Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) made it three in a row in the road race at the German Road Championships, after scoring her first women's time trial title yesterday in Bad Liebenstein.
In a similar scenario to her two previous victories, Koch came out on top from a five-rider breakaway, which included Liane Lippert (Movistar), Nele Laing and the Canyon-SRAM duo of Antonia Niedermaier and Justina Czapla.
Three-time champion Lippert (2018, 2022, 2023) launched the sprint first, but Koch powered past her to claim the win, with Lippert settling for second as she did in 2024. Newly crowned German U23 road champion, Czapla, after going on a solo break of almost 65 kilometres before being caught in the final lap, took third.
Runner-up last year, Niedermaier finished fifth. Crossing the line 1:41 later, Linda Riedmann (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) led the peloton in for sixth place.
“It was a mega hard day. Canyon played his cards well. The race was also very fast, despite the heat. I drank at least two bottles every round," Koch told the German Cycling Federation.
How it unfolded
In hot temperatures, close to 37 °C, the women faced a shortened course, from 136.5km to 109km, after their start was delayed by one hour due to a fall in the men’s junior race held earlier in the day. The women raced the 27.3km circuit with around 550 metres of elevation gain per lap four times.
Justyna Czapla (Canyon SRAM) was the first rider to escape, taking a solo flyer on the second lap. Using her time trialing skills, as demonstrated by winning the U23 TT a few days earlier, she built her lead to almost two minutes by the end of that lap.
A select group, consisting of defending champion Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez), three-time champion Liane Lippert (Movistar), the Giro runner-up Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon SRAM) and Nele Laing came together to give chase, reducing the lead to one minute by the end of the third lap.
Laing fell off the pace, leaving the trio to ultimately reel in Czapla with 15 kilometres to go. The four riders stayed together until the sprint to the finish line where Koch won her second title within 24 hours.
In the end, only 34 riders reached the finish line.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
Position |
Rider (Country) Team |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
01 |
Franziska Koch (Ger) FDJ United-SUEZ |
03:07:43 |
02 |
Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar Team |
|
03 |
Justyna Czapla (Ger) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto |
|
04 |
Nele Laing (Ger) |
00:00:02 |
05 |
Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto |
00:00:02 |
06 |
Linda Riedmann (Ger) Lotto-Intermarché |
00:01:41 |
07 |
Clara Jäger (Ger) Lkt-Team |
00:01:41 |
08 |
Maria Rosa Klöser (Ger) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto |
00:01:41 |
09 |
Karoline Goldschmidt (Ger) Rembe | Rad-Net Women |
00:01:43 |
10 |
Laura Süßemilch (Ger) Rembe | Rad-Net Women |
00:04:26 |
