Eschborn-Frankfurt – Ion Izagirre 6th

The Cofidis team took the offensive at Eschborn-Frankfurt, a German World Tour classic. Jamie Meehan made his move 80 km from the finish before Ion Izagirre found himself in the decisive group of 12 riders battling for the win. Our Spanish rider continues to impress this season and secured 6th place at the finish line. This is already his 11th top-10 finish this season. 

Sébastien Demarbaix, sports director: 
"Early in the stage, a breakaway formed fairly quickly, consisting of five riders from strong teams—obviously, since this was a World Tour race—but not the favorites. They built up a lead of up to six minutes. It was really the Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team that led the peloton for three hours.  Around the 110-120 km mark, we closed the gap significantly. 
After a big climb up the Feldberg led by Uno-X Mobility,  who, I think, gained three minutes on the breakaway over ten kilometers, we were down to thirty seconds.  There, Jamie Meehan made a brilliant anticipatory move (1:00), managing to keep up with Verstryngen of Alpecin-Premier Tech and Tim Wellens of UAE Team Emirates – XRG. Being able to keep up with those two was a major coup for Jamie. 
We hit the small local circuit,  with a tough 2.5-kilometer climb at 6 or 7%. The small group up front was caught right at the base. Only Wellens and Verstryngen remained, but they also faded a bit.  The race restarted almost from scratch, 40 kilometers from the finish,  to complete the two small circuits with the climb.  On the second lap, the twelve strongest riders broke away.
They crossed the finish line just a second or two behind the peloton.  We almost lost everything by the skin of our teeth.  Ion Izagirre put in a superb performance, finishing sixth. Special mention also goes to Jamie and Sam Maisonobe, who did a great job. And, of course, to Ion. It’s been like this for several weeks now.  Ion was outstanding again today."