Germany tour 1999

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Final result after the 7th stage
winner Jens Heppner 30:22:29 h
(40.422 km / h)
Second Andreas Kappes + 1:36 min
Third Christian Wegmann + 1:44 min
Fourth Grischa Niermann + 1:48 min
fifth Michael Blaudzun + 1:51 min
Sixth Bart Voskamp + 1:52 min
seventh Rolf Huser equal time
Eighth Geert Van Bondt equal time
Ninth Bert Grabsch equal time
Tenth Steve Vermaut equal time
Sprint scoring Erik Zabel 130 p.
Second Jimmy Casper 101 P.
Third Olaf Pollack 54 P.
Mountain scoring Jens Heppner 30 p.
Second Paolo Lanfranchi 22 p.
Third Bert Dietz 16 p.

The 1st Germany Tour took place from May 28th to June 3rd, 1999 . It was the first country tour after a break of 17 years. It led from Berlin over 1,268.6 kilometers to Bonn . Due to various circumstances, the distance actually covered was reduced to 1,227.8 kilometers. As in 1979 , the tour was brought back to life by the successes of German cyclists, above all Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel . The tour started with a budget of 6.5 million DM, also due to the interest of the TV station Sat.1 , which broadcast all stages live .

With the timing of the tour in May and June, it offered a preparation for the Tour de France , which was due in July , but had to compete with the Giro d'Italia , which was being held at the same time .

The overall leader was awarded a white jersey, while the leader of the sprint classification wore a yellow and black and the leader of the mountain classification wore a red jersey.

However, the resumption of the tour was not a good star. On the third stage, Jan Ullrich, one of the favorites for overall victory in the upcoming Tour de France , had a hard crash and had to end the tour due to his injuries and also cancel the tour of France. On the sixth stage, the overall World Cup winner of 1997 and 1998 Michele Bartoli was also seriously injured in a fall. The 29-kilometer individual time trial was overshadowed by a hurricane-like storm and was not included in the overall ranking. The Frenchman Emanuel Magnien was hit by a barricade that a hurricane had blown onto the street and tore a ligament in his knee. In addition, the grand finale in Bonn had to be shortened by 11.5 kilometers because the race management had received a bomb threat.

course

The young Frenchman Jimmy Casper stole the show from Telekom sprinter Erik Zabel on the first stage. At the end of the tour, Zabel was able to secure the jersey of the best in points, but on the third, fourth and seventh stages he also had to admit defeat to the previously unknown French. Only on the sixth stage did Zabel emerge victorious from the duel. Casper, who had secured the leadership jersey by winning the first stage, had to hand it over to stage winner Rolf Aldag at the end of the second part of the day . When he was involved in the fall of Ullrich on the third stage and had to give up the race with a broken elbow at the end of the day, Axel Merckx pulled on his jersey. There was another change in leadership on the fifth stage. This time Jens Heppner was the lucky one, who was part of a top group from which Andreas Kappes secured the day's victory. Due to the cancellation of the individual time trial , Heppner secured the greatest success of his career and gave the Telekom team a conciliatory conclusion.

Stages

Stages Day Start finish km Stage winner Overall first
1st stage 28th of May Berlin - Leipzig 168.3 Jimmy Casper Jimmy Casper
2nd stage May 29th Eisleben - Goslar 214.3 Rolf Aldag Rolf Aldag
3rd stage 30th May Goslar - Bielefeld 172.8 Jimmy Casper Rolf Aldag
4th stage 31. May Bielefeld - Dortmund 174.5 Jimmy Casper Axel Merckx
5th stage June 1st Dortmund - Koblenz 198.4 Andreas Kappes Jens Heppner
6th stage (a) 2th of June Koblenz - Bensheim 155.5 Erik Zabel Jens Heppner
6th stage (b) 2th of June Viernheim - Bensheim 29 ( EZF ) * Raivis Belohvoščiks Jens Heppner
7th stage 3rd of June Wiesbaden - Bonn 155.5 ** Jimmy Casper Jens Heppner

* not counted due to a hurricane
** shortened to 144 km due to a bomb threat near the finish line

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