“Welcome to the new normal,” says Jens Zemke. The sporting director of Team Bora hansgrohe is inside the barrier in the start area of the Sibiu Tour. He is wearing a mask. A greeting handshake fails. Instead there is an elbow touch, with the professionals not even that. The Corona regime has internalized everyone. The Bora hansgrohe professionals even wear their masks inside their bladder, in the paddock before the start.
“We have a whole range, there are some that are warmer than others, depending on the weather,” says Pascal Ackermann, also masking. The top sprinter is satisfied with his effort. “I usually need a sprint or two to get into the season,” he said before the first mass sprint on Saturday. But he won it confidently in Sibiu. But he was not really happy. His regular driver Rüdiger Selig fell about 19 kilometers before the finish. Blessed was stuck on the wing mirror of a car parked on the side of the road. He had to go to the hospital and was X-rayed. Fortunately, nothing is broken.
Selig started again on Sunday for the two half-stages, a mountain time trial over 12.5 kilometers and the final sprint stage over 109 kilometers in the evening. The German top sprinter Pascal Ackermann from Team Bora-hansgrohe won. The overall victory was secured by Ackermann’s team-mate Gregor Mühlberger (Austria), who took his second victory in Romania on the first part of the day on Sunday during the mountain time trial from Curmatura Stezii to Arena Platos.
The pandemic danger also hovered over the Sibiu Tour this summer. Because there was still a bike race, the first bigger since the lockdown easing, the cycling world looked at Transylvania. “We don’t feel pressure. But it is a big responsibility to get cycling back on track, ”said Cosmin Costea, route planner of the race and this year also responsible for Covid 19. He developed the hygiene concept. This provides for a strict separation of teams, organizers, media and viewers into four different bubbles. “The hotel staff with whom we are in contact always wear gloves, visors and a mask,” Patrick Konrad described the situation in the accommodations.
The Austrian conquered the yellow jersey on a spectacular mountain stage on Friday. Although his compatriot and teammate Mühlberger won, Konrad temporarily jumped to the top of the overall standings as second of the day. The stage created feelings of Tour de France. One could look far from the destination, the 2040 meter high Balea lake, into the valley. There was still snow on some of the slopes. Numerous spectators sat in the serpentines. Some had climbed the almost 1,500 meters in altitude by bike, others had driven up in the car. There were also a few caravans. “Yes, there was something about the Tour de France,” said Konrad, “but there are a lot more spectators there.”
That’s true. But the fact that spectators came to the track at all, that so much old normality mixed into the new, was something the race management didn’t want to think about at the start of the race. There were still all the changes in focus, the big and the small details. Temperature was measured twice a day, and the corona symptom questionnaire was filled out twice a day. There was a suspicion. “A member of the organization got dizzy in the car. He had a stomach problem, but it was not associated with Covid-19. We had our doctor examine him and we have him under control, ”said organizer Costea.
Racing drivers were only at the doctor because of falls. Or because of dental problems. Romania’s strongest mountain climber Serhei Tvetcov even postponed a dental surgery just to be able to participate in the mountain time trial. There he held the fastest time for a long time, but then fell back to sixth. The Bora-hansgrohe duo Mühlberger and Konrad made the victory among themselves. Mühlberger won the stage and took over the yellow jersey.
The WorldTour racing team was quite satisfied with its participation in this underclass race. The pros now feel better prepared compared to those drivers who did not start. “For the upcoming races, it is certainly an advantage that we already have a few kilometers in our legs. For many others, the season only starts with the tour of Poland, ”said Konrad.
It starts on August 5th. The classic specialists will intervene a little earlier at the Strade Bianche on August 1st in the racing season. Bora hansgrohe can already point to a few victories. The German racing team emerged as the Corona top team. With Max Schachmann, he won the last race before the lockdown, Paris-Nice. Now he also triumphed in Transylvania. The organizers were also satisfied. Route planner and Covid 19 manager Costea had not yet received a call from tour organizer ASO for the exchange of experience until Sunday.
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