They were clearly aiming for the overall championship!
But after six grueling days of competition, even though the team had put up a very strong performance in the general classification—with Vlasov and Lipowitz securing second and third place, respectively, even besting Ayuso, the lead rider for UAE Team—it wasn't enough.
The victory was snatched away by a young up-and-comer from the Ineos Grenadiers Team: Carlos Rodríguez!
This left Aldag and Denke fuming, unable to even put their frustration into words.
Especially considering Vlasov and Lipowitz had lost to Rodríguez in the general classification by a mere seven and nine seconds, respectively—
The bitter taste of deploying all the team's top riders, only to still fall short of victory, was a tough pill for them to swallow.
"Damn it! Rolf, why is our team always falling just a little short in the general classification this year?!!"
