Thomas Löfkvist back to racing at Bayern-Rundfahrt

Rain, wind and cold temperatures accompanied the pack throughout the first stage of the Bayern-Rundfahrt, which was won in a sprint by Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Sharp).

Following the race tactics devised by Marcello Albasini and Kjell Carlström, the riders from the Swiss Pro Continental team let an escape group of four hang out off the front of the race for the majority of the stage.

Nearer to the finish, IAM Cycling’s Stefan Denifl tried his luck for several kilometers with a powerful surge ahead of the hard chasing peloton, but his efforts in the end were for naught.  A short climb of 250 meters, but which ramped up to 15% with just under a kilometer to finish, prevented any team from forming a perfect lead out for their sprinters.

Even if Heinrich Haussler (17^th) was never in a position to challenge for the victory, Marcello Albasini declared himself satisfied with the efforts of his riders.

“We suffered no injuries and had no punctures.  It was a good day.” 

For his part, though he lost 18 seconds on the run into the finish today, Thomas Löfkvist was happy with his return to racing after having had to take a break from the bike after he suffered an open fracture of the 1^st phalanx and index finger of his left hand on April 10^th in training.

“It was not the best weather to kick off with.  But I had good feelings in my legs in spite of the cold and rain.  I just didn’t push hard enough to keep position within the peloton in the final, but those efforts will get better in the coming days.”

Bayern Rundfahrt stage 1 complete results