Deutschland Tour - Germany's only stage race for the men's elite from 23 - 27 August 2023 with many side events: TK Cycling Tour, "kinder Joy of Moving mini tour", Newcomer Tour & Expo Tour
He took over the red jersey on the 1st stage to Merzig and didn't let go until the end: Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) won the Deutschland Tour 2023. On the final stage over 175.6 kilometers from Hanover to Bremen, the Belgian didn't take any risk and rolled safely with the peloton to the finish, which was lined with thousands of spectators. Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) won the stage in a bunch sprint ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Marius Mayrhofer (Team dsm-firmenich).
The German continental teams with Silas Köch, Jan-Marc Temmen (both Saris Rouvy Sauerland), Tobias Nolde, Dominik Röber (both P&S Benotti) and Vinzent Dorn (Bike Aid) used the flat course of the last stage to present themselves once again. With 27 kilometers to go, all but Nolde were caught up. He held on a little longer but was swallowed at the arrival in Bremen. In the meantime, the peloton was split in two for a few kilometers by cross winds, but this had no effect on the finale outcome.
Bremen, 27 August - Once through the city centre of Bremen on a racing bike - and on closed roads without traffic. More than 2300 amateur athletes enjoyed this experience at racing speed on Sunday as part of the TK Cycling Tour. The participants formed the vanguard for the elite riders of the Deutschland Tour, who also chose their winner in the afternoon on Konsul-Smidt-Straße in Bremen's Überseestadt.
The starting point for the two courses on offer was the Weserstadion. The athletes were divided between the 66-kilometre "Bremer Runde" and the "Weserrunde", on which 106 kilometres had to be completed. Both courses took the starting fields to the southern outskirts of Bremen and back to the Hanseatic city. In addition to the strong sporting competition, wind and weather were also relentless rivals.
Nobody really had him on their radar, but in the end he was faster than all the others: In Essen, Madis Mihkels (Intermarché - Circus - Wanty) was stronger than the second-placed Danny van Poppel (Bora - hansgrohe) and Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in third place after 173.8 kilometres on stage 3. The 20-year-old is one of the youngest winners of the Deutschland Tour.
"I was an outsider, but I really believed that I am strong enough in this tough final", the Estonian stage winner said. "With 300 meters to go, the Bora-hansgrohe leadout in front of me was already going full speed. And that's when I realized that I have a lot more in my legs", said Mihkels, who has only one stage win in the Tour of Estonia in his professional career so far. "This is undoubtedly my greatest success so far."
Essen, 26 August - Everything was perfect. The scenery in Essen with many spectators at the circuit, the perfect weather, and in addition the athletic performance of the U17 girls, who were faster than expected at the sighting race of the BDR. In the end, Sophia Schrödel (SV Marienstein) won with the same time as Julia Servay (RSC Biberach).
Exhausted but happy, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar) celebrated his third win of the season in the drizzle of Winterberg on the 3rd stage of the Deutschland Tour 2023. Ten seconds behind, team mate Alex Aranburu had to give full throttle until the finish line and sprint for second place. He prevailed over Kevin Vermaerke (dsm-firmenich). Overall leader Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) finished fifth and defended the red jersey.
After a stage win at the Tour of the Alps and a successfull Austrian Championship, Mühlbergerwas not sure about another win until shortly before the finish line in Winterberg. "At the 300-metre mark I saw that the field was relatively far back and it shouldn't be a problem anymore. But the 300 metres were endless, the lactate was coming out of my ears. I can't remember a race where I ever went that deep," said the 29-year-old.
With the first victory of his career, Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) took over the red jersey at the Deutschland Tour. The Belgian won the 1st stage over 179 kilometres to Merzig in a sprint of a group of three ahead of Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers).Van Wilder now leads the overall ranking with nine seconds ahead of Großschartner and ten ahead of Sivakov.
The 23-year-old thus also gets the jersey of the best young rider, which will be worn by Kevin Vermaerke (dsm -firmenich) as a substitute. The US-American is eligible for the jersey as the third best young professional because Ethan Vernon (Soudal Quick-Step), who is still ahead of him in the ranking, was able to defend the green jersey of the best in points. The blue jersey for the leader in the mountain classification, which was awarded for the first time, was won by Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Dstny).
Briton Ethan Vernon (Soudal Quick-Step) has won the opening race of the Deutschland Tourin St. Wendel. The 22-year-old completed the prologue over 2.3 kilometers with a winning time of 2:23.57 minutes -an average of 57.9 km/h. Second was Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), one and a half seconds behind, with third place going to Dutchman Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor), just under three seconds behind the winner.
Vernon collected with his victory all three jerseys of the day to be awarded. The all-rounder is first in the overall standings and will therefore wear the red jersey tomorrow. As the best young professional, white also belongs to him, which will initially be taken by the 24-year-old Zijlaard deputy. Green for the best in points goes to Pedersen by proxy. The mountain jersey has not yet been awarded. As the best German, Nils Politt (Bora -hansgrohe) rode to 5th place, one place ahead of Jannik Steimle (Soudal Quick-Step). Both were separated by only tenths of a second from the posdium. 43 riders finished less than ten seconds behind.
The teams for the Deutschland Tour 2023 have been decided. In addition to the 16 international teams from the WorldTour and the second division, four German UCI Continental teams have also received an invitation. The Deutschland Tour begins on 23 August in St. Wendel, Saarland, and runs over five race days to Bremen.
This year, the coveted invitation to Germany's most important cycling event was extended to the teams Bike Aid, P&S Benotti, rad-net Oßwald and Saris Rouvy Sauerland Team. The Deutschland Tour is the only German stage race where the talents of the domestic UCI Continental teams can compete with the Tour de France teams.