CyclingRevealed's First Impressions '05

Stage 7 - Lunéville to Karlsruhe (Ger), 228.5 km

Achtung, der Kaiser kommt!

Attention, the Kaiser is coming! The German people are passionate about sport and Jan Ullrich (Der Kaiser) is one of the most popular sporting figures in Germany . Typically when the Tour enters Germany record numbers of people line the roads. The miserable weather today may have dampened the peloton but certainly not the enthusiasm of the race fans. Again they turned out in huge numbers.

Last year as I stood beside the road in the Southern Ardennes waiting for the Tour to crest a mountain points prime I got chatting with a German family standing next to me. They had traveled over two hours to see their heroes. As the mother of the family said to me “We live in an era of constant rush where time is always at a premium. Yet today we dedicate over six hours for a fleeting glimpse of the race.” Such is the magnetic attraction of the Tour.

As the race crossed the River Rhine into Germany the crowds were treated to one of their own leading the race. Lone leader Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) was still just hanging on to his day long solo break. His valiant exploit was however doomed and for the German people all hopes were on Robert Foerster (Gerolsteiner) to take out the expected bunch sprint. However behind him Tom Boonen had been scooping up Green Jersey points all day and was obviously in fine sprinting form. But it was the wily Robbie McEwen who took the hectic warp speed bunch sprint on the line for his second stage win this year.

Gunning for Green: Stage 7 winner Robbie McEwen [ Image ©: CyclingRevealed.com ]

So what about Der Kaiser? He finished the day modestly tucked away in the middle of the bunch. Like an English sports car he has been ‘all promise and no performance' since his 1997 Tour win. Yesterday German legend Rudi Altig gave Ullrich a real tongue lashing. “I am sick of the excuses, it's time to deliver.” As harsh as his observations were, the words were tinged with a genuine desire to see his countryman finally conquer Armstrong. As do the millions of other Tour fans in Germany.

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