For the third time, the German capital hosted the ProRace, starting with a loop through the city and the surrounding countryside and ending with 8 laps in the Tiergarten, finishing in front of the Brandenburger Tor. It is embedded in a whole weekend dedicated to cycling, with over 11 000 hobby cyclists participating in the various events.
Owing to the flat profile (the average speed was above 46 km/h), anything but a sprint finish would have been a huge surprise. This of course didn’t some riders from trying their luck, but their effort was doomed from the start. The teams of Marcel Kittel and André Greipel, Argos-Shimano and Lotto-Belisol, kept the gap in check, and caught the break on the penultimate lap of the finishing circuit.
On the 3 km finishing straight, the German top sprinters'lead-out trains had opportunity to test themselves ahead of the Tour de France, and Kittel eventually had the upper hand. Greipel finished third, with Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) sneaking past him to get the second place.
Result:
1. Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) 4:00:06
2. Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling)
3. André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol)
4. Michael van Staeyen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise)
5. Roger Kluge (NetApp-Endura)
6. Raymond Kreder (Garmin-Sharp)
7. Rüdiger Selig (Katusha)
8. Andreas Stauff (MTN-Qhubeka)
9. Grischa Janorschke (Nutrixxion-ABUS)
10. Luke Roberts (Team Stölting)
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