Team Jayco AlUla´s pocket rocket, Caleb Ewan will make his return to racing this week for the one-day Classic, Eschborn-Frankfurt. The 29-year-old will be using the punchy race as a final preparation ahead of the first Grand Tour of the year, the Giro d’Italia, starting on Saturday.
German born and bred, Felix Engelhardt and Max Walscheid will be motivated to impress on home turf and their course knowledge will be an asset the team over the challenging parcours.
The Australian powerhouse duo, Callum Scotson and Kell O´Brien will be looking for opportunities and using their strength to support the squad in what is considered an exciting race right up until the final.
Rounding out the team after a solid block of racing, Mauro Schmid and Anders Foldager will bring valuable support to the strong line up.
The 2024 route remains unchanged after a successful and nailing biting edition in 2023. The 201.5km race features two climbs on the ¨Feldberg¨ and three climbs on the ¨Mammolshainer¨ with over 3000m of climbing before a fast 30km run into the finish.
Eschborn-Frankfurt Rider Line-Up:
Felix Engelhardt (GER)
Caleb Ewan (AUS)
Anders Foldager (DEN)
Mauro Schmid (CHE)
Callum Scotson (AUS)
Kell O´Brien (AUS)
Max Walscheid (GER)
Tristan Hoffman:
¨Frankfurt is quite a hard race but riders who are in good condition can survive this and the last part is a little bit flat. We have Caleb there as our sprinter, but we also want to be presented on the climbs and in breakaways. We have Max and Caleb who are doing the Giro so they will use this race to gain some rhythm. We have a strong team who can compete with the best and it would be nice to be on the podium. ¨
Caleb Ewan:
¨Eschborn-Frankfurt will mostly be a preparation race for the Giro. It´s going to be my first race since Tirreno so it´s been a while but my preparation has been good for the Giro as I´ve been at altitude for the last three weeks. It is a tough race so I have to be in my best form to get through to the end so we will see how it goes.¨
Max Walscheid
¨Frankfurt has developed over the last couple of years from a selected sprinters race to more towards an Adrennes Classic for punchy climbers. There are not many races in Germany in general and there is only one which is close to my home region which is Frankfurt so it´s always good to ride in front of a German crowd. Last year I was in the breakaway and managed to win the KOM classification which was a nice surprise and great to be present in front of local fans. This year we will try to bring Caleb as far as possible if it comes down to a sprint. We have a great option with him. It´s a great town, great parcours and a pretty scenic and interesting race.¨
