The Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop (until 2008 Rund um den Henninger-Turm, sometimes called the Frankfurt Grand Prix in English; in 2010 Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt) is a semi classic

Classic cycle races

The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same...

 cycling race around Frankfurt am Main with the start and finish on Darmstädter Landstraße outside the Henninger-Turm

Henninger Turm

The Henninger-Turm is a grain storage silo located in the Frankfurt district of Sachsenhausen. It was built by the Henninger Brewery and has a storage capacity of 16,000 tons of barley. The , 33-story high tower was designed by Karl Lieser and was built from 1959 to 1961...

 (Tower), a grain silo belonging to the Henninger brewery which backs the event. The race takes place on a complicated route in the Taunus

Taunus

The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...

 mountains west of the city with around 1500m (5,000 feet) of climbing. The climbs of the Ruppershain, Feldberg and Mammolshain have been regular features; the Mammolshain has a 26% gradient

Gradient

In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar field is a vector field that points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar field, and whose magnitude is the greatest rate of change....

 and is climbed twice in the race. The race concludes with three laps of 4.5 kilometres in the centre of Frankfurt.

History

The race, organised for many years by brothers Hermann and Erwin Moos, began in 1962 with Henninger as main sponsor to publicise the Henninger Tower opened in 1961. The event received classic status in 1967 when Paris–Brussels was forced off the calendar due to traffic problems.

The race had a British winner in 1966 when Barry Hoban

Barry Hoban

Barry Hoban is a former English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the previous holder of the record for the most stage wins in the Tour de France by a British rider, winning eight between 1967 to 1975...

 rode solo to the finish, holding the chasing pack at one minute for the final 50 km. Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx

Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx , better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional cyclist. The French magazine Vélo called him "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known." The American publication, VeloNews, called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all...

 also won alone in 1971. Six riders have won twice: Australian Phil Anderson

Phil Anderson

Philip Grant Anderson OAM is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who was the first non-European to wear the yellow jersey of the Tour de France.-Origins:...

 (1984 and 1985), Dutchman Karsten Kroon (2004 and 2008) and the Belgians Ludo Peeters

Ludo Peeters

Ludo Peeters is a former Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He was professional from 1974 to 1990. He rode ten editions of the Tour de France and won 3 stages, one in 1980, one in 1982 and one in 1986...

 (1982 and 1983), Georges Pintens

Georges Pintens

Georges Pintens is a former professional road bicycle racer from Belgium who excelled at one-day classic races during the 1960s and 1970s....

 (1969, 1973) and Jean-Marie Wampers

Jean-Marie Wampers

Jean-Marie Wampers is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium. He was a professional between 1981 and 1992, achieving his greatest triumph when he won Paris–Roubaix in 1989.- Major achievements :198419851986...

 (1986, 1989), and German Fabian Wegmann

Fabian Wegmann

Fabian Wegmann is a German road racing cyclist, known as a climbing specialist. He is currently riding for UCI ProTeam ....

 in 2009 and 2010. The most victories are by Erik Zabel

Erik Zabel

Erik Zabel is a former German professional road bicycle racer who last raced with Milram. With over 200 professional wins he is considered by some one of the greatest German cyclists and best cycling sprinters of history...

 with wins in 1999, 2002 and 2005.

Rund um den Henninger-Turm was part of the UCI Road World Cup for one year, 1995, with the HEW Cyclassic in Hamburg getting the German leg of the series. The event is also not part of the UCI ProTour

UCI ProTour

The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...

. Observers say holding the race on 1 May, often midweek, counts against it.

In November 2007, organiser Bernd Moos said Henninger would stop backing the race after 2008. He said that after 46 years Henninger was pulling out because of economic conditions. In January 2009 Moos said that the race would continue as the Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop, named for new sponsors, Frankfurt and the neighboring town of Eschborn

Eschborn

Eschborn is a town near Frankfurt am Main in the Main-Taunus district, Hesse, Germany. As of 2009, it had a population of 20,789, but boasts fulltime employment of over 30,000 people...

, which would also be the start of the race. The race will no longer pass the Henninger Tower.

Race winners

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