Lidl Deutschland Tour

Pascal Eenkhoorn took his best GC result in four years this weekend at the 40th edition of the Deutschland Tour, which came to a conclusion in Magdeburg, the city founded by Charlemagne more than 1200 years ago.

Tenth in the prologue a couple of days ago, the Dutchman built on that solid showing, was among the strongest on the queen stage of the race and finished in tenth place overall. The final day had plenty of action and attacks in the last kilometers, and as consequence of all these moves, the peloton split, leaving only some 40-odd riders in contention for victory. The stage was won by Matthew Brennan (Visma – Lease a Bike), while Soren Waerenskjold finished at the top in the final standings.

Eeenkhoorn, Soudal Quick-Step’s best placed rider after five hard days of racing, was content with his result: “The entire week was relentless, with the peloton traveling the whole time at some pretty high speeds and lots of attacks that made everything much harder. We did our best and tried to shake up things, but it wasn’t easy. On a personal level, I am satisfied with this result, as it’s been a couple of years since the last time I finished top ten at a stage race.”

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images