Team NetApp-Endura had hoped to shine in their final name under their current name. However, the team had lots of bad luck in Paris-Tours and left the race empty-handed.

Yesterday’s 108th running of the French fall classic Paris – Tours covered 237.5 kilometers from the town of Bonneval just south of Paris to Tours. Jelle Wallays (Team Topsport Vlaanderen) sprinted against Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) to clench the win for himself. Shortly thereafter, Jens Debusschere (Lotto Belisol) sprinted with the field to finish third. For 180 kilometers, Cesare Benedetti made an impact on the race as part of the lead group. This Sunday was a historic day for the team since Paris – Tour marked the last race in the current jersey and under the name Team NetApp – Endura.

“We certainly thought that today’s race would go differently, especially since it was the last race as Team NetApp-Endura. It just wasn’t our day. With Cesare Benedetti in the lead group, everything started off according to plan and continued to go well up until the final stretch. After that we were plagued by crashes and mechanicals. Gregor Mühlberger was especially impacted. He had a bad crash and had to drop out of the race due to severe pain. Shortly after that Andreas Schillinger had to switch bikes. Then Michael Schwarzmann had a mechanical, followed by Patrick Konrad, who also crashed. While all this drama was going on back in the field, Cesare was still in the lead group. When his bike malfunctioned as well, only the neutral service vehicle could help, which kept him from rejoining the lead group. Only Alexander Krieger and Ralf Matzka were left for the final stretch, but there really wasn’t much that the two of them could do,” said Sport Director Christian Pömer, summing up the unfortunate final race.