Thanks to a solid performance on the final climb, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux has now two riders in the top ten of the provisional classification of the Deutschland Tour after the third stage which was considered the queen stage.
All day, Georg Zimmermann and Laurens Huys were well protected by their teammates on dry roads. But it started raining cats and dogs on the final climb towards Schauinsland (12 km at 7%), on which they fought to finish fifth and eighth respectively.
Zimmermann is also fifth in the provisional classification and best German rider, with Laurens Huys provisionally in ninth position. Alexander Kristoff remains in the lead of the points classification and will start the final stage around Stuttgart in the green jersey.
« After finishing my second Tour de France I had a good feeling in training. I could prepare well for the BEMER Cyclassics and the Deutschland Tour, two races on home soil. I benefited from this today, I’m happy about how I managed to follow the best climbers on the final climb. By attacking in the last 3 kilometer I was hoping to join Bilbao. But in the final kilometer I started to feel that the tank was empty. We can say that it was a good day, even though I’m critical for myself, thinking that the result could have been a bit better if I changed some details. Tomorrow in the last stage we will race only 100 kilometer from my home. I will try my best to finish as good as possible in the final classification. We will also focus on protecting Alexander Kristoff, hoping that he can again survive the explosive final and sprint towards a second stage win! »
