Meron Teshome with 2nd place at ITT Nationals in Eritrea – Lechner takes great 15th in Germany

Patrick Lechner with 15^th place at André Greipel’s win in Erfurt with another good performance in a bunch sprint while Meron Teshome was taking silver medal behind Daniel Teklehaimanot.

It was the weekend where (almost) everywhere all over the world the countries were looking for their national champions. Most of them are allowed to wear those famous jerseys with the flags of their country on that everybody of the riders wants to wear throughout the next 12 months.

The nationals in Germany took place in a very old city named Erfurt. The history of this city goes back to the year 742 ac when it was first time officially named. And this city shows really a lot of this history when visiting it with its old houses and the huge cathedral in the city center. But not only the city has a huge tradition, also the German Championships do, as already so many famous names won this race and took the jersey with the black-red-gold ring on it, such as Erik Zabel, Jan Ullrich or Didi Thurau.

This time, all focus was on the two best sprinters in the world: André Greipel and Marcel Kittel. The latter was very motivated as he originally comes from Erfurt and it was his “home-race” and everything was set to welcome Kittel with the stripes after the race. But a lot of riders want to wear this beautiful jersey and the fight was on. 215 long kilometers, windy and fast. Almost 50 Kilometers on the clock for the first hour, suffering legs and hard fights for any position in the bunch. It was a real Championship. And when the end had come, it was the expected showdown in a bunch sprint final between the two giants of cycling. After a long sprint it was André Greipel who won for the third time the title of German Champion. And the young guy Max Walscheid from Giant –Alpecin left Marcel Kittel only the third place.

And what did the boys from Stradalli – BIKE AID do? They did great! They all fought a hard fight and brought Patrick Lechner in a good position and only with a chaotic final he missed a even better place than his 15^th. And also Niko Holler finished in the Top 20 with his 19^th rank.

Meanwhile in Eritrea: Meron Teshome took in a breathtaking fight with Daniel Teklehaimanot the silver medal only beaten by 34 seconds from the Eritrean hero and werarer of the polka-dot jersey in last year’s Tour de France. A great week-end for all Stradalli – BIKE AID riders! Well done!

Stradalli - Bike Aid's Patrick Lechner with 2nd Place in Bolanden – Niko Holler takes 6th in Landshut

Today was an exciting race day with 2 German classics at the same time. In Bolanden (Rhineland – Palatinum) and Landshut (Bavaria) the guys from Stradalli – BIKE AID proved again they're in great shape.

With its name “Rund um den Donnersberg” (means „thunder“ in German) the race in Bolanden already expected a lot. And indeed it is a race where all year the Elite of the German road cyclists come together to fight against each other and make them suffer a lot. It is one of the few remaining real road races in Germany with 140 hard kilometers. Every single lap from 17 in total there is a 1,5 kilometer climb to leave behind. It doesn't sound  really long, and compared to the alps it is really not, but everyone who ever did a race like this, perfectly knows that if you have to do this 17 times, that is what kills you at the end. And especially when there is a hard sprint at the top of the climb for a prime: that is even worse.

After the first or even second lap everything still feels quite comfortable but then, the 5th or 6th lap, the suffering starts. And you just wish you wouldn’t do this kind of racing.

What is the solution for a situation like this? Not so easy to answer but today three guys found a solution after lap 4 and made their way alone after the top of the climb. Among them: Patrick Lechner from team Stradalli – BIKE AID. He already proved to be in great shape in the Tour of Ireland and after giving his body the needed rest, he continues with great racing! The 3 lads in front harmonized well and quite soon they had a comfortable gap between them and the main bunch of 4:30 minutes.

As they went into the last lap, the gap remained at the same time and it was sure they will race for the victory. After a breathtaking final it was Simon Nuber from Team Möbel Ehrman who won the race and beat Patrick Lechner in the Sprint. The 2nd place is a great result for Patrick and the team, and Meron Amanuel rounded the day up with his 7th place in the following group.

Far more south the second hard race took place. 130 kilometers with more than 2500 meters of climbing makes the “Grand Prix of Baier Bike sport world” to one of the most prestigious races in the south of Germany. Nikodemus Holler on his full carbon Bitonto road bike also made his way into the break-away othat was dominated by the host team with 4 people in it. After a lot of attacks and a lot of rain, Nikodemus tried to put all his cards on the table in the final lap and attacked the break. 1 Kilometer to the finish line the guys behind could catch him with all they had and it was Florenz Knauer who won the race. Niko finished on a great 6th place and continues to show he's in great shape.

A really good race day with good results from the guys of Stradalli – BIKE AID! Well done and keep going next week at the German national Championships!