Paul Voss (Bora-Argon 18) took his first win since his surprise victory in the prologue at the 2010 Volta a Catalunya when he completed a magnificent solo ride of more than 100km to win the inaugural edition of the German one-day race Rad am Ring. His teammate Gregor Mühlberger made it a 1-2 for Bora-Argon 18 that even had six riders in the top 10, while Jan Tratnik (Amplatz) won a three-rider sprint for third.

We have gathered a few reactions.

Paul Voss: A 70km solo ride is a long one

BORA – ARGON 18 tried to take control of the race from the beginning. The team tactics was to make the race difficult for the sprinters in the peloton. With several attacks, BORA – ARGON 18 followed this plan successfully. It was Paul Voss who was able to go clear from the bunch with about 70km to go. But also in different chasing groups, riders of the team were able to stay in control of the race.

Voss’ lead was just 1 minute, but when a group of 5 with Buchmann and Mühlberger attacked, the peloton dropped further back. In the end Paul Voss took a solo win ahead of Gregor Mühlberger with no less than 6 (!) BORA – ARGON 18 riders in the top ten.

“This is a great race and I really hope the event can grow the next years. We did a great job today and our tactics worked out perfectly. Because I always knew that there were two teammates in the chasing group, it was less stressful for me to ride on the front. With about 30k to go I thought for the first time that I could take the win. I am very happy with this victory and also about my performance today,” said Paul Voss.

"Today we delivered a very strong team performance and we did it perfectly. It couldn’t have gone any better,” he added to radsport-news.com.

"To ride 70 kilometers alone in the front is a long time, but I knew that I could not go with all attacks. I was able to maintain a fast pace over a long period.”

“It is great when the plan works out like today. We knew that we needed to make the race hard for the sprinters. Because of the strength of the team we could control the race. I have to thank the riders for this performance today, it was really a perfect race for us,” added Christian Pömer, sports director.

Nikias Arndt: There were Bora jerseys everywhere

After five laps on the “Nordschleife”, Giant-Alpecin’s Nikias Arndt took his position in the chasing group. At the time the race entered its decisive phase, the guys in front were already gone for the win and he had to settle for a 7th place.

"Bora-Argon 18 were absolutely superior and you have to admire their performance. They have made the race difficult and unattractive and you cannot blame them. You looked right and left and always saw seven Bora jerseys. You can follow some attacks but not all,” Arndt told radsport-news.com. " I'm still happy with my performance and I have made a good race.”

Coach Rudi Kemna said: “The circuit was really hard and overall more suitable for the climbers. Already in the first part of the race there was a break of 20 riders with Nikias. From that group the first six riders jumped away and Nikias won the sprint for 7th place. He did a great job in a difficult race like it was. Max [Walscheid] was unable to follow today and the rest of the team finished in the peloton.”

Difficult day for Stölting in home race

Only 21 riders finished the race, including Team Stölting Service Group’s Sven Reutter as 20th.

On five laps of the Nürburgring North Loop, the race was on from the start, meaning that riders constantly got dropped from peloton while small groups or single riders attacked at the front. Christian Mager was part of a break after two laps, but they were caught again soon.

Three laps into the race, only 24 riders remained in striking distance; the rest of the peloton was 3:30 minutes behind and was eventually taken out of the race. Paul Voß (BORA – Argon 18) had attacked solo on the third lap, a chasing group with Sven Reutter one minute behind. On the fifth lap, Reutter couldn’t follow the pace on the Hohe Acht. In the end, he finished 10:36 minutes behind solo winner Voß after five laps of the North Loop and five laps on the GP circuit.

“The circuit was quite something,” said Sven Reutter after the race. “It was a constant up and down, without any flat sections. BORA – Argon 18 had a very strong team and made it a hard race from the very beginning. Eventually I was in a chase group with about twenty others. The last time up the Hohe Acht I couldn’t follow the group anymore, just making it to the finish with another rider in the end. It was a really hard race, as you can see from the fact that only 21 riders finished.

A cycling race on a circuit built for motorsports is a special occasion, explained Reutter:

“It’s a nice change to race on a motorsports circuit. But it was also very hard on this track, it’s built for high speed, so you couldn’t freewheel on the descents and had to pedal the whole time. Despite that, it was fun. In between there was a rain shower which made it tricky due to rubber marks and motor oil on the road. It was quite slippery on wet roads, and a couple of times my backwheel slipped. There were many spectators, also due to the 24 hour amateur race ahead of the UCI race; in my opinion it was a good event.”

"When you come out of the Tour, you've got the right rhythm. The others have no chance," Jochen Hahn, sports director of Stölting, told radsport-news.com.