German police said Thursday they have foiled an alleged Islamic extremist terrorist attack on a popular May Day bicycle race planned for Friday.
Police in Frankfurt have arrested a Turkish-German man and his Turkish wife.
An employee of a hardware store alerted police after the male suspect bought an unusually large amount of chemicals that could be used to make explosives.
Authorities raided the couple's home and found a stash of weapons and bomb-making ingredients.
Police believe the two may have planned to bomb the annual Frankfurt bike race which attracts thousands of people.
Hesse state police chief Stefan Mueller said "Clearly since the Boston Marathon [ bombing in the U.S. two years ago ] these security concerns have been part of the considerations of how to deal with that [ danger ] before every marathon race in Germany. And that is also valid for the cycle race."
Despite the arrests, officials have canceled Friday's race as a precaution.
