Race Report: Rund um Köln
09/04/2007, Köln (DE)

On the pace!


A group of circa 80 riders storming to the finish.
Strassacker's Nico Wernicke was clearly the fastest


Köln - After weeks of anxious waiting, uncertain of how the legs really are after the winter break, the 2007 T-Mobile Cycling Tour finally took off with Rund um Köln on Easter Monday. Due to the mild weather of late it was no suprise that the average participant was in better shape than for last year's edition, but more than 80 guys storming to the line after 103 km in superb conditions was also not exactly foreseen. The rather dangerous finale resulted in a bunch sprint clearly won by Team Strassacker's Nico Wernicke. Annette Kolf of the newly founded Team T-Mobile took top honours in the women's A-event, even though Elin Amundsen (bobteam) was celebrated as the winner at the victory ceremony in Cologne!

I entered and left Cologne with mixed feelings. I did not know how the legs would respond only two days after Flanders, and apart from that I wasn't too sure I'd be good enough in the first place to follow the first group - which was my main objective. That turned out not to be a problem. The race was quite nervous and most of the time I was sitting between 30th and 50th position within the first peloton. At some point, about halfway, there was a descent and a sharp corner to the left, after which the road went uphill. There I had to grit my teeth together briefly, but mainly because some jerk - pardon the language but I cannot think of any other term - just bumped me aside with his shoulders and handlebar! Later in the race I also saw him carelessly zigzagging through the group, causing abrupt braking manouvres and risking massive crashes. I memorised the fool's racing number and have his name. Hopefully I can forget it soon.

Prior to the event, there was a lot of debate on the sense or non-sense of the cobblestone climb to the Schloss Bensberg. Coming from Flanders I obviously found this debate on e.g. the RuK forum rather funny. I know already for a long time that Germans are, well, almost scared of cobblestones and they generally have no idea how to tackle such stretches. Before the race, I was dreaming that - if I was still in front - I would show them :-). However, I was a bit too far down the group when it mattered. Still, I was amazed about the panic reactions of some riders. One nearly crashed somehow and held up others - including myself. And those cobblestones turned out to be mere city centre stones! Very strange.

The result of being held up was that the first group split in two. Luckily, it only took about 3 km to close the small gap. And so a group of over 80 riders flew to Cologne. Of course there were attacks (I even joined one briefly) but it was my impression that the strongest teams were keeping things together to set up a sprint. On the line I estimated some 20-25 riders ahead of me - the results claim there were 39. Considering the many complaints on the RuK forum about the time registration and the result lists, I also have my doubts about my ranking, considering my own estimate. In fact, all riders between rank 22 and 41 have the same time - just how they differentiated between those 19 people I do not know.

I understand all those who complain about the time registration performed by the company MIKA timing. It seems several people started and finished the race together but are separated in the result list by minutes. And the women's race winner was initially ranked as a man, hence Elin got awarded the victory and the prizes. These are just two examples. Clearly, when people participate in an event labelled as a race they expect to see their efforts rewarded with a precise ranking and timing. About right is not good enough. Because it's part of the T-Mobile tour, which has implications on the starting blocks of upcoming races, points are not properly distributed. So people nag, some even feel cheated and who can blame them? A fee of fifty something euros is for many people still money. I find it hard to understand what could have gone wrong here. Cyclos are organised every week in France and Italy and these issues never occur over there.

That is why I kept my mixed feelings about RuK, even though for different reasons. Apart from the time registration, the organisation was superb with an extra plus for all the danger signs and accompanied flagging. The next event is Göttingen on 29 April. I like that race, I finished 41st in 2005 and 36th last year. Doing slightly better will be my goal!

FACT SHEET:

Name: Rund um Köln (FOCUS Challenge)
Date: 9 April 2007
Location: Köln
Type: Race (T-Mobile Cycling Tour)
Distance: 103 km
Hm: 1000Hm
My Result: Rank 40/1115 (f), 2:40:07 (netto 2:39:57)
Info: Website
Event rating: 2/5



Elin eventually second behind Annette Kolf