More international, bigger, better

Eight nations answered the call of the Berlin Cycling Federation and gave the second edition of the Tour de Berlin since its relaunch an international flair. Exactly 200 starters competed in the U13 and U15 classes for the overall victories and the green jersey for the best sprinter.

Friday - Tempelhof Airfield

The girls in the U13 class opened the first race on Friday afternoon. A circuit race was held on a newly set 5.75 km course on the Tempelhof airfield. After an animated race, Clara Brendel (Schwalbeteam Sachsen) sprinted to her first victory and the yellow jersey. Over the course of the tour, Clara proved to be a "cannibal" and took all stage wins as well as the yellow, white and green jerseys.

The U13 boys took to the track a few minutes behind the girls and despite being outnumbered, the girls managed not to be caught by the boys in any of the circuit races. The first boys' race ended in a bunch sprint. Georg Wartlsteiner (Austrian national team, stage winner) and Max Annen (LV Niedersachsen, stage runner-up) were able to pull away slightly. This also turned out to be representative: Georg won the stage race and Max won the white jersey of the best rider of the younger age group.

The opening stage of the women's U15 race was unfortunately overshadowed by a few crashes. The worst victim was Taiwanese rider Chiao-Hui Yang (Tachung cycling team), who fortunately was able to recover after a night in hospital. In the race, Imke Menting (AR&TC De Adelaar), last year's overall winner, took the first yellow jersey after a long sprint to the finish in a large head group.

The men's U15 circuit race also ended in a bunch sprint, with Oskar Doberschütz (Schwalbeteam Sachsen) coming out on top and taking the first yellow jersey.

Due to the delays caused by the paramedics on the course, the subsequent team time trial for all classes had to be shortened to one lap, i.e. 5.75km. In the U13 category, where the girls and boys competed together in their teams, the Austrian national team won in 8:47 minutes. Eight seconds behind them, the first team from LV Niedersachsen came in second and another five seconds later the Schwalbeteam Sachsen came in third. Clara Brendel and Georg Wartlsteiner thus defended their yellow jerseys.

In the U15w category, the international "HEUER mixed team" with participants from Romania, New Zealand, Bulgaria and Amandine Jakob (RSV Walterhausen-Gotha) won by a large margin, also taking the overall lead. Behind them, the race was extremely close and the next teams were all within one second of each other. The hundredths decided in favor of GRT Excelsior (2nd) and the team from LV Mecklenburg Vorpommern (3rd), while the NRW Cycling Association was left with a thankless fourth place.

The fastest winning time of the day was set by the LV Thüringen team in the U15m category with a time of 7:52 minutes. They were 14 and 19 seconds faster than the two teams from the NRW Cycling Association, who came second and third respectively. After his team's victory, Felix Jerzyna also took the lead in the individual classification and the yellow jersey.

Saturday - Tempelhof Airfield Day 2

After the approval for the course on Karl-Marx-Allee was unfortunately not granted this year, the organizers staked out another course on the Tempelhof airfield on the second day, which had a lap length of 2.25 km. First up was a one-hour individual time trial for all classes. Clara Brendel and Georg Wartlsteiner came out on top in the U13 category. In the U15w, the top three were very close: Josefine Wendel (Radsportverband NRW) won ahead of Imke Menting and Amandine Jakob, who defended her overall lead with third place.

The male U15 time trial was won by German champion Josh Tietjen (RRG Bremen), who finished five seconds ahead of Oskar Doberschütz (2nd) and Mika Lohmar (NRW II, 3rd).

The subsequent circuit races all ended in bunch sprints, with the exception of the female U13 race. Here, Lina Seidler (LV Württemberg) pulled away together with the dominator Clara Brendel and laid the foundation for her second place in the overall classification.

Flavius Enescu (ASC Olimpic Zarnest) proved his sprinting prowess in the U13 boys' race and collected the most points as well as the stage win. The green jersey of the best sprinter was his, yellow remained on the shoulders of Georg Wartlsteiner.

The female U15s probably had too much respect for the windy course on this day. As the pace never exceeded training level, the jury decided to shorten the distance and not award the red jersey for the most combative rider. Josefine Wendel was the first to cross the finish line, winning her second stage of the day.

The male U15s battled it out and there were several breakaway attempts. The longest of these was by Louis Pepe Kaffka (MRC Berlin), who tried it solo, which deservedly earned him the red jersey. In the end, however, he was also caught again and the bunch sprint decided the race. Once again, Oskar Doberschütz had the fastest legs and won his second stage ahead of Josh Tietjen and Felix Jerzyna, who kept yellow.

Sunday - Olympic Stadium

This year, the tour concluded with the stage at the Olympic Stadium, which has already become a tradition after two editions. With its cobblestone passage, short gravel section and start in front of the Olympic rings, it has the potential to become a classic. The riders had the last chance to change the classifications in their favor or defend their lead. Despite the difficulty of the course, the homogeneity of the fields ensured that, unlike last year, there were no large time gaps.

Clara Brendel also won the last stage of the U13 girls' race, as well as all the jerseys. Lina Seidler came second overall ahead of Naren Neubert (Schwalbeteam Sachsen).

In the final phase of the male U13 race, Jakob Roth (RC Schmitter) and Georg Wartlsteiner were able to break away and maintained a good 20-second lead over the field at the finish, where Jakob won the stage and Georg the round trip. Max Annen took second place in the overall standings. He also won the white jersey. Third place went to Alexander Walcher (Austrian national team) and the green jersey to Flavius Enescu.

The joint team classification in the U13 category went to the Austrian national team, while the Schwalbe team from Saxony (2nd) and the team from LV Niedersachsen I completed the podium.

The U15w race ended in a bunch sprint. This time, Marie Luise Raake (RSC Cottbus) came out on top ahead of Imke Menting and Amandine Jakob. The same riders, but in a different order, took first place in the overall standings: Amandine won the yellow jersey ahead of Marie Luise Raake and Imke Menting. Imke also took the green jersey for best sprinter back to the Netherlands and the white jersey for best young rider went to Josefine Wendel.

In the team classification, the Mixed Heuer Team and Team Berlin Brandenburg 1 were tied at the top. The result of the team time trial therefore decided the victory in favor of the Mixed Heuer team. The team from the NRW Cycling Association came in third.

Tragedy was to strike in the male U15 race. Felix Jerzyna (yellow) and Josh Tietjen (green) managed their lead in the field, which gave other riders the opportunity to show themselves. At first, Ekain Hermann Elorietta (SC Berlin) broke away solo. However, he was then replaced at the front by Finley Child (RV Sturmvogel München), who rode his laps alone at the front and finally entered the final 4km lap with a good 20-second lead. And as this lead had not diminished much by the time he turned into the finish area, the victory seemed to be a foregone conclusion. But fate had other ideas and stopped Finley in the last bend about 200m before the finish with a mechanical problem that could not be fixed. He shouldered his bike and started to run. But the 200m were unfortunately too long for him to defend his lead on foot and so the sprinting field shot past him. Felix Jerzyna won this sprint ahead of Oskar Doberschütz and Josh Tietjen and Finley Child, who would have more than deserved to win, had to console himself with the red jersey of the most combative rider.

By winning the stage, Felix Jerzyna had also secured victory in the stage race. His teammate Tim Niklas Brehme finished in second place and was also the best rider of the younger age group. Oskar Schulze-Hesselmann (Radpsortverband NRW) rounded off the overall podium in third place. Josh Tietjen won the green jersey.

In the team ranking, the team from LV Thuringia was unbeatable, relegating the two teams from North Rhine-Westphalia to second and third place.

The organizers from the Berlin Cycling Association and HEUER Radsport are already working on the concept for next year's tour and would be delighted to welcome the riders again in 2024. The third edition will take place from 30.8. - 1.9.2024.

Report by Marc Benkert / Pictures by Drew Kaplan