Soren Waerenskjold wins blistering Deutschland Tour prologue ahead of Samuel Watson; Wout van Aert in striking distance of race lead heading into stage 1

Uno-X Mobility's Soren Waerenskjold has kicked off the 2025 Deutschland Tour with victory in the opening prologue, edging out British star Samuel Watson by less than a second on a blistering opener.

First man down the ramp was Germany's own, former Giro d'Italia stage winner Roger Kluge. The quickest of the earlier starters however, was Maikel Zijlaard of the Tudor Pro Cycling Team. The Dutchman completed the 3.1km course in 3:34, averaging more than 50 kilometres an hour to set a strong benchmark time. Whilst Zijlaard's time looked for a long while to have stage winning capabilities, he was then stunned by his own teammate as Marco Haller powered through the finish line with a new fastest time of 3:33.

The first rider to even come close to Haller's time was then Laurence Pithie. The Kiwi looked to have the new fastest time in his sights but as he stopped the clock it was just the wrong side of Haller's effort, less than a second slower. Moments later though, the Austrian was unseated as Soren Waerenskjold moved into the hotseat with his effort of 3:32.

INEOS Grenadiers' Samuel Watson came within a fraction of a second of unseating Waerenskjold but ultimately had to settle for a provisional second place. Wout van Aert then could only manage the provisional 5th fastest time, around two and a half seconds down on the Norwegian leader. Brandon McNulty meanwhile, was just inside 5 seconds of the lead, with Florian Lipowitz over 9 seconds down. Last man on the road was Jonathan Milan, but with the Italian unable to challenge, victory was Waerenskjold's.