Eschborn-Frankfurt ADAC Velotour: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The loop starts and finishes in the Eschborn and Frankfurt area, and the first hour is pure approach. Up to kilometre 28 the profile sits between roughly 95 and 125 metres with no gradient long enough to break the rhythm. All three Velotour loops share these kilometres out of the city before splitting towards the Taunus, and parts of the route are opened exclusively to cyclists on event day, so the flat section rolls fast.

From kilometre 28 the road turns upward in stages: two short climbs of about a kilometre each, then 3.8 kilometres at 4.3 percent, then 4.6 kilometres at 4.8 percent, and after a brief interruption almost three kilometres at 6.1 percent. Together that is around 690 metres of climbing packed into 19 kilometres, with isolated ramps beyond 13 percent. The high point comes at kilometre 47, above 830 metres.

The descent then gives back some 15 kilometres to around 200 metres, and the course stays rolling until kilometre 80. Only then comes the section this loop is known for: from kilometre 82 the Mammolshainer Stich climbs 2.8 kilometres at 7.1 percent average with pitches over 17 percent, a ramp borrowed from the professional race and ridden here after more than three hours in the saddle. The last twelve kilometres run quickly back to Frankfurt from a good 360 metres.

Pacing Strategy

This loop stores almost all of its climbing in two windows, with very little in between. Over the first 28 flat kilometres a wheel costs you almost nothing and riding alone costs a lot, so keep the effort deliberately low even when the group is moving fast. The working day only starts at kilometre 28.

The 19-kilometre staircase to the high point is where the ride is decided. Each step is moderate at 3 to 6 percent, but they follow one another so closely that the whole thing behaves like one continuous climb of nearly an hour. Ride it like a long tempo effort at steady cadence and resist turning the short ramps beyond 13 percent into attacks; they are too short to gain time and long enough to cost you.

The real trap sits at kilometre 82. The Mammolshainer Stich is only 2.8 kilometres long, but it meets legs that already have four fifths of the route and the whole Feldberg block behind them, and its pitches above 17 percent cannot be carried with momentum. Empty yourself on the Feldberg or in the fast flat opening and you lose more time here than on the entire ascent before it. Past the Stich the road runs mostly downhill to the finish, so there is nothing to be gained by holding a reserve beyond it.

Training plan for Eschborn-Frankfurt ADAC Velotour: 12-week build

For 97 kilometres with this profile, a competitive age-group rider will usually be out between three and a half and five and a half hours. The demand splits in two: steady, largely aerobic riding on the flat kilometres and in the bunch, plus close to an hour of sustained climbing that pushes near threshold without ever getting properly steep.

Two phases decide the day. The first is the ascent between kilometres 28 and 47, where around 690 metres of climbing arrive in one block and where you determine how much of the day you still have left. The second is the Mammolshainer Stich at kilometre 82, a short, hard climb on tired legs that asks for a distinctly bigger effort than anything before it.

Three priorities follow. First, long rides of three to four hours with the climbing deliberately placed in the second half, so that climbing on pre-loaded legs is rehearsed. Second, tempo blocks of 20 to 40 minutes on moderate gradients of 4 to 6 percent, which mirror the character of the Feldberg staircase. Third, short hard repeats of three to six minutes at the end of a long ride to prepare for the Stich.

One part has nothing to do with fitness. Across 28 flat opening kilometres and the fast run-in, riding in a group is far more economical than riding alone, and the 15-kilometre descent from the high point wants to be ridden relaxed and confidently. Both belong in training rather than being discovered on race day.