Andrea Raccagni concludes fourth overall in this year’s edition of the Deutschland Tour.
Paul Magnier delivered Soudal Quick-Step’s 20th victory of the season on the final stage of the German race. In doing so, he became the first Frenchman in almost two decades to take a victory at the Deutschland Tour, which celebrated its 40th edition this year.
Heilbronn, which welcomed the event for the first time, witnessed some spectacular racing, as the GC leader attacked in the last 15 kilometers and opened what looked to be an insurmountable gap. Behind, Andrea Raccagni quickly jumped to shut down a counterattack group, and together with his teammates – once they went over the top of the ascent – hit the front of the reduced bunch to organize the chasing and gradually reduce the gap.
It turned out to be a nail-biting finale, with the peloton getting closer to the lone leader of the race with each kilometer and eventually catching him with just 200 meters to go. A few moments later, Paul opened his sprint and powered to a dominant victory in the city whose origins dates back to the eighth century.
I came close twice here this week and I was extremely motivated to get a win before leaving Germany.
“The team worked really hard today, they pulled the entire time and rode themselves inside out to bring back the late attacks and help me in the sprint. I’m happy I could repay them, and at the same time proud, because my parents were here to see me win. The finale was hard, but I had four teammates and still some energy left to sprint and go for the victory”, said Paul after his eighth success of the season.
Andrea Raccagni finished an impressive fourth on the general classification for his second top ten of the season – after sixth at the Tour Down Under, in January – and Italy’s best result in seven years at the Deutschland Tour.
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