Proudly all SARIS ROUVY Sauerland riders reached the finish line of the Tour of Germany on Sunday, in Stuttgart. Although the strain after five exhausting days was written on everyone's face, the riders from Sauerland could be satisfied with their performance in the midst of the world class. The praise from all sides came especially from the attacking riding style of the youngsters and the strong performance of Johannes Adamietz in the mountains. The racing team, which is based in the Sauerland region, thus justified its invitation to the biggest race in Germany.
Sauerland at the top every day
On each day, there were attacks directly after the start and with that ongoing breakaways. The Stockman twins performed particularly well. On the stage from Freiburg to Schauinsland Mountain, the twins even both made it into the group of the day and stayed ahead of the field until the final climb.
"As expected, the World Tour teams in particular went full throttle in the finale to fight for the day's victory and win the overall classification. Nevertheless, with every attack there is always the hope that the group will make it to the finale and the underdog wins", explains Wolfgang Oschwald, who was present as 1st sporting director in the race.
The Sauerland Team almost managed to get into this situation and surprise on the stage to Marburg. While Abram Stockman had already been riding all day with three breakaway companions and sometimes four minutes ahead of the peloton, Johannes Adamietz was able to keep up with the best in the world a little further into the peloton. When on one of the last steep climbs Adam Yates and other top favorites went all in, "the Sauerland Bergfloh"Adamietz was able to stay with them.
Suddenly, he and Abram Stockmann found themselves in a 16-riders leading group that was only consisting of World Tour riders. "Our race to Marburg was a blast - unfortunately the German Bora Hansgrohe team had missed the break and did everything they could to get back to the front. This had brought back numerous riders into the final phase who had already been left behind and the winner Alexander Kristoff prevented the coup," stated team manager Heiko Volkert.
Johannes Adamietz among the world elite
Nevertheless, Johannes Adamietz, the man from the Sauerland Team for the overall classification, constantly rode further ahead through the mountains. Especially in the climb to the Schauinsland and on the tough stretch to and in Stuttgart he showed his potential. The best rider by far of the so-called continental teams no longer had any respect for the big names.
"On Saturday to the Schauinsland we had a whole new experience. On the last kilometers the race situation became super confusing. In the approach to the mountain it rained properly and numerous riders were left behind. This held up the column of support cars, visibility was poor, everyone was fighting on his own. While prominent riders such as Simon Geschke, Bauke Mollema, Egan Bernal and Co were gradually reported by Radio Tour as having been dropped, Adamietz held on to the front. This is the first time in the history of the team that we have been able to ride at the top international level," NRW coach Wolfgang Oschwald reported enthusiastically.
Numerous TV minutes collected
SARIS ROUVY Sauerland was one of the few teams to arrive in Stuttgart complete. Due to the offensive driving style, the team was able to collect a lot of TV minutes. The race was broadcast live daily on Eurosport and ARD or ZDF. "We directly notice the media presence at races. If we make it to the top, our accounts in the social media are rapping. We've already noticed that this year with other races that came on Eurosport, for example. But the broadcast by ARD and ZDF adds even more momentum," said the team's controller, Heiko Volkert, expressing his satisfaction.
Adam Yates wins the Tour, Sauerland´s Johannes Adamietz best domestic rider in 22nd place overall
The Tour of Germany led the 20 teams from Weimar via Meiningen, Marburg and Freiburg to Stuttgart. The stages were between 150 and 200 kilometers long. The race through Germany attracted thousands of spectators to the route every day and was a source of enthusiasm. Jon Knolle, Per Christian Münstermann, Johannes Adamietz, Julian Borresch and the twins Abram and Michiel Stockmann started from the SARIS ROUVY Sauerland Team. The winner was the Brit Adam Yates from Team Ineos Grenadier ahead of Pello Bilbao (Team Bahrein) from Spain and Ruben Guerreiro (Team EF Education First) from Portugal. The best rider from Sauerland was Johannes Adamietz in 22nd place. 119 professionals were at the start.