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2026 Rund um Köln (1.1), Germany
(Tour of Cologne)

108th Edition: Sunday, May 17, 2026

Rund um Köln podium history | 2025 edition | Start list

Köln - Köln, 191 km

Course map & profile

Laurence Pithie wins ahead of Fred Wright (hidden). Photo: Mario Stiehl

Les Woodland's book Tour of Flanders: The Inside Story - The rocky roads of the Ronde van Vlaanderen is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the start/finish city of Köln (Cologne) at 2:30 PM, local time: 16C (61F), rain showers, with the wind from the south at 14 km/hr (9 mph). The rain is forecast to end around 4:30 PM.

The race: Here's the report from second-place Fred Wright's Team Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team.

The Rund um Köln delivered another aggressive and attacking display from the Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, with Fred Wright sprinting to second place and Aimé De Gendt completing a strong double podium in third after a bold late-race move held almost all the way to the line.

On the demanding German one-day race around Cologne, the team animated the decisive phases throughout the afternoon, placing multiple riders into the key selection and forcing the race into a hard, aggressive scenario perfectly suited to the squad’s attacking style. Emils Liepins added further depth to the performance with 12th place after another committed team display.

After narrowly missing out on victory, Fred Wright reflected positively on both the collective approach and his own sensations following an encouraging return to form.

"Me and Aimé rode a really nice race today. After a couple of days ago (Wallonie), I really wanted to commit to attacking and trying to stay away, and that’s exactly what I did. I had already planned to go on that move on the second lap of the final circuit before heading into Cologne and I’m really happy we managed to stay away. Unfortunately Pithie had team-mates behind and could play things a little bit in the final, so we still had to dig really deep in the last kilometres to stay clear. He had that little bit more freshness in the sprint, but I’m really happy to be back at this level this season. I think it’s a good sign for what’s to come."

Sports Director Jens Zemke praised the team’s tactical clarity and willingness to race offensively despite lining up without a pure sprinter.

Laurence Pithie wins the 108th Rund um Köln.

"Without having a sprinter here and with many teams arriving with fast finishers, we wanted to race aggressively and make the race hard, exactly like we tried to do a few days ago at Circuit de Wallonie. We managed to place three riders in the front selection and then Fred and Aimé committed fully to the move. This time it worked. I told the boys to keep trying because eventually it would pay off. When you have three riders in the front group you always have a big opportunity, but we still had to ride full gas all the way to the line because the gap remained very small. Second and third place, plus the most aggressive rider award, is something we can be proud of today."

The result continues a strong and increasingly consistent run of performances for the team across the European one-day calendar, once again underlining the squad’s aggressive racing identity and collective depth.

Complete Results:

191 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.368 km/hr

2024 Rund um Köln map & profile:

2026 Tour of Cologne map

2026 Tour of Cologne profile

Start list with back numbers, May 17, 2026: