Franziska Koch (DSM-firmenich-PostNL) is the new German road champion after she beat Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM) in a three-up sprint in in Bad Dürrheim.
Lippert was chasing her third successive title, and her fourth in total, but she had to settle for the silver medal after Koch sprang a surprise by opening her sprint with some 300m still to race.
The winning move took shape on the toughest climb to Öfingen with 15km to go, when Koch and Niedermaier were the only riders who could follow Lippert’s searing acceleration. They were all part of a selection of a dozen or so riders that had formed on the front of the race with 70km or so remaining.
Once Lippert, Koch and Niedermaier forged clear, it was immediately apparent that they would fight it out for the medals, with the chasing group fragmenting on the run-in.
After the final ascent of Aasen failed to separate the leading trio, the race came down to a sprint. Lippert was the obvious favourite, but Koch played her hand perfectly, making her move from distance to land her first professional win.
Linda Riedmann (Visma-Lease a Bike) clipped away from the chasers to take fourth, a minute down, while Romy Kasper (Human Powered Health) beat Hannah Ludwig (Cofidis) to fifth place.
Results
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