Details of the 2005 Deutschland Tour - the Tour of Germany - were announced in Frankfurt yesterday. The seventh edition of the race will take place in August instead of June this year and has been extended to nine instead of seven stages because of its new ProTour status. The international peloton will head from Altenburg to Bonn from August 15-23, completing 1510 km on their way to the finish line.
The organisers of the German stage race hope to attract the main Tour de France contenders to make the event a 'Tour rematch'. Taking place three weeks after the French race and three weeks before the Vuelta a España, the Deutschland Tour is well-positioned in the calendar to achieve that goal. It also features the highest point of this year's ProTour races, as the 2684 m high Rettenbachferner mountain finish on stage four is not topped by any other parcours. Other stages favouring riders with good climbing abilities are stage two with the 1118 m high Brettenmais and stage seven, including several climbs up to 1280 m on the Feldberg.
2005 Deutschland Tour stages
