ProRace Berlin
The ProRace Berlin is a German one-day race in Berlin, which takes place in early summer and was held for the first time in 2011. It belongs to the UCI Europe Tour, where it has been classified in the UCI category 1.1.
History
2011 ProRace Berlin was first performed at the premiere came around 250,000 spectators. A breakaway group had settled shortly after the start and was time-, six -minute lead, but was captured a km before the finish again. In the final sprint, Marcel Kittel ( Skil- Shimano ) sat against Giacomo Nizzolo (Leopard - Trek) from Italy and the Russians Alexei Markov ( National Team ) by Rüdiger Selig ( National Team ) and Florian Monreal (Team Eddy Merckx Indeland ) were the Plätzte four and five, were a total of five German in the top ten.
In 2012, the race favorite André Greipel crashed ( Lotto Belisol Team ) after about 30 kilometers, but was soon able to connect to the main draw back. This drove behind a breakaway group that was captured five kilometers from the finish. In the mass sprint to the finish line to Greipel sat against the local heroes by Rüdiger Selig ( Katusha Team). The Dutchman Raymond Kreder (Garmin- Barracuda ) and Tom Veelers ( Argos - Shimano ) were third and fourth respectively. In August 2012, it was announced that Garmin will be the new title sponsor of the race, it has since been officially Garmin ProRace Berlin. The cooperation is planned for three years.
Route
2011, the course was 182.2 km long and passed through a 116 km long route through the south of Berlin and the surrounding Brandenburg, then eight laps were driven à 8.2 km around the Tiergarten. From the start at the Brandenburg Gate, the route led to Ludwigsfelde and back over Teltow, on the way were sights such as Potsdamer Platz, the former Tempelhof Airport, the East Side Gallery and the government district. The finish line was the Straße des 17 of Berlin's Victory Column and the Brandenburg Gate. The downtown course was almost identical with the course of the route of the Tour de France in 1987, when the prologue was held for the tour opener in West Berlin. The track in 2012 was 186 km long and passed over Teltow, Ruhlsdorf, Ludwigsfelde and back to Berlin Tempelhof, was partially driven on the closed B 101. The downtown course was 8.8 km long, starting and finishing lay on the Straße des 17.
Every man race
The origin of the ProRace Berlin is the Škoda Velothon Berlin, an everyman's race which takes place since 2008 and today is the second largest in Europe. The premiere in 2008 was attended by 10225 amateur cyclists, around 250,000 spectators watched the race. There were two routes, 60 and 105 kilometers. For the second Velothon the route was modified instead of a loop in the North of Berlin they drove through the South. These and the distances of 60 and 120 km have since remained the same. 2012 was attended by more than 12,000 cyclists, 220,000 spectators along the route. A 82 -year-old recreational rider suffered a heart attack during the race, it was the first fatality in the context of Velothons.
Erik Zabel, a former professional cyclist and six time winner of the green jersey in the Tour de France, is sports director of the race. Organizer is the Upsolut Event GmbH, they also organized the Vattenfall cyclassics in Hamburg. The original name of the Garmin Velothon Berlin was Škoda Velothon Berlin, by the new sponsorship agreement with Garmin, was amended.