The German Road Race National Championships took place today in Frankfurt.
50km men
Three Olympic standards, crowned by an exceptional performance by Jonathan Hilbert (GER): this was the result.
Hilbert had set the pace from the start, quickly distinguished himself from his two opponents, Nathaniel Seiler (GER) and Carl Dohmann (GER) and was even able to improve in the second half of the competition despite the lightning fast first half.
The result: gold with a great mark of 3:43:44 making him the top of the world rankings of the season.
Only six Germans have been faster than him over 50 kilometers in the past.
Second place to Nathaniel Seiler (GER) in 3:48:44 new personal best (previous of 3:57:34 obtained in Dudince on 24.10.2020.
Third place to Carl Dohmann (GER) in 3:48:54.
The coach of the national team of Germany commented with great euphoria: "It was perfect. Really very strong. With this increase in the back. It was a great competition. We can be really proud of all the athletes and coaches."
20km men
Side by side, the four German Olympic candidates had previously completed the first laps of the 2km circuit on which the 20km took place.
Then it was Nils Brembach (GER) and the young Leo Köpp (GER) who broke away from the other competitors: Christopher Linke (GER) and Hagen Pohle (GER), accelerating their pace.
As in 2015 and 2019, Nils Brembach had the best legs in the end. The 28-year-old fifth at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin finally shrugged off Leo Köpp, about five years his junior, and won the German Championships gold medal in 1:21:37.
Unfortunately, he was unable to reach the standard required for Olympic participation after doing better in 2019.
Leo Köpp convinced with a new personal best of 1:22:04 by finishing second (the previous personal best was 1:22:20 and was obtained in Biberach, GER on 18.10.2020).
Third place to Christopher Linke in 1:23:09, fourth at the World Championships with a standard already equipped with the best cards for an Olympic nomination, he has had to struggle with some stomach problems as he has done before.
Fourth is Hagen Pohle (1:23:33) who still competed only three weeks after the 50km in Dudince (Slovakia) and now must continue to fight for the Olympic qualification: perhaps on May 16 at the European Championships in Podebrady (Czech Republic).
20km women
Another great race was completed by Saskia Feige (SGER) the only woman on the 20km.
After making the leap to the international summit in 2019, first with the best German U23 performance and Olympic standard (1:30:40) and then with 11th place in the World Cup, he achieved his second national title in Frankfurt in 1:31:37.
"We didn't need to increase the pressure here," said Ronald Weigel, evaluating her performance - the German champion is sure of her Olympic ticket due to her World Cup placement. "It was great, all alone and not even a minute on the best time."
In the minor games success in the U18 boys of Frederick Weigel, son of Ronald Weigel, coach of the national team.
Frederick Weigel won the 10km in 46:33 too because he was stopped in the penalty area for 60 seconds.
(Photos thanks to Kai Peters - GER)