Carrara and Petrov were probably the strongest riders also in the escape group, but both of those had tried to get away and done a lot of work just the two of them on the route back into Frankfurt; they were caught by the bunch just before they got to the northern suburbs of Rödelheim and Hausen. Vacansoleil and Katyusha both had 3 men in the break, and they both contested the sprint; but the riders were Marcato and Mazzanti - neither of whom are first choice sprinters. Vacan had 4 actually - but one was Brice Feillu, who had no chance on the pancake flat finishing circuit, and one was Carrara who'd been in that break earlier.
Columbia in that race:
DNF Andre Greipel (Ger) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Matthew Goss (Aus) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Gert Dockx (Bel) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Leigh Howard (Aus) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC-Columbia
DNF Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team HTC-Columbia
Looks like, Martin aside, a lot of it was hitching a ride on the Greipel train, as one of the biggest German classics, and there wasn't much that they could do for him; after dragging him up Ruppertshain and Feldberg in the rain, he was never climbing Mammolshain and keeping up with the front group. As their only really viable alternative I guess, Tony Martin was under pressure to react to any threatening move, and Milram wore him out by making him do so and spend a lot of time out front in small groups far too early in the race.