Søren Waerenskjold won the prologue of the Tour of Germany. The UNO-X Mobility rider achieved the fastest time in the 3.1-kilometer time trial and is now the first leader of the Lidl Deutschland Tour. Wout van Aert, Danny van Poppel, and Maikel Zijlaard came close to Waerenskjold but fell short by seconds.

Traditionally, the Tour of Germany starts with a prologue. This year it was held in Essen, not far from the Dutch border. And at a special location, namely the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zeche Zollverein. A flat and technical course has been mapped out around the coal mine, where the riders would compete in the evening.

When you say prologues, from a Dutch perspective, you immediately think of Maikel Zijlaard. The 26-year-old Rotterdam native from Tudor is a true specialist in this field and clocked the first serious top time, with an average speed of 50.43 km/h. His time of 3:34.87 minutes would remain unbeatable for a while. Pascal Eenkhoor (Soudal Quick-Step) finished two seconds behind his compatriot. A little later, Vlad van Mechelen (Bahrain-Victorious) came very close to Zijlaard’s time, but the Belgian fell short by less than a second.

A teammate would improve Zijlaard’s time: Marco Haller beat his younger teammate by a second. Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was also faster than Zijlaard but fell just 0.45 seconds short of Haller’s time. Just before the main favorites were about to take to the track, all eyes were on Søren Waerenskjold. The strong Norwegian, recent stage winner in the Tour of Denmark, beat Haller’s time by a considerable margin and registered an average speed of 51.161 km/h for a time of 3:31.80 minutes.Van Poppel comes close to Waerenskjold, but many top riders still left to go

Meanwhile, Danny van Poppel was on his way. The Dutchman from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe seemed close to Waerenskjold’s time, but ended up more than two seconds behind. With a provisional fourth time, he was just slightly faster than Zijlaard. INEOS Grenadiers also had a fast man for the short distance in Samuel Watson. The Brit rode a strong time trial, clocking a very fast time of 3:32.32 minutes (51.036 km/h), but was half a second too late for the fastest time. Meanwhile, Wout van Aert was cruising towards the final kilometer.

The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike also averaged over 52 km/h, but was slower than Waerenskjold. With a provisional fifth time, the Flemish leader of the Dutch team was almost as fast as Van Poppel. Germany’s new cycling hero, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), did not come close to a top time, with 3:40.93 minutes (49.047 km/h).

The last rider who could still come close was Jonathan Milan. The Lidl-Trek sprinter was the last rider to start, but failed to set the fastest time. The Italian, winner of the green jersey in the Tour de France, clocked the fifteenth time (+0.05.38 minutes). Waerenskjold saw it all happen from the hot seat and was able to celebrate. With a difference of half a second, he won the first stage.

Results Prologue Tour of Germany 2025