Deutschland Tour: "Cycling is not dead in Germany"

Matej Mohoric finished came in second behind Germany's Nils Politt on Sunday's fourth and final stage of the 2018 Deutschland Tour, good enough to give him the overall win.

Another German, Maximilian Schachmann, finished second overall.

Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas finished 41th overall, but the simple fact that the Welshman took part in the competition was enough to raise the German race's profile.

Both organizers and riders hailed the Deutschland Tour, which was held for the first time since 2008 as a success.

"It's amazing, the number of spectators is great. Cycling is not dead in Germany," Schachmann said after the last stage.

Organizers ASO, who are also behind the Tour de France, said they intended to make the Deutschland Tour a regular competition in the cycling calendar, and that this year's success would surely contribute to those intentions. There are also reports that organizers are seeking to expand the race to nine stages in the future. 

Claude Rach, one of the race's directors, said organizers were satisfied with how this year's race went.

"The level of interest from the spectators was there. That had been the big unknown for us, he said.

ft/pfd (AFP, dpa)