German Road Championships: Franziska Koch overcomes three-on-one situation to defend road race title
Picnic PostNL rider was in a group with three Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto riders on final lap, but went solo to win
- Race Home
-
Races
-
Elite Men and Women Time Trial22.5km | Ramstein - Ramstein
-
Elite Women Road RaceLinden - Linden
-
Elite Men Road Race197.7km | Linden - Linden
- View all Races
-
Defending champion Franziska Koch (Picnic PostNL) overcame a three-on-one situation to retain her German national championships road race title, launching a solo attack from a group with three Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto riders to win in Linden.
Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) finished second, 14 seconds behind Koch, whilst her teammate Rosa Klöser took third, 43 seconds down. The third Canyon rider, Justyna Czapla, took fourth.
The race, set on hilly laps, had been aggressive and breaking up all day long. Koch had initially found herself in a leading duo with Niedermaier, and when they were joined by Klöser and Czapla, it looked difficult for her to crack the Canyon domination, but she did, attacking on the final uphill section and going solo to vicotry.
With action kicking off early on the laps, the race completely exploded, with the leaders riding everyone out of the race, exemplified by the fact that fifth-placed Liane Lippert (Movistar) finished 4:47 down on the winner.
This is Koch's second consecutive German road race title, after outsprinting Lippert to win the jersey in 2024.
German squad Canyon-SRAM were the biggest team in the race, with Niedermaier trying to do the double after her time trial victory, but despite their strength in numbers, they couldn't better the acceleration power from Koch.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. She has reported on the ground at all of the biggest events on the calendar, including the men's and women's Tours de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a Espana, the Spring Classics and the World Championships. She has particular experience and expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Australian Kelland O'Brien deemed 'a real fighter' as he rides into Foix finish more than eight minutes after stage 4 time limit to end Tour de France debut
Jayco-AlUla rider struggled for several days after crashing on stage 2 -
Tour de France abandons – Peloton three riders down after four stages
Tracking all the riders who have crashed out or otherwise left this year's Tour between Barcelona and Paris -
Why going in the breakaway is actually a crafty way to beat the heat at the Tour de France
Stage 4 winner Mads Pedersen explains the advantage of being waited upon despite the extra watts -
Tour de France GC standings – Torstein Træen takes the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogačar after successful breakaway on stage 4
Uno-X Mobility breakaway rider launches into the overall lead at the Tour de France



