‘Same procedure as every year’. That could be the conclusion after the prologue of the Deutschland Tour 2024. Three riders from Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe finished the short opening time trial in the top 10. Just like a year ago. Once again, Danny van Poppel was the team's fastest rider.
This time, the start of the only German stage race led through Schweinfurt - the home town of SRAM's largest site in Europe. Only 2.9 kilometres long, the prologue was an intense effort for all riders. Full gas from the start ramp to the finish line. More than 3 minutes at the limit. Danny van Poppel completed the course in 3'20"86 and was just 4 seconds behind the day's winner Jonathan Milan in 6th place. Marco Haller and Jordi Meeus were only a little less than a second slower than Danny von Poppel, finishing 8th and 9th respectively.
Danny van Poppel
"It was good, even though it was quite hard. I think I still felt the Tour de Pologne in my legs. Now we're in a good place, it's a realistic place because there are super good riders here. I'm happy and I'm still in the mix for the GC."
Marco Haller
“I like these short time trials in the city. It was not as technical as last year, but it was a circuit that suits me. I'm quite happy with the performance and the solid time. It was good to open up the legs again.”
Stage 1 leads from Schweinfurt to Heilbronn tomorrow. A short but steep climb awaits in the finale, inviting late attacks.