The 2026 edition of the Eschborn-Frankfurt classic will take place on the 1st of May. This one-day race is perhaps Germany’s most popular cycling event of the year and, inbetween the season of the spring classic and the Grand Tours, provides a last-ditch attempt for the classics specialists and sprinters to save their spring or take a big win. We take a look at its startlist.

The race has over the decades had different profiles and also different categories, leading to a very diverse palmarès. Its first edition dates back to 1962 and notoriously, it is a race in which Eddy Merckx sealed his name back in 1971 – although he attempted, without success, to win it several other times.

With many of Germany’s biggest names over modern history being sprinters, it is a race that has also seen several of them target it with success – Erik Zabel, Fabian Wegmann, John Degenkolb and Pascal Ackermann have all won it. From 2014 to 2018 (there was no race in 2015) Alexander Kristoff won all editions, marking a period where the sprinters ruled over the race. After Covid, Jasper Philipsen and Sam Bennett continued the trend of the fast men.


However in 2023 the race was made more difficult, and over the past three editions it’s been more difficult for the fast men to succeed. Soren Kragh Andersen and Maxim van Gils won from two small groups in 2023 and 2024; whilst from the survivors of the peloton, it was Michael Matthews who sprinted to victory in 2025.Download the startlist in A4. It is a race that will feature a good field consisting of classics riders and sprinters, who will mix it up in Germany to fight for a World Tour win. A last-minute addition, Tom Pidcock has joined the race’s list, leading Pinarello – Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team in pursuit of another victory this spring.

Decathlon CMA CGM Team will be backing up Tobias Lund Andresen whilst having several riders also for the mountainous terrain that will be faced; INEOS Grenadiers has Ben Turner, Axel Laurance and Samuel Watson all present as riders who can both climb and sprint; Whilst different teams such as Bahrain – Victorious will focus on its climbers, in this case Pello Bilbao and Afonso Eulálio.

Team Jayco AlUla has former winner Pascal Ackermann present as its leader, as is the case with Lidl-Trek’s Soren Kragh Andersen. Uno-X Mobility have Magnus Cort Nielsen; NSN Cycling Team have Corbin Strong; Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe have both Danny van Poppel and Laurence Pithie as victory contenders; Team Visma | Lease a Bike are led by Briton Ben Tulett who finished on the podium of La Fléche Wallonne; Whilst the likes of Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) are also strong contenders for a top result.Final Startlist Eschborn-Frankfurt 2026 

Lidl – Trek 1 Andersen, Søren Kragh 2 Bagioli, Andrea 3 Kämna, Lennard 4 Norsgaard, Mathias 5 Skujiņš, Toms 6 Vergaerde, Otto 7 Walscheid, Max Uno-X Mobility 11 Cort, Magnus 12 Bugge, Martin Urianstad 13 Dalby, Simon 14 Dversnes, Fredrik 15 Kamp, Alexander 16 Løland, Sakarias Koller 17 Svarre, Tobias Movistar Team 21 Barrenetxea, Jon 22 Hessmann, Michel 23 Moro, Manlio 24 Pescador, Diego 25 Sanchez, Pelayo 26 Tesfatsion, Natnael Team Picnic PostNL 31 Degenkolb, John 32 Biesterbos, Frits 33 Dinham, Matthew 34 Jakobsen, Fabio 35 Koerdt, Bjoern 36 Märkl, Niklas 37 Broek, Frank van den Team Jayco AlUla 41 Ackermann, Pascal 42 Covi, Alessandro 43 Engelhardt, Felix 44 Foldager, Anders 45 Pickering, Finlay 46 Porter, Rudy 47 Sütterlin, Jasha UAE Team Emirates XRG 51 Politt, Nils 52 Baroncini, Filippo 53 Giaimi, Luca 54 Herregodts, Rune 55 Oliveira, Rui 56 Pericas, Adrià 57 Wellens, Tim Pinarello – Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team 61 Pidcock, Tom 62 Azparren, Xabier Mikel 63 Bax, Sjoerd 64 Calzoni, Walter 65 Christen, Fabio 66 Hermans, Quinten 67 Meurisse, Xandro Alpecin – Premier Tech 71 Verstrynge, Emiel 72 Debruyne, Ramses 73 Del Grosso, Tibor 74 Glivar, Gal 75 Houle, Hugo 76 Plowright, Jensen 77 Remijn, Senna Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 81 Poppel, Danny van 82 Etxeberria, Haimar 83 Hajek, Alexander 84 Herzog, Emil 85 Pithie, Laurence 86 Thornley, Callum 87 Wandahl, Frederik EF Education – EasyPost 91 Baudin, Alex 92 Agostinacchio, Mattia 93 Albanese, Vincenzo 94 Hobbs, Noah 95 Schwarzbacher, Matthias 96 Simmons, Colby 97 Valgren, Michael Team Visma – Lease a Bike 101 Tulett, Ben 102 Barré, Louis 103 Doull, Owain 104 Fiorelli, Filippo 105 Hagenes, Per Strand 106 Rex, Tim 107 Belle, Loe van Netcompany INEOS Cycling Team 111 Laurance, Axel 112 Foss, Tobias 113 Hamilton, Lucas 114 Heiduk, Kim 115 Rodríguez, Oscar 116 Turner, Ben 117 Watson, Sam Bahrain Victorious 121 Bilbao, Pello 122 Eulálio, Afonso 123 Kepplinger, Rainer 124 Miquel, Pau 125 Omrzel, Jakob 126 Paasschens, Mathijs 127 Zambanini, Edoardo Soudal – Quick-Step 131 Vansevenant, Mauri 132 Bastiaens, Ayco 133 Dainese, Alberto 134 Eenkhoorn, Pascal 135 Lampaert, Yves 136 Raccagni, Andrea 137 Reinderink, Pepijn Lotto – Intermarché 141 Zimmermann, Georg 142 Fox, Matthew 143 Gualdi, Simone 144 Orins, Robin 145 Rota, Lorenzo 146 Rutsch, Jonas 147 Boven, Luca Van Cofidis 151 Izagirre, Ion 152 Ferron, Valentin 153 Joalland, Yaël 154 Maas, Jan 155 Maisonobe, Sam 156 Meehan, Jamie 157 Ourselin, Paul NSN Cycling Team 161 Strong, Corbin 162 Côté, Pier-André 163 Hofstetter, Hugo 164 Martí, Pau 165 Neilands, Krists 166 Smith, Dion 167 Stewart, Jake Decathlon CMA CGM Team 171 Andresen, Tobias Lund 172 Chamberlain, Oscar 173 Ghys, Robbe 174 Labrosse, Jordan 175 Lapeira, Paul 176 Mühlberger, Gregor 177 Paret-Peintre, Aurélien Tudor Pro Cycling Team 181 Stork, Florian 182 Kluckers, Arthur 183 Kolze Changizi, Sebastian 184 Mikutis, Aivaras 185 Weiss, Fabian 186 Wilksch, Hannes 187 Zijlaard, Maikel TotalEnergies 191 Jeannière, Emilien 192 Burgaudeau, Mathieu 193 Gachignard, Thomas 194 Guernalec, Thibault 195 Leroux, Samuel 196 Marcerou, Nicola 197 Thierry, Pierre Unibet Rose Rockets 201 Venturini, Clément 202 Augé, Ronan 203 Johannink, Jelle 204 Kopecký, Matyáš 205 Loockx, Lander 206 Meris, Sergio 207 Müller, Tobias