Felix Engelhardt pulled off a surprise victory to claim the title at the German Road Championships in the Thuringian Forest. The 25-year-old triumphed in temperatures of over 35 degrees after 191.1 kilometres, with the race starting and finishing in Bad Liebenstein, winning the sprint from a five-man leading group, having been dropped on the final climb. Second and third places went to Lennart Jasch and Nico Denz.
For Engelhardt, who won the European Championship title in the U23 category in 2022, this is one of the greatest achievements of his cycling career. He can now make his debut at the Tour de France, which gets underway in Barcelona on Saturday, wearing the champion’s jersey.
In the women’s race, Franziska Koch had clinched the title for the third time in a row the previous day. The Paris-Roubaix winner triumphed after 107 kilometres, ahead of former champion Liane Lippert and Justyna Czapla. Koch had already triumphed in the time trial on Friday.
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