Marco Brenner (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) won the elite men’s road race at the German Championships in Bad Dürrheim after dropping breakaway companion Florian Lipowtiz (Bora-Hansgrohe) on the final climb with 7km remaining.
The pair were part of a five-man move that forged clear after just 20km of racing. Brenner and Lipowitz rid themselves of their fellow escapees with 35km remaining, and they duelled on the final lap of the course, with the Tudor rider emerging victorious.
Lipowitz was riding his first race since his promising Grand Tour debut at the Giro d’Italia was cut short by illness. The 23-year-old took the silver medal, 55 seconds down on Brenner, while Kim Heiduk (Ineos) claimed bronze at 2:35, just ahead of Ben Zwiehoff (Bora-Hansgrohe). Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek), the remaining member of the decisive early break, took fifth place, with the next chasing group coming in almost five minutes down.
Brenner, Lipowitz, Zwiehoff, Heiduk and Teutenberg quickly established a lead of two minutes in the break. With two riders out in front, Bora-Hansgrohe were content to control affairs in the peloton.
Former champion Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) was active in trying to bridge across, but he was unable to make much leeway with Bora-Hansgrohe marking him tightly, and it was apparent from a long way out that the break would go the distance.
Brenner looked the strongman in the early move, and he marked Lipowitz’s attack with 35km to go before dropping the Bora man in the run-in. Already a national champion as a junior, the 21-year-old’s victory here was another indication of his considerable potential.
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