After a 2-year break ....
it was finally time again on August 19, 2022: At 14:02, the Romanian guest team of A.S.C. Olimpic Zarnesti was the first to start 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, the Berlin Cycling Federation and Heuer Cycling, choose with the Tempelhofer Flugfeld, the Olympic Stadium and Karl-Marx-Allee, not far from Alex, three attractive venues. Two half stages each on Friday and Saturday as well as the final circuit race on Sunday lay ahead of the riders.
The team time trial kicked things off. In the U13 category, the LV Berlin team came out on top in a time of 15:56 minutes, four seconds ahead of Olimpic Zarnesti, to whom Gerry Horn had been assigned as an individual rider. LV Hamburg followed a further 14 seconds behind in third place, meaning that the Berlin team of Paul Preuss (RC Charlottenburg) and Raphael Richter (Svg.Zehlendorfer Eichhörnchen) in the boys' race and Karla Müller (SC Berlin) in the girls' race had the best chance of winning the yellow jersey, which was awarded for the first time after the subsequent circuit race.
But it was to be a game of seconds! The race ended in a bunch sprint, in which Piet Würzner (LV Hamburg/Harvestehuder RV) came out on top ahead of 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 in 4th place at the finish, it was not enough to make up the 4-second deficit. The first yellow jerseys in the U13 category went to Karla Müller and Paul Preuss. The green jerseys went to the stage winner Piet Würzner and the stage winner Karla Müller.
The U15 also played poker for seconds. LV Thüringen 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 three, which broke away on 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-second lead over the first rider from Thuringia in the peloton and with the 4-second time bonus he had made up the 35-second 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 on the same time, but because of the better stage placing the first yellow jersey went to Arndt. The first green jersey went to the stage winner Julius Thomas.
The girls did well in the field and as Marie Louise Raake (LV Berlin/SC Berlin) had set the best time among the non-all-male teams in the team time trial with LV Berlin, she took the first yellow jersey in the U15w. As she was also the first girl to cross the finish line of the circuit race in 15th place, she was also allowed to pull on the green jersey.
The girls in the U17w age group also had the opportunity to start, but unfortunately only three ladies from the SC Berlin Femmes team took part. However, they made quite an impression at the MZF with their time trial suits and helmets. Pia Tittel was the first of this trio in the RR and took both the yellow and green jerseys.
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. As one loop of the course had to be completed twice, the length was just over 4 km. At 11:00 a.m., patron Jens Voigt sent the first rider onto the course. 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 after the individual time trial went to Gerry Horn (U13m), Mara Persoiu-Taratu (U13w), Max Jerzyna (U15m), Marie Louise Raake (U15w) and Ella Grünberg (U17w).
Then it was time for the sprinters in the sprint eliminator. They sprinted for all they were worth on an approx. 200 m long track. The final participants were determined in preliminary heats in knockout mode (half of the riders progressed). Points were then awarded for the green jersey in the final. Especially in the female classes, this competition was decisive for the awarding of the green jersey, as the girls found it difficult to score points in the sprint rounds in the field with the boys. 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 the green jersey, in the U15m Raul Esch (LV Thüringen/RSC Waltershausen-Gotha), in all other classes the green jersey was taken 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. And in the U13 category, this was Karla Müller's big moment. Early on, a leading group of 4 broke away, with 3 boys and Karla! And this group should have pulled out a lead of around 2 minutes over the rest by the finish. Karla finished in an excellent 3rd place and regained the green and yellow jerseys. The boys, on the other hand, were in confusion: 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 29 seconds later, it seemed clear who the new yellow jersey holder was. But Gerry had crashed in the last bend and was ultimately counted with the winner's time because of the 3 km, so he kept his yellow jersey, but Piet had come within one second thanks to the time bonus.
An elimination race developed in the U15/U17 category. In the end, the lead group was less than 10 men 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 defended his yellow jersey and Raul Esch in 3rd place his green jersey. In the U15 girls' race, Dutch rider Imke Menting was the only one to stay in a second, larger group and her strong performance was rewarded with the yellow jersey. In the U17w race, Pia finished around 1 minute ahead of her Ella and took the yellow jersey back from her teammate.
Sunday on Karl-Marx-Allee provided the perfect setting for the end of the tour with sunshine and a large crowd of spectators. The organizers had designed the regulations in such a way that 3 time bonus sprints were to provide further excitement in the overall classification. In the U13 category, the race was dominated by the duel between Piet and Gerry. Piet took the first bonus sprint and thus equalized the GC. The second sprint went to Gerry and so he was one second ahead again. Gerry also won the third sprint, but his lead was less than 4 seconds and so the final sprint had to decide the victory! Here too, Gerry won confidently and Piet had to pay tribute to his efforts of the previous days and only finished 3rd, 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 also came in a great 4th place in this stage and thus won the U13w with aplomb.
In the U15/U17w, it was much more tactical. As the overall leaders each had a comfortable lead and were not in danger of losing their lead due to a bonus sprint, it was enough for them to keep an eye on their main rivals. Each of them succeeded in doing so and Max Jerzyna (U15m), Imke Menting (U15w) and Pia Tittel (U17w) were able to celebrate as the overall winners of the first Tour de Berlin. The stage itself was won by the fast men from TC Berlin with Peter Lukas Schaal in first place and David Moritz in third. The rider from the Romanian Doltcini Pro Regional Team took a good second place on the stage.
Afterwards, all the winners were happily honored with the TV tower in the background and are waiting for the next event in 2023.
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