8th August
This weekend the city of Bochum in the Ruhr valley in the far west of Germany is enjoying the Sparkassen Giro;, a two day holiday/festival/party with added bike races which has been running since 1998, although the main races have only become UCI registered in more recent years. Here is the brief summary of events:
Saturday:
16:15 Amateur race
18:30 non-UCI Women’s race
20:15 Men’s Derny race
22:00 Fireworks
Sunday
8:00 – 10:45 Open race
11:30 Children’s race heats
11:45 – 13:50 Women’s race
14:00 – 17:50 Men’s race
14:10 Children’s race final
All races are run on a 14.6km circuit. On Saturday evening the women race three laps, then on Sunday the men do twelve and the women six, during which races awards are also given for intermediate sprints and climbs.
That looks hilly, but even so the winners last year were Lizzie Armitstead on Saturday, then Mark Cavendish and Rochelle Gilmore on Sunday. There are start lists up for men and women, and both Rochelle and Cav are back to defend their titles. I remember seeing a report on both races from Enrico Muax, but the clever titles he gives to his pieces are a real pain when you are trying to find something in his archives from a year back and you don’t understand the language that well. No doubt the local TV station are covering it too, but I just don’t know what station that is. Any help gratefully received in the comments below.