Tour de Berlin

Tour report by Marc Benkert

After a 2-year break ....

it was finally time again on 19.08.2022: At 14:02 the Romanian guest team of A.S.C. Olimpic Zarnesti started first in the team time trial and thus opened the Tour de Berlin 2022 - a tour report by Marc Benkert.
For the international Youngsters Race the organizers had, the Berlin Cycling Association and Heuer cyclingThe organizers chose three attractive venues: Tempelhofer Flugfeld, the Olympic Stadium and Karl-Marx-Allee, not far from the Alex. Two half stages each on Friday and Saturday and the final circuit race on Sunday lay ahead of the riders.

The team time trial was the first event. In the U13, the team of LV Berlin won in a time of 15:56 min four seconds ahead of Olimpic Zarnesti, to which Gerry Horn had been assigned as an individual rider. Another 14 seconds behind followed LV Hamburg in third place. Thus, the Berliners with Paul Preuss (RC Charlottenburg) and Raphael Richter (Svg.Zehlendorfer Eichhörnchen) from the males and Karla Müller (SC Berlin) from the femals had the best cards to conquer the yellow jersey, which was awarded for the first time after the subsequent circuit race.
But it should become a seconds poker! The race ended in a mass sprint, in which Piet Würzner (LV Hamburg/Harvestehuder RV) prevailed over Ole Braun (LV Hamburg/FC St.Pauli) and Paul Anton (RSG Hannover). On the way Gerry Horn (Bikestore Racing) had won 3 bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint, but as he came away empty-handed with 4th place in the finish, it was not enough to make up the 4-second gap. So the first yellow jerseys in the U13 went to Karla Müller and to Paul Preuss. The green jerseys were worn by the stage winner Piet Würzner and the stage winner Karla Müller.

The U15 also played poker for seconds. LV Thuringia won the team time trial in a phenomenal time of 18:56 min (41.8 km/h) and thus had a comfortable lead of 35 sec and 43 sec over the second and third-placed teams from SC Berlin and Schleswig Holstein. But in the circuit race, the Thuringian riders missed the jump into a leading group of 3, which broke away in the penultimate lap. The stage was won by Julius Thomas (RSG Frankfurt/Eintracht Frankfurt) ahead of Anton Arndt (SC Berlin) and Samuel Burger (Schleswig Holstein/RST Lübeck). Arndt had a 33 sec lead over the first rider of the Thuringians in the peloton and with the 4 sec time bonus he had made up the 35 sec deficit from the team time trial. Max Jerzyna (LV Thüringen/SSV Gera 1990) had gained 2 seconds in a bonus sprint on the way and was tied, but because of the better stage placing the first yellow jersey went to Arndt. The first green jersey went to stage winner Julius Thomas.
The girls did well in the field and since Marie Louise Raake (LV Berlin/SC Berlin) had ridden the best time among the non all-male teams in the team time trial with LV Berlin, she took over the first yellow jersey in the U15w. Since she was also the first girl in the finish of the circuit race in 15th place, she was allowed to put on the green jersey right away.
Also the girls of the age group U17w was offered a starting opportunity, unfortunately only three Amazons of the team SC Berlin Femmes could take it, which in turn left a powerful impression with their time trial suits and helmets at the MZF. In the RR Pia Tittel was the first of this trio and took yellow as well as green jersey.

The course at the Olympic Stadium was a tough one. It was not completely flat, technically demanding and also peppered with a gravel and a cobblestone section. Rain was also expected to set in during the course of the day. First up was an individual time trial. Since a loop of the course had to be completed twice, the length was a little more than 4 km. At 11:00 am, patron Jens Voigt sent the first rider on the track. And Marie Louise Raake was to be the only one to defend her yellow jersey in the EZF.
The fastest times were set by Piet Würzner (U13m, 8:03 min), Mara Persoiu-Taratu (U13w, 8:34 min, Olimpic Zarnesti), Max Jerzyna (U15m, 6:57 min), Isabell Schebesta (U15w, 8:02 min, LV Niederösterreich) and Ella Grünberg (U17w, 8:03 min, SC Berlin Femmes). The yellow jerseys were worn by Gerry Horn (U13m), Mara Persoiu-Taratu (U13w), Max Jerzyna (U15m), Marie Louise Raake (U15w) and Ella Grünberg (U17w) after the individual time trial.

Then it was the time for the sprinters in the sprint eliminator. On an approx. 200 m long track, the sprinters sprinted for all their hard work. The final participants were determined in preliminary heats in knockout mode (half of the riders progressed in each case). In the final there were points for the green jersey. Especially in the female classes this competition was decisive for the awarding of the green jersey, because the female had a hard time to get points in the sprint rounds in the field with the male. The sprint winners in the individual classes were Ole Braun (U13m, LV Hamburg/FC St.Pauli), Mara Persoiu-Taratu (U13w), David Moritz (U15m, SC Berlin), Imke Menting (U15w, AR&TV DE A) and Ella Grünberg (U17w). In the U13m Gerry Horn took over the green jersey, in the U15m Raul Esch (LV Thüringen/RSC Waltershausen-Gotha), in all other classes the green jersey was taken over by the winners of the sprint eliminator.

The last race of the day, the final circuit race, turned out to be the decisive stage for the overall standings. In the U13 the great hour of Karla Müller strucked. Early on, a leading group of 4 set off, with 3 male and Karla! And this group should have driven out to the finish about 2 min ahead of the rest. Karla finished in an excellent 3rd place and regained the green and the yellow jersey. Confusion, on the other hand, among the male: the previous leaders Gerry Horn and Piet Würzner were separated by just four seconds before the stage and both were in the leading group. Piet also won this stage ahead of Paul Anton and when Gerry crossed the finish line only 29 sec later, it seemed clear who was the new wearer of the yellow jersey. But Gerry had crashed in the last corner and was finally scored with the time of the winner because of the 3 km, so he kept his yellow jersey, but Piet had come up to one second because of the time bonus.

In the U15/U17 an elimination race developed. In the end, the head group was no longer 10 strong and Matties Deba (Schleswig Holstein, RV Kiel) attacked from it 3 laps before the end. He never had much of a lead, but his solo ride was deservedly rewarded with the stage win. Max Jerzyna in 2nd place of the stage defended his yellow jersey and Raul Esch in 3rd place his green jersey. In the U15 girls, Dutch rider Imke Menting was the only one to stay in a second, larger group and this strong performance was then rewarded with taking the yellow jersey. In the U17w Pia finished about 1 minute ahead of her Ella and thus took over the yellow jersey again from her teammate.

Sunday - the Karl-Marx-Allee with sunshine and a large crowd of spectators had the appropriate setting for the conclusion of the tour. The organizers had designed the rules in such a way that 3 time bonus sprints should again provide for tension in the overall classification. In the U13 category, the race was dominated by the duel between Piet and Gerry. Piet won the first bonus sprint and had thus equalized in the GC. The second sprint went to Gerry and so he was again one second ahead. Gerry also won the third sprint, but his lead was less than 4 sec and so the final sprint had to decide the round win! Again Gerry won and Piet had to pay tribute to his effort of the past days and came only on 3rd place, but could console himself with the green jersey and 2nd place in the GC. Flavius Enescu (A.S.C.Olimpic Zarnesti) sprinted to 2nd place in the stage. Karla Müller came also in this stage on a super 4th place and thus won the U13w.

In the U15/U17 women's race, there was much more tactics involved. Since the overall leaders had a comfortable lead and were not in danger of losing their lead through a bonus sprint, it was enough for them to keep an eye on their main competitors. Each of them succeeded and Max Jerzyna (U15m), Imke Menting (U15w) and Pia Tittel (U17w) were the overall winners of the first Tour de Berlin. The stage itself was prey of the fast men from TC Berlin with Peter Lukas Schaal on 1st place and David Moritz on 3rd place. The rider from the Romanian Doltcini Pro Regional Team finished a good second stage place.

Afterwards, all winners were happily honored with the TV tower in the background and are waiting for the next event in 2023.