfurt - Schweinfurt, 2.9 km
- Thursday, 22 August, 1st stage: Schweinfurt - Heilbronn, 176.3 km
- Friday, 23rd August, 2nd stage: Heilbronn - Schwäbisch Gmünd, 174.6 km
- Saturday, 24 August, 3rd stage: Schwäbisch Gmünd - Villingen-Schwenningen, 211.1 km
- Sunday, 25 August, 4th stage: Annweiler am Trifels - Saarbrücken, 182.7 km
- All stages at a glance
Everyman race
On the last day of the Deutschland Tour 2024 (25 August), amateur cyclists can take part in the "Cycling Tour" everyman race around Saarbrücken. There are two routes to choose from: one with 56 kilometres and around 600 metres of elevation gain and a longer route with 100 kilometres and around 1000 metres of elevation gain.
Newcomer Tour
The Newcomer Tour stops in Villingen-Schwenningen on 24 August and in Saarbrücken on 25 August. This talent show in women's cycling offers U17 riders the opportunity to prove themselves on two challenging one-day stages.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
