Tour of Germany 2021 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

August 28, 2021

Tour of Germany 2021 – Stage 3 – Ilmenau – Erlangen : 193,9 km

The Deutschland Tour is one of the oldest stage-races in the world, starting its life back in 1911, but it has really struggled to establish itself on the racing calendar, experiencing several long hiatuses throughout the 20th and early 21st century. The race was picked up by ASO in 2018 however and since then we’ve seen two revitalised editions of the Deutschland Tour. With the new races following a four-day format, rather than the old nine-day format, the battle for the general classification rages throughout, making for one thrilling and action-packed race. The new four-day format is very different to the older editions and does away with the time-trial in favour of four Classic-esque stages. Each stage is like a one-day race, with the most consistent finisher across the four taking the overall title.

Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohë) won the third stage of the Deutschland Tour, escaping on a small climb eight kilometres from the finish with Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Victorious) and thwarting the ambitions of the sprinters’ teams who had expected the stage to once again end in a bunch finish.

Politt’s victory with the accompanying ten bonus seconds, coupled with an eleven-second time gap over the peloton also gave him the overall race lead. His teammate Pascal Ackermann drops to second place overall, eight seconds behind Politt.

The lure of bonus seconds on a small climb at 8.4km from the finish provoked a flurry of attacks from the peloton, and, from this small group, Politt attacked multiple times until he soloed to victory.

“It was planned to sprint with Pascal [Ackermann],” Politt said at the finish, “but after the bonus seconds we had a small group and then I decided to attack. At first, I was not sure if I could go, I was asking the sports director on the radio if I had the freedom. He said if you are alone with Dylan Teuns then you can go. It was a little bit of a gamble because he had [Phil] Bauhaus in the peloton and I had Pascal Ackermann. I escaped from Dylan, I came in alone and from this point everything was perfect.”

“We have to figure out a good plan for tomorrow now. For sure Quickstep will try something. We’ll have to see if there’s a sprint tomorrow in Nürnberg, but it will be a tough race.”

How it unfolded

For the third day in a row, rain fell on the peloton as, clad in waterproofs and arm-warmers, it traversed through the medieval cobbled towns and forests of the Bavarian countryside.

The Stützerbach Climb was the first climb of the day, arriving after just six kilometres, and multiple riders launched attacks from the peloton to gain mountain points. Eventually, Jannis Peter (German National Team) was victorious, taking three points, Louis Vervaeke (Alpecin-Fenix) took two and Stephan Bassett (Rally Cycling) mopped up the final one point.

Vervaeke, who began the day jointly leading the mountains classification with Kyle Murphy (Rally Cycling), moved into the outright lead with his second place.

These attackers were absorbed back into the peloton and the breakaway formed shortly afterwards. Henri Uhlig (German National Team), Bert De Backer (B&B Hotels), Julian Lino (Bike Aid) and Abram Stockman (Team SKS Sauerland NRW) escaped for the majority of the stage, but the high pace in the peloton doomed their endeavours from the start.

Bahrain-Victorious, UAE Team Emirates and Bora-Hansgrohë controlled the race for their respective sprinters and ensured that the gap to the breakaway hovered at around two and a half minutes.

The breakaway remained out front for the intermediate sprint in Strullendorf though it was largely uncontested; only Uhlig attacked while his breakaway companions rolled through behind him. He won the maximum five points with Stockman and Lino taking the remaining points in second and third, respectively.

In the ever-present game of cat and mouse that marks the interactions between the peloton and the breakaway, there is always a point at which the peloton suddenly awakens to the danger posed by the breakaway. As the time gap remained at two minutes with less than 20km to go, Deceuninck-Quickstep also committed to the chase for the first time, sending Remi Cavagna to ride on the front of the peloton

The steepest part of the Marloffstein Climb marked the entry to the finishing circuit, and it was on these slopes that the newly Deceuninck-led peloton began to reel in the breakaway.

Defiantly, de Backer lifted the pace correspondingly in the break and his attack distanced Stockman.

Ten kilometres later, various riders began to catapult themselves from the peloton, in the hope of gaining bonus seconds on a small climb 8.4km from the finish and the resulting injection of pace hastened the breakaway catch. Marcel Meisen (Alpecin-Fenix) took the three bonus seconds.

This group of general classification contenders split the peloton and though Jannick Steimle (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) attempted to neutralise the attacks that followed to ensure a bunch sprint for Mark Cavendish, Politt proved too strong.

Continually attacking with Teuns, Politt eventually distanced the Belgian and soloed to an impressive victory. Teuns held on for second place, and in the bunch sprint behind Ackermann took third.

Results :
1 Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 4:25:15
2 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:11
3 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:12
4 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 John Degenkolb (Ger) German National Team
6 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
7 Marius Mayrhofer (Ger) Team DSM
8 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
9 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team
10 Johannes Hodapp (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
11 Jonas Koch (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
12 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
13 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
14 Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
15 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
16 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
17 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
18 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
19 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
20 Pirmin Benz (Ger) German National Team
21 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
22 Tom Lindner (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik
23 Justin Wolf (Ger) Bike Aid
24 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
25 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling
26 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
27 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
28 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
29 Jordi Lopez Caravaca (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
30 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
31 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep
32 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
33 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
34 David van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
35 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM
36 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
37 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
38 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
39 Fabio Van Den Bossche (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
40 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
41 Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
42 Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
43 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) German National Team
44 Joshua Huppertz (Ger) Team Lotto-Kern Haus
45 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
46 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
47 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
48 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
49 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation
50 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
51 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
52 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
53 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
54 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
55 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
56 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
57 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
58 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:20
59 Stephen Bassett (USA) Rally Cycling 0:00:24
60 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team 0:00:32
61 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:38
62 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
63 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:51
64 Michiel Stockman (Bel) Team SKS Sauerland NRW 0:00:54
65 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:00
66 Julian Lino (Fra) Bike Aid 0:01:35
67 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
68 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:01:56
69 Sven Thurau (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
70 Syver Wærsted (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
71 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
72 Jakob Geßner (Ger) German National Team
73 Dominik Röber (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik
74 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
75 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
76 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team
77 Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
78 Valentin Retailleau (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
79 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
80 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:02:19
81 Jan-Marc Temmen (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:02:33
82 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
83 Michel Aschenbrenner (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik
84 Marti Marquez Roman (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
85 Danny van der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma
86 Kim Alexander Heiduk (Ger) Team Lotto-Kern Haus
87 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team 0:03:29
88 Julius Johansen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
89 Roman Duckert (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
90 Abram Stockman (Bel) Team SKS Sauerland NRW 0:03:34
91 Pierre-Pascal Keup (Ger) Team Lotto-Kern Haus
92 Jon Knolle (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
93 Johannes Adamietz (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
94 Dawit Yemane (Eri) Bike Aid
95 Christian Maximilian Koch (Ger) Team Lotto-Kern Haus
96 Jannis Peter (Ger) German National Team 0:05:05
97 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
98 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
99 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
100 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
101 Azzedine Lagab (Alg) Bike Aid 0:05:09
102 Dominik Bauer (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
103 Tobias Nolde (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik
104 Ben King (USA) Rally Cycling
105 Alex Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
106 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
107 Robert Jägeler (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik
108 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
109 Immanuel Stark (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik
110 Henri Uhlig (Ger) German National Team
111 Mario Spengler (Swi) Team Lotto-Kern Haus
112 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:05:15
113 Michel Gießelmann (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
114 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 0:05:17
115 Lucas Carstensen (Ger) Bike Aid 0:08:27
116 Felix Groß (Ger) UAE Team Emirates 0:09:43
117 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM
118 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
119 Frederik Raßmann (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
120 Nikodemus Holler (Ger) Bike Aid
121 Henning Bommel (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:11:06
DNF Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
DNF Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 12:56:18
2 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:08
3 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:10
4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:12
5 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:17
6 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:19
7 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
8 Marcel Meisen (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:21
9 Joshua Huppertz (Ger) Team Lotto-Kern Haus
10 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:00:23
11 Jonas Koch (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:00:24
12 Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
13 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
14 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team
15 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
16 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
17 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
18 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
19 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
20 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
21 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
22 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
23 Tom Lindner (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik
24 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
25 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) German National Team
26 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
27 Fabio Van Den Bossche (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
28 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
29 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep
30 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
31 Marius Mayrhofer (Ger) Team DSM
32 Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
33 John Degenkolb (Ger) German National Team
34 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
35 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
36 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
37 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
38 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
39 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
40 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team 0:00:44
41 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:50
42 Justin Wolf (Ger) Bike Aid 0:00:57
43 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:59
44 David van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:03
45 Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:01:15
46 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:01:20
47 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
48 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:01:28
49 Pirmin Benz (Ger) German National Team
50 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling 0:01:42
51 Johannes Hodapp (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
52 Michiel Stockman (Bel) Team SKS Sauerland NRW 0:02:02
53 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:08
54 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:02:11
55 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:02:31
56 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-up Nation
57 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM 0:02:54
58 Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:03:04
59 Julian Lino (Fra) Bike Aid 0:03:05
60 Jakob Geßner (Ger) German National Team 0:03:12
61 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:40
62 Stephen Bassett (USA) Rally Cycling 0:03:52
63 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:04:20
64 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:04:30
65 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM 0:05:05
66 Michel Aschenbrenner (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik 0:05:15
67 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:05:24
68 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:05:26
69 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team
70 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:37
71 Kim Alexander Heiduk (Ger) Team Lotto-Kern Haus 0:06:03
72 Roman Duckert (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:06:11
73 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
74 Johannes Adamietz (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW 0:07:04
75 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:07:13
76 Abram Stockman (Bel) Team SKS Sauerland NRW 0:07:33
77 Christian Maximilian Koch (Ger) Team Lotto-Kern Haus
78 Syver Wærsted (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:07:55
79 Dominik Röber (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik
80 Jordi Lopez Caravaca (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:08:29
81 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
82 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
83 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain Victorious 0:08:35
84 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:08:37
85 Henri Uhlig (Ger) German National Team
86 Danny van der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:08:48
87 Sven Thurau (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:10:05
88 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
89 Valentin Retailleau (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:10:13
90 Jan-Marc Temmen (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:10:42
91 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling 0:10:46
92 Marti Marquez Roman (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:10:50
93 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling 0:11:04
94 Alex Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:11:08
95 Tobias Nolde (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik 0:11:11
96 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 0:11:16
97 Pierre-Pascal Keup (Ger) Team Lotto-Kern Haus 0:11:43
98 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team 0:11:46
99 Jon Knolle (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW 0:11:50
100 Julius Johansen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:13:12
101 Ben King (USA) Rally Cycling 0:13:18
102 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:13:19
103 Jannis Peter (Ger) German National Team
104 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:13:20
105 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:13:22
106 Immanuel Stark (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik 0:13:23
107 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:13:32
108 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:14:52
109 Robert Jägeler (Ger) P & S Metalltechnik 0:15:52
110 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:15:56
111 Felix Groß (Ger) UAE Team Emirates 0:18:00
112 Azzedine Lagab (Alg) Bike Aid 0:18:12
113 Mario Spengler (Swi) Team Lotto-Kern Haus
114 Michel Gießelmann (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW 0:18:21
115 Lucas Carstensen (Ger) Bike Aid 0:19:45
116 Dominik Bauer (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:21:15
117 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM 0:22:46
118 Frederik Raßmann (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
119 Dawit Yemane (Eri) Bike Aid 0:23:03
120 Henning Bommel (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:26:33
121 Nikodemus Holler (Ger) Bike Aid 0:32:54