Tour of Germany - Zimmermann aims for podium - Buchmann disillusioned

Zimmermann comments

The 24-year-old from Augsburg is just one second off third place ahead of the final stage on Sunday. "I will do my best to do as well as possible in the overall standings," said Zimmermann ahead of the 186.6 kilometres from Schiltach to Stuttgart.

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The professional from the Belgian Intermarché-WantyGobert team is particularly motivated by the proximity to his roots. "Tomorrow we will be riding just 100 kilometres from my home," said Zimmermann after his fifth place on Saturday's queen stage.

Less than 30 seconds behind Yates

On the climb up the 1207 metre high Schauinsland, Zimmermann stole the show from Germany's climbing ace Emanuel Buchmann, among others, and crossed the finish line just 29 seconds after the day's winner Adam Yates.

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Buchmann, on the other hand, was disillusioned after starting the stage with big goals. "My legs closed up quickly on the final climb and I was left behind relatively early on. There's not much you can say, it just wasn't enough to keep up with the front runners," said the rider from Ravensburg, who finished more than one and a half minutes behind Zimmermann.

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