Never before has a German professional cyclist won the time trial and road race championships in quick succession. Defending champion Nils Politt could accomplish the feat today in the Black Forest.
Professional cyclist Nils Politt held both titles in the German championships for at least a few hours. “I actually more or less managed that. I was double champion for two days,” he said with a laugh on Saturday.
Today Politt wants to defend the road title in the Black Forest and complete the double success. The participant in the Tour de France from the Bora-hansgrohe team could be the first German driver to win both championships one after the other.
After his first place in the individual time trial on Friday, the 29-year-old from Cologne hopes to win the road race over the 215 kilometers between Donaueschingen and Bad Dürrheim. “I think this is a track worthy of a championship,” he said. Last year, Politt in the Sauerland became German champions for the first time. “It will be a very difficult race,” said Politt, who is in good shape. “Of course, many will look at me.” But he also made it clear: “We’re trying to defend the title as a team.”
Buchmann wants the title
Bora colleague and tour starter Emanuel Buchmann also wants to keep the title, which he himself won in 2015, in his own ranks. He clouded the prospect of Politt’s double success a bit: “I don’t take it into account, it would certainly be nice. It’s important that someone from the team wins. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Nils or me.”
In the morning at 11.30 a.m. the professional cyclists start with a neutral start, after five hours the riders, including Lennard Kämna, Maximilian Schachmann, Georg Steinhauser and Maximilian Walscheid, are expected at the finish line in Bad Dürrheim.
On Saturday, Liane Lippert defended her women’s title and won the German road cycling championship for the third time. The 25-year-old from Friedrichshafen from the Movistar Team women left early and crossed the finish line as a soloist.