727 kilometers on two wheels through the history of the Earth

Aug 19, 2021

The Deutschland Tour geology: Sprinting on glacial landforms and attacking on Jurassic limestones

The geological makeup of the first stage of the tour. MARUM researcher David De Vleeschouwer has written blog articles on each of the four stages. Graphic: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen.

There are few sports in which the nature of a route plays a more important role than in cycling. Whether you are cycling uphill or downhill, there usually is a geoscientific reason. More often than not, the cause lies far back in the history of the Earth. MARUM scientist Dr. David De Vleeschouwer, a cycling enthusiast, climate scientist and geologist, took a closer look at the nature of the “Deutschland Tour”. The Tour is the most important multi-day race in Germany, starting in Stralsund on August 26 and ending in Nuremberg four days later.

Each of the four stages is characterised by a very different geological story – and David De Vleeschouwer will tell it just prior to each stage, on the morning of race day. He will describe the landscape and the altitude profile of the stage and explain in a general and understandable way the climate and the state of the oceans at the time when the geological formations were formed.

Both cyclists and geoscientists divide Germany into three main areas: Lowlands, low mountain ranges and the Alps. All of them have been shaped, for example, by ice ages, sea level changes, plate tectonics and meteorite impacts. The rocks and stones and sediments tell of their history, which in some cases goes back more than 250 million years.

David de Vleeschouwer aboard the drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution. Photo: Bill Crawford, IODP JRSO

Link to blog

More info on the "Deutschland Tour"

Interested in the geological profile of the 2021 Tour de France? David De Vleeshouwer's Dutch colleague Douwe J.J. van Hinsbergen has studied and explained it in four languages.